Chapter Summaries

Hicks and Yulia secretly followed Hozette Corporation into a sealed mine, where they discovered an alien spacecraft and a dead pilot. They descended farther into the ship with the Hozette personnel, leaving its deeper interior unexplored.

• Hicks ordered Hudson and the other Marines and agents to guard the engineering vehicle while he and Yulia followed Hozette Corporation into the mine.
• The UNSC admitted the Hozette group through the sealed gate, and Hicks noticed the mine had been converted into a laboratory with extensive isolation measures.
• After passing through a decontamination chamber, Hicks and Yulia discovered a huge, apparently biological alien spacecraft in an underground cavern.
• Hicks and Yulia secretly followed the Hozette personnel into the ship and found a dead, towering pilot with a hole in its chest.
• Hicks and Yulia recorded the scene and rode an elevator deeper into the ship with the Hozette personnel.

Hicks and Yulia discovered Hozette Corporation collecting dangerous scorpion-like creatures aboard a ship beneath Sirius-4. When City Six and City Seven suddenly went into lockdown, Hicks led his team toward Hozette’s laboratory to document what had happened.

• Hicks and Yulia followed Hozette personnel beneath the ship’s bridge and found a humid chamber filled with eggs.
• Hozette technicians trapped scorpion-like creatures emerging from the eggs in glass-sided containers, and Hicks concluded the creatures had research value and might have harmed people.
• Hicks told Hudson that the Amber would arrive in forty-six minutes, after which they planned to seize control of Sirius-4.
• As Hicks and his team returned toward the surface, alarms announced lockdowns in City Six and City Seven, and they suspected an accident at Hozette’s laboratory.
• Hicks led his team toward City Seven to record evidence of Hozette’s actions.

Xenomorphs overran the station connecting City Seven and City Six, slaughtering civilians and soldiers before using their corrosive blood to break through the isolation gate. The creatures poured into City Six as City Seven descended into a citywide war zone.

• A bloodied waitress warned the station crowd that monsters were attacking, and Xenomorphs rushed onto both platforms.
• UNSC Army and Hozette Corporation soldiers opened fire, but the Xenomorphs’ corrosive blood killed civilians and soldiers alike.
• The Xenomorphs overwhelmed the remaining soldiers, dragging away survivors and feeding on the dead.
• The Xenomorphs sacrificed one of their own and used its corrosive blood to melt a hole through the isolation gate.
• Led by a larger Xenomorph, the creatures poured through the gate toward City Six as more followed from the station stairs.
• City Seven was shown engulfed in smoke, flames, gunfire, and cries for help.

Hicks and his team encountered intelligent, acid-blooded aliens at City Seven’s Orbit Station and discovered their Optical Camouflage could not fool them at close range. Abandoning their plan to reach Hozette’s underground laboratory, they headed toward the surface to search for survivors and contact UNSC personnel.

• Hicks led the camouflaged group toward the Orbit Station, where they saw aliens use a companion’s corrosive blood to break through an isolation gate.
• Hicks sent Hudson onto the platform, and the aliens detected and attacked him despite the team’s Optical Camouflage.
• Hicks and the others killed the two aliens with Spike Rounds and observed that the creatures’ bodies sprayed corrosive blood when damaged.
• The group reached the upper-level security checkpoint and eliminated the aliens stationed there, but Hicks judged that a larger alien force could overwhelm them.
• Hicks canceled the mission to reach Hozette’s underground laboratory and redirected the team to find civilians and contact UNSC personnel while awaiting the Amber.

Hicks and her team contacted the UNSC garrison in City Seven and learned that alien creatures had overwhelmed the city while the garrison tried to rescue civilians. They reached the company camp to help defend it, with Lieutenant Armand coming out to meet them.

• Hicks used Yulia’s communications channel to contact Lieutenant Armand and learned that creatures had emerged from Hozette Tower and attacked City Seven’s underground passages.
• Armand told Hicks that the garrison had lost many soldiers, rescued civilians, and lost contact with its regimental commander.
• Hicks told Armand that her team would come to the camp, then led them toward it while fighting off aliens along the way.
• Armand temporarily disabled the camp’s defenses so Hicks and her team could enter safely, then the weapons reactivated after they passed through the gate.
• Hicks and her team entered the crowded camp, where Lieutenant Armand approached them.

Lieutenant Colonel Dawn told Lieutenant Armand that Fleet Zero would soon be reachable, while the escort ship Amber arrived in the Sirius system under Miranda Carter’s command. After learning Sirius-4’s Dome Cities were under attack by Anomalous Creatures, Miranda ordered the Amber to jump there and take control of the system as Robert prepared to lead the ground forces.

• Lieutenant Colonel Dawn told Lieutenant Armand that they would be able to contact the main force in five minutes.
• The Amber emerged from Warp Space near Sirius-3 and activated its Optical Camouflage.
• Miranda Carter ordered her crew to contact Dawn and check whether he had evidence of Hozette Corporation’s secret research.
• The communications officer reported that Sirius-4’s Dome Cities were under attack and that Dawn requested reinforcements from all of Fleet Zero.
• Miranda ordered the Amber to jump to Sirius-4, seize its Orbital Defense System, and contact Fleet Zero for reinforcements.
• Miranda told Robert it was time for him and his Spartans to take the field.

Robert led Limit Team and the CMC Heavy Soldiers to the junction between City Six and City Seven on Sirius-4, where they found evidence that human forces had been slaughtered. They then encountered a large alien force on the station platform and opened fire.

• Robert ordered Limit Team and the Heavy Soldiers to drop ahead of Shark Company and secure the junction.
• Robert and the troops landed between City Six and City Seven, and Evreny opened the junction gate for them.
• Robert found weapons, armor fragments, dried blood, and damage indicating that the UNSC and Hozette forces had been wiped out by Anomalous Creatures.
• Robert warned his troops about the creatures’ tactics and corrosive blood, then led them through the station toward Colonel Dawn.
• Robert and his group ran into an alien army advancing toward City Six, and the battle began.

Robert and the Limit Team held off the alien army on the station’s eastern platform until the Heavy Soldiers could open fire, then pursued the retreating aliens. Robert’s forces headed to rendezvous with Lieutenant Colonel Dawn while Miranda reported that Evreny was close to taking control of Sirius-4’s Quantum Communication; Fleet Zero remained in lunar orbit on vacation.

• Robert and the Limit Team held back the aliens while the Heavy Soldiers formed up, though the corrosive blood ruined Robert’s prototype Bolter Shotgun.
• The Heavy Soldiers and Spartans opened fire, and the aliens fled after one of them howled and retreated toward the western platform.
• Two hundred and forty Frenzied Sharks arrived, and Robert led nearly three hundred troops in pursuit, joking that they were avenging his gun.
• Robert contacted Miranda, who said Evreny was cracking Sirius-4’s final Firewall and expected to gain control of the Quantum Communication in about three minutes.
• Fleet Zero remained in lunar orbit while William’s employees and their families enjoyed a Moon vacation.

William learned that Xenomorphs had devastated Sirius-4, killing at least two hundred thousand colonists, and ordered Fleet Zero to intervene. He identified the creatures and explained their reproductive cycle to Halsey as the fleet prepared to jump to the colony.

• Serena informed William that an Anomalous Creature invasion on Sirius-4 had killed at least two hundred thousand colonists, with casualties still rising.
• Serena showed William and Halsey combat footage of the creatures attacking the colony.
• William recognized the creatures as Xenomorphs after watching the footage.
• William ordered Serena to recall employees vacationing on Jiu Hai Colony and prepare Fleet Zero to jump to Sirius-4.
• William told Halsey that Xenomorphs lived in a hive ruled by an Empress and reproduced by implanting embryos in human hosts.

William and Halsey returned to Fleet Zero after learning about the Xenomorph threat, then arrived at Sirius-4 and organized a defense against the infestation. The chapter ended with William assigning forces to protect City Four and evacuate civilians from City Five while keeping other teams on standby.

• Halsey agreed with William that the Xenomorph infestation would be difficult to contain and urged them to return to the fleet to plan a response.
• William used his Super Speed to carry Halsey to the Spaceport, leaving Yelena and Ivan asleep at the hotel.
• Serena reported that all personnel had returned to the fleet, and William ordered Fleet Zero to jump to Sirius-4.
• Fleet Zero arrived in orbit and saw that Dome Cities Six and Seven had fallen, while Lieutenant Colonel Dawn and Spartan Primarch B-042 fought Xenomorphs in City Five.
• William ordered ground forces to establish defenses between Cities Four and Five and help evacuate City Five's civilians into City Four.
• William kept Blue Team and Shadow Team on standby while assigning Spartans, Noble Team, and Angel Keisha to reinforce the junction and prevent Xenomorphs from entering City Four.

William and Halsey planned how to contain the Xenomorph infestation, agreeing to destroy City Six and send William's teams to a laboratory in City Seven to recover Hozette Corporation's research data. The fleet began its destructive strike on City Six, while the evacuation of City Five remained underway.

• Halsey warned William that City Five would soon fall and that Cities Six and Seven had become Xenomorph hatching grounds.
• William planned to evacuate City Five's civilians and abandon the three contaminated cities, while Halsey advised destroying City Six and sending William to City Seven's underground laboratory for Hozette Corporation's research data.
• Halsey explained that the Xenomorph research could benefit Umbrella's biotechnology and the Spartan Primarchs, and William agreed to retrieve the data with Blue Team and Shadow Team.
• William ordered the fleet to destroy City Six, beginning with the junction between Cities Five and Six to stop the Xenomorph advance.
• The Endless struck City Six with its Beam Particle Cannon and Electromagnetic Accelerator Cannons, then the fleet launched missiles and bombers to continue the bombardment.

As aliens attacked Dome City Five, Hicks and Robert’s forces defended the evacuation route while citizens fled toward City Four. After reinforcements arrived and the connection to City Six was destroyed, the soldiers withdrew to protect the underground entrance, leaving Robert’s Limit Team to cover their retreat.

• Tens of thousands of aliens attacked Dome City Five as citizens rushed toward the connection point with City Four, and Hicks, Robert, and their forces defended the central plaza.
• Hicks told Robert that the boss had led the fleet to Sirius-4 and that reinforcements would arrive at Spaceport Five in ten minutes.
• An explosion destroyed the connection point with City Six, and Robert urged Hicks to abandon the plaza and protect the citizens retreating toward City Four.
• Hicks ordered the soldiers to withdraw toward the underground entrance while Robert and the Limit Team covered the rear.
• Robert and the Limit Team detonated five Plasma Grenades among the pursuing aliens, destroying the barricade and blocking the main road.

Robert left the retreating force to rescue two girls trapped in an apartment, only to discover they were bait in an alien ambush. As he carried them toward the underground entrance, Carter and the reinforcements arrived and raised a barrier that protected them from the pursuing aliens.

• Robert heard cries for help from an apartment building and left his team to investigate while the civilians and soldiers continued retreating.
• On the eleventh floor, Robert found two girls surrounded by aliens and lured the creatures into the corridor to keep their acidic blood away from them.
• Robert killed the first group of aliens with one sweep of his Energy Sword, then carried the girls out through a window when more aliens appeared.
• Robert landed safely in the street and ran with the girls toward the underground entrance as aliens chased them.
• Carter contacted Robert, and the arriving reinforcements expanded a glowing barrier around them that blocked the aliens.

Umbrella forces used Angel Keisha’s Bio-defense Field to secure the junction between Cities Four and Five and rescue civilians. William then led Blue Team and the Shadow Team into City Seven to reach the Hozette Laboratory and recover its experimental data.

• Hicks told Robert that the troops were ordered to hold the junction and rescue civilians, while Angel Keisha’s barrier prevented aliens from entering City Four.
• Robert asked about City Seven, and Hicks said Blue Team and the Shadow Team had entered it on a recovery mission.
• William, Blue Team, and the Shadow Team landed at City Seven’s Spaceport with sixty USS reinforcements.
• After the USS secured the airport, William ordered them to guard the Pelicans while the two Sparta teams accompanied him into the city toward Hozette Tower’s laboratory.

William led Blue Team and Shadow Team into Hozette Tower to reach the Alien hive beneath it and retrieve Hozette Corporation’s research data. After Serena found a route through the tower’s systems, they entered the dark, overgrown underground facility and proceeded cautiously toward its Control Room.

• William explained that the Aliens had taken the humans from City Seven and that Hozette’s underground laboratories had become a hive, then warned the Spartans about its dangers.
• Serena detected little movement on the surface and located a route from Hozette Tower’s lobby to the underground facility.
• William led the Spartans through a gate elevator into the damp, foggy hive and ordered Serena to find the Control Room.
• Serena plotted a route through the facility, and William’s group advanced carefully while he considered the possible threat of an Alien Praetorian and Empress.

William and the Spartans fought through Alien ambushes in the Underground Facility and reached Hozette Corporation’s Control Room. Serena began copying the facility’s data, while Carl called William over to inspect something.

• Serena reported many moving targets beneath the Control Room, and William led the Spartans toward the suspected research area.
• William spotted an Alien ambusher and killed it, prompting the hidden Aliens to emerge and attack.
• Serena marked the Aliens, and William’s group wiped them out before charging toward the Control Room as more targets approached.
• Mylon forced open the Control Room’s blast doors, and Kolax’s Shadow Team checked that the room was clear.
• William sent Serena to copy Hozette Corporation’s data, but Carl called him over to look at something.

William’s team copied Hozette Corporation’s research data and withdrew from the Alien hive rather than face its Praetorians. Aboard the Endless, William then ordered a devastating assault on City Seven and a follow-up mission to eliminate any surviving Aliens.

• William and Carl discovered a lab full of Facehugger eggs, captives being used to incubate Aliens, and a humanlike Reverse Strain guarded by six Alien Praetorians.
• Serena reported that she had copied Hozette Corporation’s experimental records, so William rejected John’s suggestion to collect samples and ordered the Spartans to retreat.
• William’s team escaped Hozette Tower, boarded three Pelicans, and returned to the Endless without being attacked.
• Aboard the Endless, William ordered the crew to bombard City Seven with electromagnetic cannons and missiles, then send aircraft to exterminate any surviving Aliens.

William ordered City Seven destroyed to prevent the Xenomorph infestation from spreading, while Umbrella forces cleared City Five and helped its surviving residents. He visited the refugee camp, promoted the colonial agents to full-level employees, and left them preparing to board the Endless.

• The Endless bombarded City Seven and its Xenomorph nest, then its Flying Formation eliminated any survivors.
• Serena reported that Hicks and the others had used Keisha's Bio-Shield to kill all Xenomorphs and Facehuggers in City Five.
• William went to City Five, where Umbrella had gathered survivors in a refugee camp and Keisha was healing the injured.
• William praised Hicks, Hudson, Yulia, and the others for uncovering Hozette Corporation's illegal experiments and promoted the colonial agents to full-level employees.
• Yulia and the other agents celebrated their chance to board the Endless, but Hicks reminded them to focus on the refugees.

William arrived at a refugee camp’s medical tent, where Angel Keisha was healing the injured and comforting orphaned children. He ordered the refugees’ memories of the angels erased, agreed to have Umbrella care for Keisha’s group of orphans, and sent evidence of the alien attack back to the Solar System.

• William learned that Christian refugees had gathered around the tent because they believed Keisha’s appearance meant God had saved them.
• William ordered Serena to erase the refugees’ memories of the angels and destroy their recordings, then told Carter to clear the tent’s entrance.
• William saw Keisha tending to children and learned that Carter’s team had taught her to communicate and adapt to human society.
• Keisha asked William to care for the children orphaned by the alien attack, and he agreed to fund their care until they grew up.
• William had Serena record the wounded and sent footage of Hozette Corporation’s alien research and the attack’s victims back to the Solar System.

At Troy Base, Andre reviewed evidence tying Hozette Corporation and a UNSC commander to the catastrophe on Sirius-4, then planned Umbrella’s campaign against the company. He ordered the evidence publicized to build support for retaliation and assigned Hunk and Kent’s trainees to arrest Hozette’s executives, with forces prepared to support them.

• Andre watched the lieutenant colonel’s confession, which revealed that he had accepted Hozette’s benefits, covered up its human experiments and suppressed reports of the aliens on Sirius-4.
• Andre told his secretary to warn the UNSC not to interfere with Umbrella’s retaliation and to threaten releasing the confession video.
• Andre ordered Tina to spread evidence of Hozette’s alien research, the devastation on Sirius-4 and Umbrella’s battle, along with memes to shape public opinion.
• Andre approved Hunk and Kent’s trainees for the operation to arrest Hozette’s executives and ordered Captain Carter to transport them to Minos Island.
• Andre directed Lieutenant General O'Donohue to remain ready to support the trainees if an emergency arose.