After Allen left to locate the doctor, Steve tossed several more grenades out the door. He reached for the sniper rifle and sighted in on an Elite charging up the stairs and pulled the trigger. The back of the alien's head exploded with purple vapor and the body fell off the side. "That's one," Steve said. He saw another Elite and squeezed the trigger, and the Elite fell were it stood. Steve looked around for the other Elite. "Here kitty, kitty, kitty," he called. Suddenly a wall of gray fur appeared in front of him. Steve pulled his eye out of the scope long enough to see the lone Brute towering over him. It roared and brought its hammer crashing down. Steve rolled out of the way, dropped the sniper rifle and picked up a shotgun before coming to his feet. He racked the pump and stared down the Brute. "All right, let's dance," Steve grinned.
The brute charged after him and swung its hammer. Steve ducked and jumped to one side, unloading several shots at the Brute from close range. The Brute staggered for a moment, then turned toward Steve, its face twisted with rage. Steve raised the shotgun and shot the Brute in the face. The Brute roared with rage and swung its hammer again, but the close confines, the hammer took a large chunk out of the wall.
Steve continued to blast away with the shotgun until the trigger clicked empty. The Brute was bleeding from multiple shotgun wounds and its face was shredded, but it still came after Steve. He threw the shotgun aside and smacked his fist into his hand. "Now it's getting good," he said. The Brute raised the hammer over its head, but the head of the hammer became lodged in the ceiling. Enraged, the Brute swung at Steve. Steve ducked and stepped into the brute and began punching away with all his might.
Steve would say later that hitting the Brute was similar to hitting a brick wall covered in gray hair. But at that moment, he didn't really care. The Brute took everything Steve threw at it. A back hand swipe sent Steve careening across the room and crashing into the wall. His head swam and spots danced in front of his eyes, but he managed to move out of the way before the Brute sent its fist crashing down where Steve's head would have been. He staggered to his feet and faced the Brute again. The Brute howled and brought its fist down in an overhand strike. Steve moved to the side and the Brute swatted him with its other hand, sending Steve to his knees. The Brute grabbed Steve around the neck and began to squeeze. Steve scratched and clawed at the enormous hand, but the Brute squeezed harder and easily lifted the fully armored Spartan off the floor with one hand, displaying its incredible strength.
With his vision fading fast, Steve continued to struggle against the iron grip. He hunched his shoulders to expose as little of his neck as possible and gripped the Brute's wrist as tight as he could. He managed to swing his legs up and wrapped them around the Brute's arm and neck in a Figure Four choke hold, and he struggled with all the strength he had left. The Brute began to choke and the grip around Steve's neck lessened slightly. Steve inhaled as much air as he could and with a burst of adrenaline, clenched every muscle in his body. The Brute began to stumble around and started to smash the resilient Spartan against the ground, but Steve held on. With a final wheeze, the Brute collapsed to the ground. Steve pried the fingers from his neck and took the biggest breath of his life. He ripped off his helmet and began to cough and wheeze. His throat hurt and he had difficulty swallowing. Steve fell on his back and closed his eyes, completely exhausted. That was how Allen found him several moments later. He dumped Dr. Chudnoffski's body on the floor next to the door and kneeled next to Steve. "Are you dead?" he asked.
"Yep," Steve replied hoarsely. He helped Steve get to his feet and handed him his helmet. Steve then looked to the unconscious Brute and held out his hand in Allen's direction. Without a word, Allen surrendered his pistol and Steve shot the Brute several times in the head.
"Feel better?" Allen asked. Steve shook his head and said, "Not really." He handed the pistol back to Allen. He went over to Dr. Chudnoffski and knelt down next to him. "Do you think he's mad at us?" Steve asked.
Allen didn't respond, for in that moment, an energy sword flashed to life and rose high in the air with the intent on severing Steve's head from the rest of his body. Allen took two steps and flew at the cloaked Elite in a flying tackle that took both of them out the door. They bounced down the stairs, each struggling to gain the upper hand. They landed and slid across the ice with the Elite kneeling over Allen, one hand on his neck, the other raised in the air poised to strike with the energy sword. A single shot rang out and the Elite collapsed on top of Allen. Allen pushed the dead alien off of himself and rose to his feet. From the doorway, Steve lowered the still smoking sniper rifle.
All around him, dead Covenant troops lay scattered across the icy floor. Craters and scorch marks from grenades and plasma pockmarked the ground. The remaining Grunts and Jackals stood around, unsure of what to do now that the Elites and the Brute was dead. Overhead, light flashed through the ice, sending the Covenant troops scurrying into the ice caves. The light grew more intense and the cavern began to shake.
Allen sighed. "Don't you dare say it," Steve warned.
"Say what?" Allen asked. Feeling dejected, he began walking back to the ruins. Chunks of ice began to fall and melted water began cascading down the walls of the cavern. The ceiling began to crack and the ice groaned under the heavy bombardment. The barrage suddenly stopped and Allen curiously looked up.
Liquid fire began pouring from the sky, instantly vaporizing the ice and flashing it to steam. The roar of plasma was unlike anything either of the two Spartans had ever heard before or since. When he thought about it later, Allen wondered if that was what it was like to watch a planet glassing at ground zero.
The ice cavern collapsed and the ground shook with great intensity. The plasma bombardment stopped, the only sounds were of ice cracking and steam rising into the atmosphere. What was once a fully enclosed ice cavern was now a giant crater with the ruins in the center. When the sky finally cleared, Allen and Steve beheld the sight of a Covenant battle cruiser in low stationary orbit. Compared to UNSC ships, the Covenant ship seemed almost organic in nature, with rising gentle curves and purple hued hull. It was also bigger than any ship in the UNSC fleet.
"If it's not one thing, it's another," Allen said. Steve simply glared at him. A Covenant drop ship appeared and began to ascend to the ruins. Before it could drop below the crater, it yawed crazily to once side as their shuttle arrived. The shuttle dropped haphazardly through the crater as if the pilot had no idea what he was doing. Just before the shuttle crashed to the ground, braking thrusters fired, halting the shuttle just outside the ruins. The ramp lowered and Isis' voice crackled over the speakers. "GET IN!"