11 “Sword”
Kwan Ha, who had taken refuge on the Rubble since Madrigal was also glassed by the Covenant, escapes the grasp of several slavers as she secretly meets with Soren’s son Kessler. Laera confronts Soren’s crew, berating them for leaving him behind, and vows to find him.

John reveals to Kai that he saw Makee on Sanctuary and pushes his teammates to train harder, anticipating that the Covenant is training for a larger-scale invasion. This puts strain on Riz, who is recovering from injuries suffered on Raas Kkhotskha.

Ackerson reveals that Perez did not corroborate John’s testimony of what happened on Sanctuary. John confronts Perez, who expresses survivor guilt and admits to not telling Ackerson the full truth, to which John also confides to her.

Ackerson, who is holding Halsey captive in a simulated room, uses Cortana to help deduce an impending threat. When Cobalt Team fails to return from their mission, John tracks down recent Spartan missions and deducing that Cobalt never left Reach, gathers Silver Team to rescue them as he realizes the Covenant are also on Reach; elsewhere on the planet, a squadron of Elites, accompanied by Makee, takes out a squad of UNSC marines before encountering the larger keystone.