The Banshee screamed through a narrow valley and out over an arid2 wasteland.
The assault ship’s shadow raced ahead as if eager to reach thePillar ofAutumn first. The Master Chief felt the slipstream fold in behind theaircraft’s nose and tug3 at his armor. It felt good to be out of twistingcorridors and cramped4 compartments6 if only for a short while.
The first sign of the ship’s presence on the ring world’s surface was thehundred-meter-deep trench8 theAutumn ’s hull9 had carved into Halo’s skin.
It started where the cruiser had first touched down, vanished where thevessel had bounced into the air, and reappeared a half klick farther on.
From there the depression ran straight as an arrow to the point where thestarship had finally come to rest with its blunt bow protruding11 out over theedge of a massive cliff. There were other aircraft in the area as well, allof which belonged to the Covenant12, and they had no reason to suspect theincoming Banshee. Not yet, at any rate.
The Spartan, who was eager to make his approach look normal, chose one ofthe many empty lifeboat bays that lined the starship’s starboard side, andbored in. Unfortunately the engine cut out at the last moment, the Bansheehit theAutumn ’s hull, and although the Spartan was able to bail13 out, thealien fighter fell to the rocks below.Not the low visibility arrival he hadhoped for. Still, given Cortana’s plans for the vessel10, his presencewouldn’t remain secret for long anyway.
“We need to get to the bridge,” Cortana said. “From there we can use theCaptain’s neural14 implants15 to initiate16 an overload17 of the ship’s fusionengines. The explosion should damage enough systems below it to destroy thering.”
“Shouldn’t be a problem,” the Chief commented as he made his way towardthe tiny air lock. “I don’t know who’s better at blowing things up—youor me.”
The moment he stepped outside he saw a cluster of red dots appear on hismotion detector19 and knew some nasties were lurking20 off to his left. The onlyquestion was,which hostiles did he face—the Covenant or the Flood? Given achoice, he’d take the Covenant. Maybe, just maybe, the Flood hadn’tlocated the ship yet.
The passageway ended to the right, which meant he had little choice but toturn left. But, rather than run into the Covenant or the Flood, the Spartancame under attack from a flock of Sentinels.
“Uh-oh,” Cortana said as the noncom opened fire, “it looks like theMonitor knows where we are.”
I wonder if he knows what we’re up to,the Chief mused21.
A robot exploded, another hit the deck with a loud clang, and the MasterChief shifted fire to a third. “Yeah, he’s after my head, but it’syouthat he really wants.”
The AI made no reply as the third machine exploded—and the Chief made hisway down the hall using the lifeboat bays for cover. Two additionalSentinels appeared, were blown out of the air, and turned into scrap22.
Soon after that they arrived at the end of the corridor, took a right, andspotted an open maintenance hatch. Not ideal, since he didn’t relish24 thethought of having to negotiate such tight quarters, but there didn’t seemto be any other choice. So he ducked inside, found himself in a maze25, andblundered about for a while before spotting a hatch set flush into the deckin front of him. That’s when a group of infection forms swarmed26 up out ofthe hole, and the Chief’s question was answered. It appeared that theFloodhad located theAutumn —and already taken up residence there.
He swore under his breath, backed away, and hosed the Flood with bullets. Heeased forward and looked down through the floor hatch. He saw a carrierform, and knew there were bound to be more. He dropped a plasma27 grenade downthrough the hole, backed away, and took a certain amount of pleasure in theensuing explosion.
The maintenance tunnels didn’t seem to be taking him where he needed to go,so he dropped through the hole, crushed a handful of infection forms, andshot two more. The blood-splattered corridor was messy but well lit. Hepried open a wall-mounted locker28, and was pleased to find four frag grenadesand spare ammo. He quickly stowed them, and moved on.
Two Sentinels nosed around a corner, opened fire with their lasers, and gotwhat they deserved. “They might have been looking for us,” Cortanaobserved, “but it’s my guess that they were assigned to Flood control.”
The theory made sense, but didn’t really help much as the Master Chief wasforced to fight the Sentinels, the Flood,and the Covenant, while he made hisway through a series of passageways and into the ship’s heavily damagedmess, where a large contingent29 of Elites30 and Grunts32 were waiting to have himfor lunch.
There were a lot of them, too many to handle with the assault weapon alone,so he served up a couple of grenades. One of the Elites was blown to piecesby the overlapping35 explosions, another lost a leg, and a Grunt33 was thrownhalfway across the room.
They’d come full circle—he’d blasted Covenant troops apart before thecrash landing, and here he was again.The enemy just didn’t learn, hethought.
There was a survivor36, however, a tough Elite31 who threw a plasma grenade ofhis own, and missed by a matter of centimeters. The Master Chief ran and wasclear of the blast zone by the time the device went off. The Elite charged,took the better part of a full clip, and finally slammed into the deck,dead.
It was a short distance to the burned-out bridge, where a Covenant securityteam was on duty. Word had been passed: They knew the human was on his way,and opened fire the moment they saw him.
Once again the Spartan made use of a grenade to even the odds37—then crushedthe head of an Elite with his fist. The alien’s head was turned to pulp38 andits body collapsed39 like a puppet with no strings40. The armor gave him enoughstrength to flip41 a Warthog over. Then, just when he thought the battle wasdone, a Grunt shot him in the back. The audible went off as his armor soughtto recharge itself. A second shot, delivered with sufficient speed, wouldkill him.
Time seemed to slow as the Master Chief turned toward his right.
The Grunt, who had been hiding inside an equipment cabinet, froze as thearmored alien not only survived what should have been a fatal shot, butturned to face him. They were only an arm’s length away from each other,which meant that the Master Chief could reach out, rip the breather off hisassailant’s face, and close the door on him.
There was a loudclick followed by wild hammering as the Chief made his wayforward to the spot where Captain Keyes had issued his orders. Cortanaappeared over the control panel in front of him. Everywhere the AI lookedshe saw burned-out equipment, bloodstained decks, and smashed viewports.
She shook her head sadly. “I leave home for a few days, and look whathappens.”
Cortana brought a hand up to her semitransparent forehead. “This won’ttake long— There, that should give us enough time to make it to thelifeboat, and put some distance between ourselves and Halobeforedetonation.”
The next voice the Chief heard belonged to 343 Guilty Spark. “I’m afraidthat’s out of the question.”
Cortana groaned42. “Oh, hell.”
The Chief brought his weapon up but saw no sign of the Monitor or hisSentinels. That didn’t prevent the construct from babbling44 in his ears,though—the AI had tapped into his comm system. “Ridiculous! That you wouldimbue your warship’s AI with such a wealth of knowledge. Wouldn’t youworry that it might be captured? Or destroyed?”
Cortana frowned. “He’s in my data arrays—a local tap.”
Though nowhere near the bridge, the Monitorwas on board, and flitted fromone control panel to the next, sucking information out of Cortana’snonsentient subprocessors with the ease of someone vacuuming a set ofdrapes. “You can’t imagine how exciting this is! To have a record of allour lost time. Oh, how I will enjoy every moment of categorization. To thinkthat you would destroy this installation, as well as this record . . . Iamshocked . Almost too shocked for words.”
“He stopped the self-destruct sequence,” Cortana warned.
“Why do you continue to fight us, Reclaimer45?” Spark demanded. “You cannotwin! Give us the construct—and I will endeavor to make your deathrelatively painless and—”
The rest of 343 Guilty Spark’s words were chopped off as if someone hadthrown a switch. “At least I still have control over the comm channels,”
Cortana said.
“Where is he?” the Chief asked.
“I’m detecting taps throughout the ship,” Cortana replied. “Sentinelsmost likely. As for the Monitor—he’sin Engineering. He must be trying totake the core off-line. Even if I could get the countdown restarted . . . Idon’t know what to do.”
The Spartan stared at the hologram in surprise. This was a first—and itmade her seem more human somehow. “How much firepower would you need tocrack one of the engine shields?”
“Not much,” Cortana replied, “a well-placed grenade perhaps. But why?”
He produced a grenade, tossed the device into the air, and caught it again.
The AI’s eyes widened and she nodded. “Okay, let’s go.”
The Spartan turned and started to leave.
“Chief!” Cortana said. “Sentinels!”
In unison46, the machines attacked.
Major Silva stood at what amounted to parade rest, feet spread, handsclasped behind his back, as he looked out over the landing pads while themen and women under his command made final preparations for the assault onthe Covenant shipTruth and Reconciliation47 .
Fifteen Banshees, all scrounged from different sites across Halo’sembattled surface, sat waiting for the order to launch.
Pelicans48, three of the four that the humans had left, squatted50 ramps51 down asheavily loaded Marines filed aboard. Each of the surviving 236 leatherneckswas armed with weapons appropriate to the mission at hand. No long-rangestuff, like rocket launchers or sniper rifles, just assault weapons,shotguns, and grenades, all of which were lethal53 within enclosed spaces, andwould be effective against both the Covenant and the Flood.
Naval54 personnel, and there were seventy-six of them, were armed withCovenant plasma rifles and pistols, which, thanks to their light weight, andthe fact that there was no need to tote additional ammo, left the swabbiesfree to carry tools, food, and medical supplies. They had orders to avoidcombat, if possible—and concentrate on running the ship. Some, a group ofsixteen individuals, had skills considered to be so critical that each onehad been given two Marine52 bodyguards55.
Assuming that Cortana and the Master Chief were able to complete theirmission, they would take one of theAutumn ’s remaining lifeboats andrendezvous with theTruth and Reconciliation out in space. Annoying thoughshe sometimes was, the officer knew Cortana would be able to pilot the alienvessel, and get them home.
Failing that, Silva hoped that Wellsley, with help from the Naval personnel,would be able to take the cruiser through Slipspace and back to Earth. Anevent he had already planned for, right down to what he would wear, and ashort but moving speech for the media.
As if summoned by his thoughts, Wellsley chose that moment to intrude56 on theofficer’s reverie. The AI, who rode in an armored matrix slung57 fromSilva’s shoulder, was characteristically unapologetic. “Lieutenant58 McKaycalled in, Major. Force One is in place.”
Silva nodded, remembered that Wellsley couldn’t actually see him, and said,“Good. Now, if they can lay low for the next couple of hours, we’ll be ingood shape.”
“I have every confidence in theLieutenant ,” the AI replied plainly.
The implication was obvious. While Wellsley had faith in McKay, the AI hadconcerns where the Lieutenant’s superior was concerned. Silva sighed. Hadthe artificial intelligence been human, the officer would have put him inhis place long ago. But Wellsleywasn’t human, couldn’t be manipulated inthe same fashion that flesh-and-blood subordinates could, and like the humanon whom he had modeled himself, tended to speak his mind. “All right,” theMajor said reluctantly, “what’s the problem?”
“The ‘problem,’ ” Wellsley began, “is the Flood. If the plan issuccessful, and we manage to take theTruth and Reconciliation , there willalmost certainly be Flood forms on board. In fact, based on what Cortana andI have been able to piece together, that’s the only reason the vesselremains where it is. All of the necessary repairs have been made, andCovenant forces are trying to sterilize60 the ship’s interior prior tolifting off.”
“Which answers your question,” Silva said, struggling to contain hisimpatience. “By the time we take over, most of the Flood will be dead. Onceunderway, I will dispatch hunter-killer teams to find the survivors61. Withthe exception of a few specimens62 which I will place under heavy guard, therest will be ejected into space. There, are you satisfied?”
“No,”Wellsley replied firmly. “Were a carrier form to escape ontoEarth’s surface, the entire planet could fall. This threat is as dangerousas, if not more so than, the Covenant. Cortana and I agree—no Flood formcan be allowed to leave this system.”
Silva took a quick look around to make sure no one was close enough to hearhim and let the anger enter his voice. “Both you and Cortana have atendency to forget one very important fact—I’min command here and youarenot . And I defy you to find anywhere in my orders that identifies athreat to Earthbigger than the goddamned Covenant!
“Your role is to provide advice. Mine is to make decisions. It’s my beliefthat we could find better ways to combat the Flood if our scientists hadlive specimens with which to work. More than that, our people need toseethis new enemy,know how dangerous they are, andbelieve that they can beconquered.”
Wellsley considered taking the debate one step further, by pointing out thatSilva’s ambitions might well have clouded his judgment63, but knew it wouldbe a waste of time. “That’s your final decision?”
“Yes, it is.”
“Then God help you,” the AI replied gravely, “because if your plan fails,no one else will have the power to do so.”
The compartment7, a space untouched by the fighting, had once served as aready room for the ship’s Longsword, Pelican49, and shuttle pilots. Now, withno modifications64 other than the installation of some crude sleepingaccommodations, a back table with some food on it, and crates65 of supplies,the room functioned as an unofficial HQ for Covenant forces stationed aboardthePillar of Autumn .
The command staff, or what was left of it, sat slumped66 in the uncomfortablyalien chairs, many too tired to move, and stared up at their leader. Hisname was ’Ontomee, and he was confused, frustrated67, and secretlyfrightened. The situation aboard theAutumn had deteriorated68 dramatically. Inspite of all the efforts to stop them, Flood forms continued to trickle69 intothe ship.
The disgusting filth70 had even managed to seize control of the ship’sengineering spaces before anew enemy, one which was inimical to Covenant andFlood form alike, sent an army of flying robots into the ship and tookcontrol of the Engine Room.
Now, as if to prove that ’Ontomee was truly cursed, stillanother threat hadarrived on the scene, and he was reluctant to share the news with thealready exhausted71 Elites arrayed in front of him.
“So,” ’Ontomee began lamely72, “it seems that a human crashed a Bansheeinto the side of the ship, and is now on board.”
A veteran named ’Kasamee frowned. “ ‘Ahuman’? As in, asingle human? Withrespect, Excellency, one human more or less will hardly make a difference.”
’Ontomee swallowed. “Yes, well, normally I would agree with you, exceptthatthis human is somewhat unusual. First, because he wears special armor,second, because it appears that he’s on some sort of mission, and third,because he singlehandedly killed every member of Security Team Three, whichhad responsibility for the command and control deck.”
Unnoticed by those in front of him, the seemingly lethargic73 officer known asHuki ’Umamee started to look interested. He sat up straighter, and began topay close attention. Having chosen a seat in the last row, ’Zamamee foundit difficult to hear. The discussion continued.
“Onehuman accomplished74 all that?” ’Kasamee demanded incredulously. “Thathardly seems possible.”
“Yes,” ’Ontomee agreed, “but he did. Not only that, but havingaccomplished whatever he entered the control area to do, he left, and issomewhere else on board this ship.” The Elite scanned the faces in front ofhim. “Who has the skill and courage required to find the alien and killhim?”
The response came with gratifying speed. “Ido,” ’Zamamee said, now on hisfeet.
’Ontomee peered into the harsh human lights. “Who is that?”
“ ’Umamee,” the Elite lied.
“Ah, yes,” ’Ontomee replied gratefully. “A commando . . . Just the sortof person we need to rid ourselves of this two-legged vermin. The mission isyours. Keep me informed.
“Now, turning our attention to these new airborne mechanisms75 . . .”
Later, as the meeting ended, ’Kasamee went looking for the volunteer, fullyintending to compliment the younger officer on his initiative. But, like thehuman the Elite was supposed to find, the Elite officer had disappeared.
Having fought his way clear of the bridge, the Master Chief made his waythrough a series of passageways, ran into more Flood and gunned them down.
Cortana figured that they could access the Engine Room via the cryo chamber76,and that was where the Chief was headed. The problem was that he keptrunning into jammed hatches, locked doors, and other obstacles that kept himfrom taking a direct route.
After he moved through a large, dark room strewn with weapons, the Chiefheard the sounds of combat coming from the area beyond a closed hatch. Hepaused, heard the noises die away, and slipped out into the corridor. Bodieslay all about as he slid along a bulkhead, saw some spikes77 sticking up overa cargo78 module79, and felt his blood run cold. A Hunter! Or more accuratelytwoHunters, since they traveled in pairs.
Lacking a rocket launcher, the Chief turned to the only heavy-duty firepower that he had: grenades.
He threw two grenades in quick succession, saw the spined81 behemoth go down,and heard a roar of outrage82 as the second Hunter charged.
The Spartan fired just to slow the alien down, backed through the hatch, andgave thanks as the door closed. That gave him two or three seconds that heneeded to plant his feet, pull another grenade, and prepare to throw it.
The hatch opened, the fragmentation grenade flew straight and true, and theexplosion knocked the beast off its feet. The deck shook as the body hit.
The Hunter attempted to rise but fell under a hail of armor-piercingbullets.
The Master Chief gave the corpse84 a wide berth85 as he left the room, andpassed back into the hall. As he made his way through the ship’s corridors,he saw blood-splattered bulkheads, bodies sprawled86 in every imaginableposture of death, blown hatches, sparks flying out of junction87 boxes, and aseries of small fires, which thanks to a lack of combustible88 materialsseemed to be fairly well contained.
He heard the sound of automatic weapons’ fire somewhere ahead, and passedthrough another hatch. Inside, a fire burned at the point where two largepipes traversed a maintenance bay. He was close to the cryo chamber, orthought he was, but needed to find a way in.
Hesitant to jump through the flames unless it was absolutely necessary, hetook a right turn instead. The sounds of combat grew louder as the hatchopened onto a large room where a full array of Flood forms were battling aclutch of Sentinels. He paused, shouldered his weapon, and fired. Sentinelscrashed, carrier forms exploded, and everyone fired at one another in a madmelee of crisscrossing energy beams, 7.62mm projectiles89, and explodingneedles.
Once the robots had been put out of action, and most of the Flood had beenneutralized, the Chief was able to cross the middle of the room, climb aladder, and gain the catwalk above. From that vantage point he could lookacross into the Maintenance Control Room, where a couple of Sentinels werehard at work trying to zap a group of Flood, none of whom were willing to betoasted without putting up a fight. The combatants were too busy to worryabout stray humans, however, and the noncom took advantage of that to workhis way down the walkway and into the Control Room.
Andthat , as he soon learned, was a big mistake.
It wasn’t too bad at first, or didn’t seem to be, as he destroyed both ofthe Sentinels, and went to work on the Flood. But every time he put one formdown, it seemed as if two more arrived to take its place, soon forcing himonto the defensive90.
He retreated into the antechamber adjacent to the Control Room. The humanhad little choice but to place his back against a locked hatch. The largerforms came in twos and threes—while the infection forms came in swarms91.
Some of the assaults seemed to be random92, but many appeared to becoordinated as one, or two, or three combat forms would hurl94 themselvesforward, die under the assault weapon’s thundering fire, and fall just asthe Spartan ran out of ammo, andmore carrier forms waddled95 into the fray96.
He slung his AR, drew the shotgun—briefly hoping there would be a lullduring which to reload—and opened fire on the bloated monstrosities beforethe force exerted by their exploding bodies could do him harm.
Then, with newly spawned97 infection forms flying in every direction it wasclean-up time followed by a desperate effort to reload both weapons beforethenext wave of creatures attempted to roll over him.
He dropped into a pattern of fire and movement. He made his way through theship, closer to the engineering spaces, pausing only to pour fire into knotsof targets of opportunity. Then, he quickly disengaged, reloaded, and ranfarther into the ship.
The noise generated by his own weapons hammered at the Master Chief’s ears,the thick gagging odor of Flood blood clogged98 his throat, and his mindeventually grew numb99 from all the killing100.
After dispatching a Covenant combat team, he crouched101 behind a support strutand fed rounds into the shotgun. Without warning, a combat form leaped onhis back and smashed a large wrench102 into his helmet. His shield dropped awayfrom the force of the blow, which allowed an infection form to land on hisvisor.
Even as he staggered under the impact, and pawed at the form’s slick body,a penetrator punched its way through his neck seal, located his bare skin,and sliced it open.
The Spartan gave a cry of pain, felt the tentacle103 slide down toward hisspine, and knew it was over.
Though unable to pick up a weapon and kill the infection form directly,Cortana had other resources, and rushed to use them. Careful not to draintoo much power, the AI diverted some energy away from the MJOLNIR armor, andmade use of it to create an electrical discharge. The infection form startedto vibrate as the electricity coursed through it. The Chief jerked as theFlood form’s penetrator delivered a shock to his nervous system, and thepod popped, misting the Spartan’s visor with green blood spray.
The Chief could see well enough to fight, however, and did so, killing thewrench-wielding combat form with a burst of bullets.
“Sorry about that,” Cortana said, as the Spartan cleared the area aroundhim, “but I couldn’t think of anything else to do.”
“You did fine,” he replied, pausing to reload. “That was close.”
Another two or three minutes passed before the Flood gave up and he couldtake the moment necessary to remove his helmet, jerk the penetrator out fromunder his skin, and slap a self-adhering antiseptic battle dressing104 over thewound. It hurt like hell: The Spartan winced105 as he lowered the helmet backover his head, and sealed his suit.
Then, pausing only to kill a couple of stray infection forms, and stilllooking for a way to gain entry to the cryo chamber, the Chief made his waythrough a number of passageways, into a maze of maintenance tunnels, and outinto a corridor where he spotted23 a red arrow on the deck along with thewordENGINEERING .
Finally, a break.
No longer concerned with finding a way into cryo, the noncom passed througha hatch and entered the first passageway he’d seen that was well lit, freeof bloodstains, and not littered with corpses106. A series of turns brought himto a hatch.
“Engine Room located,” Cortana announced. “We’re here.”
The Spartan heard humming, and knew that 343 Guilty Spark was somewhere inthe vicinity. He had already started to back through the hatch when Cortanasaid, “Alert! The Monitor has disabled all command access. We can’trestart the countdown. The only remaining option will be to detonate theship’s fusion18 reactors107.That should do enough damage to destroy Halo.
“Don’t worry . . . I have access to all of the reactor108 schematics andprocedures. I’ll walk you through it. First we need to pull back theexhaust coupling. That will expose a shaft109 that leads to the primary fusiondrive core.”
“Oh, good,” the Spartan replied. “I was afraid it might be complicated.”
The Chief reopened the hatch, stepped out into the Engine Room, and aninfection form flew straight at his faceplate.
The attack on theTruth and Reconciliation came with mind-numbing speed as awing110 of fifteen Banshees came screaming out of the sun, attacked the nearlyidentical number of Covenant aircraft assigned to fly cover over thecruiser, and knocked half of them out of the sky during the first sixtyseconds of combat.
Then, even as individual dogfights continued, Lieutenant “Cookie” Petersonand his fellow Pelican pilots delivered Silva, Wellsley, and forty-fiveheavily armed Marines into the enemy cruiser’s shuttle bay, where the firstleathernecks off the ramps smothered111 the Covenant security team in a hail ofbullets, secured all the hatches, and sent a team of fifteen Helljumpersracing for the ship’s Control Room.
Conscious of the fact that occupying the Control Room wouldn’t mean muchunless they owned engineering as well, the humans launched a nearlysimultaneous ground attack. Thanks to the previous effort, in which theMaster Chief and a group of Marines had entered the ship looking for CaptainKeyes, McKay had the benefit of everything learned during that mission,including a detailed113 description of the gravity lift, video of the interiorcorridors, and operational data which Cortana had siphoned out of theship’s systems.
Not too surprisingly, security around the gravity lift had been tripledsince the previous incursion, which meant that even though McKay and herforce of Helljumpers had been able to creep within meters of the hill onwhich the gravity field was focused, they still had six Hunters, twelveElites, and a mixed bag of Grunts and Jackals to cope with before they couldboard the vessel above.
Having anticipated that problem, McKay had equipped her fifteen-person teamwith eight rocket launchers, all of which were aimed squarely at theHunters.
The Covenant-flown Banshees had just come under attack, and the spinedmonsters were staring up into a nearly cloudless sky, when McKay gave theword: “Now!”
All eight launchers fired one, thentwo rockets, putting a total of sixteenof the shaped charges on the aliens, so that the Hunters never had a chanceto fight as a series of red-orange explosions blew them apart.
Even as gobbets of raw meat continued to rain out of the sky, the launcherswere reloaded, and another flight of rockets was sent on its way.
Three or four of the Elites had been killed during the initial attack, whichmeant that some of the survivors were targeted by as many as two missiles,and simply ceased to exist as the powerful 102mm rounds detonated.
Those who survived the volley, and there weren’t many, fell quickly as therest of the team hurled114 grenades into the enemy positions, and hosed themwith automatic fire. Total elapsed time: 36 seconds.
A full minute was consumed racing112 up the hill and greasing the guard at thetop, which meant that 1:36 had passed by the time the murderous humansappeared inside theTruth and Reconciliation , slaughtered115 the Grunts onguard duty, and deactivated116 the lift.
Jenkins was chained between a pair of burly Marines. McKay waved the trioforward. “Let’s go, Marines. We’re supposed to take the Engine Room—solet’s get to work.”
Jenkins, or what remained of Jenkins, could smell the Flood. They werethere, hiding in the ship, and he struggled to tell McKay that. But the onlything that came out was a series of grunts and hoots117. The humans had takenthe ship, but they had taken something else as well, something that couldkill every single one of them.
’Zamamee ushered118 Yayap into the heavily guarded Covenant CommunicationsCenter—and gave the Grunt a moment to look around. The space had oncehoused all of the communications gear associated with thePillar of Autumn’s auxiliary119 fighters, shuttles, and transports. Human gear had been rippedout to make room for Covenant equipment, but everything else was pretty muchin the same configuration120. A team of six com techs were on duty, all withtheir backs to the center of the room, banks of equipment arrayed in frontof them. A constant murmur121 of conversation could be heard via the overheadspeakers, some of which was punctuated122 by the sounds of combat, as orderswent out and reports came back in.
“This is where you will sit,” the Elite explained, pointing toward avacant chair. “All you have to do is listen to the incoming traffic, makenote of the reports that pertain123 to the human, and pass the informationalong to me by radio.
“He has an objective, we can be sure of that, and once we know where he’sgoing, I’ll be there to greet him. I know you would prefer to be in on thekill, but you’re the only individual I can trust to handle mycommunications, so I hope you’ll understand.”
Yayap, who didn’t want to be anywhere near the kill, tried to lookdowncast. “I’ll do my part, Excellency, and take pleasure in the team’ssuccess.”
“That’s the spirit!” ’Zamamee said encouragingly. “I knew I could counton you. Now sit down at the console, put on that headset, and get ready totake some notes. We know he left what the humans refer to as ‘the bridge,’
fought a battle near the Maintenance Control Room, and was last spottedheading toward the Engine Room. We don’t have any personnel in thatcompartment at the moment, but that doesn’t matter, because the realchallenge is to figure out where he’s headednext . You feed the informationto me, I’ll take my combat team to the right place, and the human willenter the trap. The rest will be easy.”
Yayap remembered previous encounters with the human, felt a chill run downhis spine80, and took his seat. Something told him that when it came to afinal confrontation124 between the Elite and the human, it might be manythings, but it wouldn’t be easy.
The Engine Room hatch opened, an infection form went for the Master Chief’sface, and he fired a quarter of a clip into it. A lot more bullets than thetarget required, but the memory of how the penetrator had slipped in underthe surface of his skin was still fresh in his mind, and he wasn’t about toallow any of the pods near his face again, especially with a hole in hisneck seal. A red nav indicator125 pointed126 the way toward a ramp5 at the far endof the enormous room.
He pounded his way up onto a raised platform, ran past banks of controls,and ducked through the hatch that led up to Level Two. He followed apassageway out into an open area, and then up the ramp to Level Three. Nearthe top, a pair of combat forms fell to his well-placed fire. He policed thefallen creatures’ ammo and grenades and kept going.
“Not acceptable, Reclaimer,” 343 Guilty Spark intoned. “Youmust surrenderthe construct.”
The Chief ignored the Monitor, made his way up to Level Three, andencountered a reception party comprised of Flood. He opened fire, took twocombat forms and a carrier down off the top, and backed away in order toreload.
Then, with a fresh clip in place, he opened fire, cut the nearest form offat the knees, tossed a grenade into the crowd behind him. The fragdetonated, and blew them to hell.
Quick bursts of automatic fire were sufficient to finish the survivors andallow the Master Chief to reach the far end of the passageway. A group offorms were waiting there to greet him, but quickly gave way to a determinedassault as he made his way up the blood-slicked steel, and through the hatchat the top of the ramp.
He moved onto the Level Three catwalk and immediately started to take fire.
There was total chaos128 as the Sentinels fired on the Flood, the Flood shotback, and everyone seemed to want a piece of him. It was important toconcentrate, however, to focus on his mission, so the Spartan made a maddash for the nearest control panel. He hit the control labeledOPEN , heard abeeper go off, followed by the sound of Cortana’s voice.
“Good! Step one complete! We have a straight shot into the fusion reactor.
We need a catalytic explosion to destabilize the magnetic containment129 fieldsurrounding the fusion cell.”
“Oh,” the petty officer said as he jumped down onto a thick slab130 ofduracrete, and felt it start to move. “I thought I was supposed to throw agrenade into a hole.”
“That’s what I said.”
The Chief grinned as a brightly lit rectangular slot appeared, and he tosseda grenade in through the opening.
The ensuing explosion threw bits of charred131 metal around the smoke-filledcompartment.
One down, and three to go,the Spartan told himself as the Sentinels fired,and the laser beams hit his chest.
Thanks to the lightning-fast and extremely well coordinated93 nature of theattack, the humans controlled more than eighty percent of theTruth andReconciliation , and were preparing to lift off. Those compartments notunder human control could be dealt with later on. There hadn’t been anycontact with Cortana for a while—and Silva intended to play it safe. IfHalo was about to blow, he wanted to befar away when the event took place.
The cruiser’s Control Room was a scene of frantic132 activity as Wellsleywrestled with the ship’s nonsentient nav comp, Naval personnel struggled tofamiliarize themselves with all manner of alien control systems, and Silvagloated over his latest coup34. The attack had been so fast, so successful,that his Helljumpers had captured a being who referred to himself as a“Prophet,” and claimed to be an important member of the Covenant’s rulingclass. Now, safely locked away, the alien was slated135 to become yet anotherelement in Silva’s triumphant136 return to Earth. The officer smiled as theship’s gravity locks were released, the hull swayed slightly in response,and the final preflight check began.
Many decks below, McKay felt someone touch her arm. “Lieutenant? Do youhave a moment?”
Though not in the same chain of command, Lieutenant Commander Gail Purdyoutranked the Helljumper, which was why McKay responded by saying, “Yes,ma’am. What can I do for you?”
Purdy was an Engineering officer, and one of those sixteen individuals whorated bodyguards, both of whom had their backs to the officer and werefacing out. She was middle-aged137 and stout138, with ginger-colored hair. Hereyes were serious and locked with McKay’s.
“Step over here. I’d like to show you something.”
McKay followed the other officer over to a large tube that served to bridgethe one-meter gap between one blocky-looking installation and the next.
Jenkins, who had no choice but to go wherever his Marine guards went, wasforced to follow.
“See that?” the Naval officer inquired, pointing at the tube.
“Yes, ma’am,” McKay answered, mystified as to what such a structure couldpossibly have to do with her.
“That’s an access point for the fiber139-optic pathway that links the ControlRoom to the engines,” the Engineer explained. “If someone were to severthat connection, the power plants would run wild. There may be a bypasssomewhere—but we haven’t found it. Given the fact that twenty percent ofthe ship remains59 under Covenant control I suggest that you post a guard onthis piece of equipment until all of the Covenant are under lock and key.”
Purdy’s suggestion had the force of an order, and McKay said, “Yes,ma’am. I’ll take care of it.”
The Naval officer nodded as the deck tilted140 and forced both women to grabonto the fiber channel. Two people were thrown to the deck. Purdy grinned.
“Pretty sloppy141, huh? Captain Keyes would have a fit!”
Silva wasn’t worried about the finer points of ship handling as the finalloads of UNSC personnel were deposited in the shuttle bay, the Pelicans weresecured, the outer doors were closed, and theTruth and Reconciliationstruggled to break the grip that Halo had on her hull.
No, Silva was satisfied merely to get clear of the surface, to feel the deckvibrate as the cruiser’s engines struggled to push countless142 tons ofdeadweight up through the ring world’s gravity well, to the point where theship would break free.
Spurred into action by the vibration143, or perhaps just tired of waiting, theFlood chose that moment to attack the Engine Room. A vent43 popped open, anavalanche of infection forms poured out and came under immediate127 fire.
Jenkins went berserk, and jerked on his chains, gibbering incoherently asthe Marine guards struggled to bring him under control.
The battle lasted for less than a minute before all of the Flood forms werekilled, the vent was sealed, and the cover welded into place. But the attackserved to illustrate144 the concerns that McKay already had. The Flood werelike an extremely deadly virus—and it was na.ve to believe that they couldbe controlled by anything short of extermination145. The Marine used her statusas XO to get through to Silva, gave a report on the attack, and finished bysaying, “It’s clear that the ship is still infected, sir. I suggest thatwe put down and sterilize every square centimeter prior to lifting again.”
“Negative,Lieutenant,” Silva replied grimly. “I have reason to believethat Halo is going to blow, and soon. Besides, Iwant some specimens, so seewhat you can do to capture some of the ugly bastards146.”
“The Lieutenant is correct,” Wellsley put in dispassionately. “The riskistoo great. I urge you to reconsider.”
“My decision is final,” Silva growled148. “Now, return to your duties, andthat’s anorder .”
McKay broke the connection. The military incorporated many virtues149, in hermind at least, one of the most important of which was duty. Duty not just tothe Corps83, but to the billions of people on Earth, to whom she wasultimately responsible. Now, faced with the conflict between militarydiscipline, the glue that held everything together, and duty, the purpose ofit all, what was she supposed to do?
The answer, strangely enough, came from Jenkins, who, having been privy150 toher end of the conversation, jerked at his chain. The action took one of theguards by surprise. He fell as Jenkins lunged in the direction of the fiber-optic connection, and was still trying to regain151 his feet when the combatform ran out of slack, and came up short. Seconds later the Marines hadJenkins back under control.
Having failed to do what he knew was right, and with his chains stretchedtight, Jenkins looked imploringly152 into McKay’s eyes.
McKay realized that the decision lay in her hands, and that although it washorrible almost beyond comprehension, it was simple as well. So simple thateven the grotesquely153 ravaged154 Jenkins knew where his duty lay.
Slowly, deliberately155, the Marine crossed the deck to the point where theguard stood, told him to take a break, took one last look around, andtriggered a grenade. Jenkins, still unable to speak, managed to mouth thewords “thank you.”
Silva was too many decks removed to feel the explosion, or to hear themuffled thump156, butwas able to witness the results firsthand. Someone yelled,“The controls are gone!” The deck tilted as theTruth and Reconciliationdid a nose-over, and Wellsley made one last comment.
“You taught her well, Major. Ofthat you can be proud.”
Then the bow struck, a series of explosions rippled157 the length of the hull,and the ship, as well as all of those aboard her, ceased to exist.
“You’re sure?” ’Zamamee demanded, his voice slightly distorted by boththe radio and an increasing amount of static.
Yayap wasn’t sure of anything, other than the fact that the reports flowingin around him were increasingly negative, as Covenant forces came underheavy fire from both the Floodand the Sentinels. Something had caused a rockto form down in the Grunt’s abdomen—and made him feel slightly nauseated158.
But it would never do to say that, not to someone like ’Zamamee, so he liedinstead. “Yes, Excellency. Based on the reports, and looking at theschematics here in the Communications Center, it looks like the human willhave little choice but to exit via hatch E-117, make his way to lift V-1269,and go up to a Class Seven service corridor that runs along the ship’sspine.”
“Good work, Yayap,” the Elite said. “We’re on our way.”
For reasons he wasn’t entirely159 sure of, and in spite of his many failings,the Grunt felt a strange sense of affection for the Elite. “Be careful,Excellency. The human is extremely dangerous.”
“Don’t worry,” ’Zamamee replied, “I have a surprise for our adversary160.
A little something that will even the odds. I’ll call you the moment he’sdead.”
Yayap said, “Yes, Excellency,” heard a click, and knew it was the lasttime he would hear the officer’s voice. Not because he believed that’Zamamee was going to die—but because he believedall of them were aboutdie.
That’s why the diminutive161 alien announced that he was going on a break,left the Communications Center, and never came back.
Shortly thereafter he loaded a day’s worth of food plus a tank of methaneonto a Ghost, steered162 the vehicle out away from thePillar of Autumn , andimmediately found what he was searching for: a sense of peace. For the firsttime in many, many days Yayap was happy.
As the final grenade went off, the Master Chief felt the shaft he wasstanding on shake in sympathy and Cortana yelled into his ears. “That didit! The engines will go critical. We have fifteen minutes to get off theship! We should move outside and get to the third deck elevator. It willtake us to a Class Seven service corridor that runs the length of the ship.
Hurry!”
The Chief jumped up onto the Level Three platform, blasted a combat form,and turned toward the hatch off to his right. It opened, he passed through,and ran the length of the passageway. A second door opened onto the areadirectly in front of the large service elevator.
The Chief heard machinery163 whir, figured he had triggered a sensor164, andwaited for the lift to arrive. For the first time in hours there was noimmediate threat, no imminent165 danger, and the Spartan allowed himself torelax fractionally. It was a mistake.
“Chief!” Cortana said. “Get back!”
Thanks to the warning, he was already backing through the hatch when thelift appeared from below, and the Elite, seated in the plasma turret166, openedfire.
Special Ops Officer Zuka ’Zamamee fired the Shade. The energy cannon167 tookup most of the platform, leaving barely enough room for the Grunts who hadhelped the Elite wrestle133 the weapon aboard. The bolt flared168 blue, hit thehatch as it started to close, and slagged169 half the door.
He felt elation170 as the waves of energy slashed171 through the air toward histarget. Soon, victory would be complete, and his honor could be restored.
Then he’d deal with the tiresome172 Grunt, Yayap.
It was going to be a glorious day.
“Damn!” the Chief exclaimed. “Where didthat come from?”
“It looks like someone has been tracking you,” Cortana said grimly. “Now,get ready—I’ll take control of the elevator and cause it to drop. You rolla couple of grenades into the shaft.”
’Zamamee saw the energy bolt hit the hatch, experienced a sense ofexhilaration as the human hurried to escape, and felt the platform jerk to ahalt.
The Elite had just fired again, just blown what remained of the human’scover away, when he heard a clank and the lift started to descend173.
“No!”he shouted, sure that one of the Grunts was responsible for thesudden movement, and desperate lest the human escape his clutches. But itwas too late, and there was nothing the smaller aliens could do, as theelevator continued to fall.
Then, even as his target vanished from sight, and ’Zamamee railed at hissubordinates, a couple of grenades tumbled down from above, rattled174 aroundthe floor, and exploded.
The force of the blast lifted the Elite up and out of his seat, gave him onelast look at his opponent, and let him fall. He hit with a thud, feltsomething snap, and waited for his first glimpse of paradise.
Cortana brought the lift back up. The Master Chief had little choice but tostep onto the gore-splattered platform and let it carry him toward theservice corridor above. Cortana took advantage of the moment to work on theescape plan.
“Cortana to Echo 419, come in Echo 419.”
“Roger, Cortana,”Foehammer said from somewhere above,“I read you five-byfive.”
The Master Chief felt a series of explosions shake the elevator, knew theship was starting to come apart, and looked forward to the moment when hewould be free of it.
“ThePillar of Autumn ’s engines are going critical, Foehammer,” Cortanacontinued. “Request immediate extraction. Be ready to pick us up atexternal access junction four-C as soon as you get my signal.”
“Affirmative. Echo 419 to Cortana—things are getting noisy downthere . . . Is everything okay?”
The elevator shook again as the AI said, “Negative, negative! We have awildcat destabilization of the ship’s fusion core. The engines must havesustained more damage than we thought.”
Then, as the platform jerked to a halt, and a piece of debris175 fell fromsomewhere up above, the AI spoke176 to the Spartan. “We have six minutesbefore the fusion drives detonate. We need to evacuatenow ! The explosionwill generate a temperature of almost a hundred million degrees.Don’t behere when it blows!”
That sounded like excellent advice. The Master Chief ran through a hatchinto a bay full of Warthogs, each stowed in its own individual slot. Hechose one that was located near the entry, jumped into the driver’s seat,and was relieved when the vehicle started up.
The countdown timer which Cortana had projected onto the inside surface ofhis HUD was not only running, but runningfast , or so it seemed to the Chiefas he drove out of the bay, hooked a left to avoid a burning ’Hog, andplowed through a mob of Covenant and Flood. An Elite went down, was suckedunder the big off-road tires, and caused the vehicle to buck177 as it passedover him. The slope ahead was thick with roly-poly infection forms. Theypopped like firecrackers as the human accelerated uphill and plasma boltsraced to catch him from behind. Then, cautious lest he make a mistake andlose valuable time, he took his foot off the accelerator and paused at thetop of the ramp.
A large passageway stretched before him, with walkways to either side, apedestrian bridge in the distance, and a narrow service tunnel directlyahead. A couple of Flood forms were positioned on top of the entrance andfired down at him as he pushed the Warthog forward, and nosed into theopening ahead.
The ramp sloped down, the Spartan braked, and he was soon glad that he hadas something wentboom! and hurled pieces of jagged metal across thepassageway in front of him. The Chief took his foot off the brake, converteda carrier form into paste, and sent the LRV up the opposite slope.
He emerged from the subsurface tunnel, and with a barrier ahead, he swungleft, ran the length of a vertical178 wall. He saw a narrow ramp, acceleratedup-slope, and jumped a pair of gaps that he never would have tackled had hebeen aware of them. He hit a level stretch, braked reflexively, and wasthankful when the Warthog nose-dived off the end of the causeway and plungedinto another service tunnel.
Now, with a group of Flood ahead, he pushed through them, crushed themonsters under his tires.
“Nice job on that last section,” Cortana said admiringly. “How did youknow about the dive off the end?”
“I didn’t,” the Master Chief said as the LRV lurched up out of the tunneland nosed into another.
“Oh.”
This passage was empty, which allowed the Spartan to pick up speed as heguided the Warthog up into a larger tunnel. The ’Hog caught some air, andhe put the pedal to the metal in an effort to pick up some time.
The large passageway was smooth and clear, but took them out into a hell offlying metal, homicidal Flood, and laser-happy Sentinels, all of whom triedto cancel his ticket while he paused, spotted an elevated ramp off to theleft, and steered for it even as crisscrossing energy beams sizzled acrossthe surface of his armor and explored the interior of the vehicle.
The Spartan fought to control the ’Hog as one tire rode up onto the metalcurb and threatened to pull the entire vehicle off into the chaos below. Itwas difficult, with fire sleeting179 in from every possible direction, but theChief made the necessary correction, came down off the ramp, hooked a left,and found himself in a huge tunnel with central support pillars that marchedoff into the distance.
Careful to weave back and forth180 between the pillars in order to improve histime, he rolled through a fight between the Flood and a group of Covenant,took fire from a flock of Sentinels, and gunned the LRV out into anotheropen area with a barrier ahead. A quick glance confirmed that anotherelevated ramp ran down the left side of the enormous passageway, so hesteered for that.
Explosions sent gouts of flame and smoke up through the grating ahead ofhim, and threatened to heave the Warthog off the track.
Once off the ramp, things became a little easier as the Spartan entered alarge tunnel, sped the length of it, braked into an open area, and pushedthe vehicle down into a smaller service tunnel. Infection forms made loudpopping sounds as the tires ate them alive. The engine growled, and theChief nearly lost it as he came out of the tunnel too fast, realized therewas another subsurface passageway ahead, and did a nose-over that caused thefront wheels not only to hit hard but nearly flipped181 the ’Hog end-for-end.
Only some last-minute braking and a measure of good luck brought the LRVdown right side up and allowed the Master Chief to climb up out of thepassageway and into a maze of pillars.
He swore as he was forced to wind his way between the obstacles whileprecious seconds came off the countdown clock and every alien, freak, androbot with a weapon took potshots at him while he did so. Then came awelcome stretch of straight-level pavement, a quick dip through a servicetunnel, and a ramp into a sizable tunnel as Cortana called for evac.
“Cortana to Echo 419! Requesting extraction now! On the double!”
“Affirmative, Cortana,”the pilot replied, as the Master Chief acceleratedout onto a causeway.
“Wait! Stop!” Cortana insisted. “This is where Foehammer is coming topick us up. Hold position here.”
The Spartan braked, heard a snatch of garbled182 radio traffic, and saw a UNSCdropship approach from the left. Smoke trailed behind the Pelican and thereason was plain to see. A Banshee had slotted itself in behind thetransport and was trying to hit one of the ship’s engines. There was aflash as the starboard power plant took a hit and burst into flames.
The Chief could imagine Foehammer at the controls, fighting to save hership, eyeing the causeway ahead.
“Pull up! Pull up!” the Spartan shouted, hoping she could pancake in, butit was too late. The Pelican lost altitude, passed under the causeway, andsoon disappeared from sight. The explosion came three seconds later.
Cortana said, “Echo 419!” and, receiving no response, said, “She’sgone.”
The Master Chief remembered the cheerful voice on the radio, the countlesstimes the pilot had saved somebody’s tail, and felt a deep sense of regret.
There was a short pause while the AI tapped into what remained of theship’s systems. “There’s a Longsword docked in launch bay seven. If wemovenow we can make it!”
Rubber screeched183 as the Chief put his foot to the floor, steered the Warthogthrough a hatch, down a ramp, and into a tunnel. Huge pillars marked thecenter of the passageway and a series of concave gratings caused the LRV towallow before it lurched up onto smooth pavement again. Explosions sentdebris flying from both sides of the tunnel and made it difficult to hearCortana as she said something about “full speed” and some sort of a gap.
He hit the accelerator, but the rest was more a matter of luck rather thanskill. The Master Chief pushed the ’Hog up a ramp, felt the bottom drop outof his stomach as the LRV flew through the air, dropped two or three levels,hit hard, slewed184 sideways, and came to a stop.
The Chief wrestled134 with the wheel, brought the front end around, and glancedat the timer. It read: 01:10:20. He stamped on the accelerator. The Warthogshot ahead, raced through a narrow tunnel, then slowed as he spotted thearray of horizontally striped barrels that blocked the road ahead. Not onlythat—but the entire area was swarming185 with Covenant and Flood. The MasterChief jumped out, hit the ground running, and gunned an Elite who had themisfortune to get in the way.
The fighter was straight ahead, ramp down, waiting for him to come aboard.
Plasma bolts stuttered past his head, explosions hurled debris in everydirection, and then he was there, boots pounding on metal as he entered theship.
The ramp came up just as a mob of Flood arrived, the Longsword shook insympathy as another explosion rocked thePillar of Autumn , and the Spartanstaggered as he made his way forward. Precious seconds were consumed as hedropped into the pilot’s seat, brought the engines on-line, and took thecontrols.
“Here we go.”
The Chief made use of the ship’s belly186 jets to push the Longsword up offthe deck. He turned the fighter counterclockwise, and hit the throttles187. Geeforces pushed him back into his seat as the spacecraft exploded out of itsbay and blasted up through the atmosphere.
Yayap, who had made it to the edge of the foothills by then, heard a seriesof dull thuds and turned in time to see a line of red-orange flowers bloomalong the length of theAutumn ’s much abused hull.
As the cruiser’s fusion drives went critical, a compact sun blossomed onthe surface of Halo. Its thermonuclear sphere carved a five-kilometer craterinto the superdense ring material and sent powerful pressure waves ripplingthroughout the structure. Both up- and down-spin of the explosion, thefireball flattened188 and sterilized189 the surface terrain190. Within moments, theyellow-white core had consumed all of the available fuel, collapsed uponitself, and winked191 out.
Still spinning, but unable to withstand the forces exerted on this new weakpoint, the ring structure slowly tore itself apart. Huge chunks192 of debristumbled end over end out into space, as a five-hundred-kilometer-longsection of the ring world’s hull sliced through an even longer curve ofbrilliantly engineered metal, earth, and water, and produced a cascade193 ofeerily silent explosions.
There was an insistent194 beeping sound as the wordsENGINE TEMP CRITICAL flashedon the control panel, and Cortana said, “Shut them down. We’ll need themlater.”
The Master Chief reached up to flick195 some switches, got up out of his seat,and arrived in front of the viewport in time to see the last intact piece ofHalo’s hull sheared196 in half by the dreadful slow-motion ballet of flyingmetal.
For some reason he thought of Lieutenant Melissa McKay, her calm green eyes,and the fact that he had never gotten to know her. “Did anyone else makeit?”
“Scanning,” the AI replied. She paused, and he could see scan data scrollacross the main terminal. A moment later, she spoke again, her voiceunusually quiet. “Just dust and echoes. We’re all that’s left.”
The Spartan winced. McKay, Foehammer, Keyes, and all the rest of them. Dead.
Just like the children he’d been raised with—just like a part of himself.
When Cortana spoke it was as if the AI felt that she had to justify197 what hadtranspired. “We did what wehad to do—for Earth. An entire Covenant armadaobliterated. And theFlood —we had no choice. Halo, it’s finished.”
“No,” the Chief replied, settling in behind the Longsword’s controls.
“The Covenant are still out there, and Earth is at risk. We’re justgetting started.”
The Master Chief saw the yellow-green blob appear in hisperipheral vision, and decided198 to turn toward the enemy both tomake the ’Hog look smaller and to give the Corporal anopportunity to fire. But he ran out of time. The Spartan had juststarted to spin the wheel when the energy pulse slammed into theside of the Warthog and flipped the vehicle over.
All three of the humans were thrown free. The Master Chiefscrambled to his feet and looked up-slope in time to see a Hunterdrop down from the structure above, absorb the shock with itsmassive knees, and move forward.
Both the Corporal and the freckle-faced youngster were back ontheir feet by then, but the noncom, who had never seen a Hunterbefore, much less gone head-to-head with one, yelled, “Come on,Hosky! Let’s take this bastard147 out!”
The Spartan yelled, “No! Fall back!” and bent199 over to retrievethe rocket launcher. Even as he barked the order, he knew theresimply wasn’t time. Another Spartan might have been able tododge in time, but the Helljumpers didn’t have a prayer.
The distance between the alien and the two Marines had closed bythen and they couldn’t disengage. The Corporal threw afragmentation grenade, saw it explode in front of the oncomingmonster, and stared in disbelief as it kept on coming. The aliencharged right through the flying shrapnel, bellowed200 some sort ofwar cry, and lowered a gigantic shoulder.
Private Hosky was still firing when the gigantic shield hit him,shattered half the bones in his body, and threw what was leftonto the ground. The private remained conscious however, whichmeant he was able to lie there and watch as the Hunter lifted hisboot high into the air, and brought it down on his face.
Halo: The Floodis a work of fiction. Names, places, and incidents either area product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously201.
The End
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收听单词发音
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spartan
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| adj.简朴的，刻苦的；n.斯巴达；斯巴达式的人 | |
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arid
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| adj.干旱的；(土地)贫瘠的 | |
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tug
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| v.用力拖(或拉)；苦干；n.拖；苦干；拖船 | |
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cramped
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| a.狭窄的 | |
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ramp
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| n.暴怒，斜坡，坡道；vi.作恐吓姿势，暴怒，加速；vt.加速 | |
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compartments
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| n.间隔( compartment的名词复数 )；（列车车厢的）隔间；（家具或设备等的）分隔间；隔层 | |
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compartment
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| n.卧车包房，隔间；分隔的空间 | |
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trench
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| n./v.(挖)沟，(挖)战壕 | |
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hull
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| n.船身；(果、实等的)外壳；vt.去(谷物等)壳 | |
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vessel
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| n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管 | |
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protruding
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| v.（使某物）伸出，（使某物）突出( protrude的现在分词 )；凸 | |
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covenant
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| n.盟约，契约；v.订盟约 | |
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bail
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| v.舀（水），保释；n.保证金，保释，保释人 | |
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neural
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| adj.神经的，神经系统的 | |
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implants
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| n.（植入身体中的）移植物( implant的名词复数 ) | |
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initiate
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| vt.开始，创始，发动；启蒙，使入门；引入 | |
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overload
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| vt.使超载；n.超载 | |
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fusion
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| n.溶化；熔解；熔化状态，熔和；熔接 | |
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detector
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| n.发觉者，探测器 | |
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lurking
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| 潜在 | |
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mused
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| v.沉思，冥想( muse的过去式和过去分词 )；沉思自语说（某事） | |
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scrap
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| n.碎片；废料；v.废弃，报废 | |
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spotted
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| adj.有斑点的，斑纹的，弄污了的 | |
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relish
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| n.滋味，享受，爱好，调味品；vt.加调味料，享受，品味；vi.有滋味 | |
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maze
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| n.迷宫，八阵图，混乱，迷惑 | |
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swarmed
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| 密集( swarm的过去式和过去分词 )； 云集； 成群地移动； 蜜蜂或其他飞行昆虫成群地飞来飞去 | |
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plasma
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| n.血浆，细胞质，乳清 | |
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28
locker
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| n.更衣箱，储物柜，冷藏室，上锁的人 | |
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contingent
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| adj.视条件而定的；n.一组，代表团，分遣队 | |
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30
elites
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| 精华( elite的名词复数 )； 精锐； 上层集团； （统称）掌权人物 | |
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31
elite
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| n.精英阶层；实力集团；adj.杰出的，卓越的 | |
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32
grunts
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| （猪等）作呼噜声( grunt的第三人称单数 )； （指人）发出类似的哼声； 咕哝着说； 石鲈 | |
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33
grunt
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| v.嘟哝；作呼噜声；n.呼噜声，嘟哝 | |
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34
coup
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| n.政变；突然而成功的行动 | |
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35
overlapping
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| adj./n.交迭（的） | |
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36
survivor
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| n.生存者，残存者，幸存者 | |
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37
odds
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| n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别 | |
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38
pulp
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| n.果肉，纸浆；v.化成纸浆，除去...果肉，制成纸浆 | |
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39
collapsed
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| adj.倒塌的 | |
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40
strings
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| n.弦 | |
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41
flip
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| vt.快速翻动；轻抛；轻拍；n.轻抛；adj.轻浮的 | |
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42
groaned
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| v.呻吟( groan的过去式和过去分词 )；发牢骚；抱怨；受苦 | |
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43
vent
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| n.通风口，排放口；开衩；vt.表达，发泄 | |
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44
babbling
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| n.胡说，婴儿发出的咿哑声adj.胡说的v.喋喋不休( babble的现在分词 )；作潺潺声（如流水）；含糊不清地说话；泄漏秘密 | |
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45
reclaimer
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| n.回收程序 | |
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46
unison
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| n.步调一致，行动一致 | |
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47
reconciliation
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| n.和解，和谐，一致 | |
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48
pelicans
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| n.鹈鹕( pelican的名词复数 ) | |
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49
pelican
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| n.鹈鹕，伽蓝鸟 | |
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50
squatted
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| v.像动物一样蹲下( squat的过去式和过去分词 )；非法擅自占用（土地或房屋）；为获得其所有权；而占用某片公共用地。 | |
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51
ramps
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| resources allocation and multiproject scheduling 资源分配和多项目的行程安排 | |
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52
marine
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| adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵 | |
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53
lethal
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| adj.致死的；毁灭性的 | |
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54
naval
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| adj.海军的，军舰的，船的 | |
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55
bodyguards
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| n.保镖，卫士，警卫员( bodyguard的名词复数 ) | |
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56
intrude
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| vi.闯入；侵入；打扰，侵扰 | |
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57
slung
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| 抛( sling的过去式和过去分词 )； 吊挂； 遣送； 押往 | |
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58
lieutenant
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| n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员 | |
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59
remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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60
sterilize
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| vt.使不结果实；使绝育；使无效；杀菌，消毒 | |
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61
survivors
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| 幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 ) | |
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62
specimens
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| n.样品( specimen的名词复数 )；范例；（化验的）抽样；某种类型的人 | |
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63
judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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64
modifications
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| n.缓和( modification的名词复数 )；限制；更改；改变 | |
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65
crates
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| n. 板条箱, 篓子, 旧汽车 vt. 装进纸条箱 | |
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66
slumped
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| 大幅度下降，暴跌( slump的过去式和过去分词 )； 沉重或突然地落下[倒下] | |
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67
frustrated
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| adj.挫败的，失意的，泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的过去式和过去分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧 | |
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68
deteriorated
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| 恶化，变坏( deteriorate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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69
trickle
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| vi.淌，滴，流出，慢慢移动，逐渐消散 | |
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70
filth
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| n.肮脏，污物，污秽；淫猥 | |
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71
exhausted
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| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
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72
lamely
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| 一瘸一拐地，不完全地 | |
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73
lethargic
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| adj.昏睡的，懒洋洋的 | |
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74
accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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75
mechanisms
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| n.机械( mechanism的名词复数 )；机械装置；[生物学] 机制；机械作用 | |
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76
chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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77
spikes
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| n.穗( spike的名词复数 )；跑鞋；（防滑）鞋钉；尖状物v.加烈酒于( spike的第三人称单数 )；偷偷地给某人的饮料加入（更多）酒精（ 或药物）；把尖状物钉入；打乱某人的计划 | |
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78
cargo
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| n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物 | |
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79
module
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| n.组件，模块，模件；(航天器的)舱 | |
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80
spine
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| n.脊柱，脊椎；(动植物的)刺；书脊 | |
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81
spined
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| adj.有背骨的，有刺的，有脊柱的 | |
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82
outrage
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| n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒 | |
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83
corps
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| n.(通信等兵种的)部队；(同类作的)一组 | |
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84
corpse
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| n.尸体，死尸 | |
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85
berth
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| n.卧铺，停泊地，锚位；v.使停泊 | |
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86
sprawled
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| v.伸开四肢坐[躺]( sprawl的过去式和过去分词)；蔓延；杂乱无序地拓展；四肢伸展坐着（或躺着） | |
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87
junction
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| n.连接，接合；交叉点，接合处，枢纽站 | |
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88
combustible
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| a. 易燃的,可燃的; n. 易燃物,可燃物 | |
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89
projectiles
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| n.抛射体( projectile的名词复数 )；（炮弹、子弹等）射弹，（火箭等）自动推进的武器 | |
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90
defensive
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| adj.防御的；防卫的；防守的 | |
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91
swarms
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| 蜂群，一大群( swarm的名词复数 ) | |
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92
random
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| adj.随机的；任意的；n.偶然的(或随便的)行动 | |
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93
coordinated
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| adj.协调的 | |
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94
hurl
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| vt.猛投，力掷，声叫骂 | |
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95
waddled
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| v.（像鸭子一样）摇摇摆摆地走( waddle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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96
fray
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| v.争吵；打斗；磨损，磨破；n.吵架；打斗 | |
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97
spawned
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| （鱼、蛙等）大量产（卵）( spawn的过去式和过去分词 )； 大量生产 | |
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98
clogged
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| （使）阻碍( clog的过去式和过去分词 )； 淤滞 | |
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99
numb
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| adj.麻木的，失去感觉的；v.使麻木 | |
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100
killing
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| n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财 | |
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101
crouched
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| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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102
wrench
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| v.猛拧；挣脱；使扭伤；n.扳手；痛苦，难受 | |
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103
tentacle
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| n.触角，触须，触手 | |
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104
dressing
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| n.(食物)调料；包扎伤口的用品，敷料 | |
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105
winced
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| 赶紧避开，畏缩( wince的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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106
corpses
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| n.死尸，尸体( corpse的名词复数 ) | |
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107
reactors
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| 起反应的人( reactor的名词复数 )； 反应装置； 原子炉； 核反应堆 | |
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108
reactor
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| n.反应器；反应堆 | |
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109
shaft
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| n.(工具的)柄，杆状物 | |
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110
awing
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| adj.& adv.飞翔的[地]v.使敬畏，使惊惧( awe的现在分词 ) | |
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111
smothered
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| （使）窒息， （使）透不过气( smother的过去式和过去分词 )； 覆盖； 忍住； 抑制 | |
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112
racing
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| n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的 | |
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113
detailed
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| adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的 | |
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114
hurled
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| v.猛投，用力掷( hurl的过去式和过去分词 )；大声叫骂 | |
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115
slaughtered
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| v.屠杀，杀戮，屠宰( slaughter的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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116
deactivated
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| v.解除动员( deactivate的过去式和过去分词 )；使无效；复员；使不活动 | |
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117
hoots
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| 咄，啐 | |
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118
ushered
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| v.引，领，陪同( usher的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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119
auxiliary
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| adj.辅助的，备用的 | |
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120
configuration
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| n.结构，布局，形态，(计算机)配置 | |
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121
murmur
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| n.低语，低声的怨言；v.低语，低声而言 | |
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122
punctuated
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| v.（在文字中）加标点符号，加标点( punctuate的过去式和过去分词 )；不时打断某事物 | |
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123
pertain
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| v.(to)附属，从属；关于；有关；适合，相称 | |
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124
confrontation
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| n.对抗，对峙，冲突 | |
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125
indicator
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| n.指标；指示物，指示者；指示器 | |
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126
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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127
immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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128
chaos
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| n.混乱，无秩序 | |
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129
containment
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| n.阻止，遏制；容量 | |
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130
slab
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| n.平板，厚的切片；v.切成厚板，以平板盖上 | |
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131
charred
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| v.把…烧成炭( char的过去式)；烧焦 | |
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132
frantic
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| adj.狂乱的，错乱的，激昂的 | |
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133
wrestle
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| vi.摔跤，角力；搏斗；全力对付 | |
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134
wrestled
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| v.（与某人）搏斗( wrestle的过去式和过去分词 )；扭成一团；扭打；（与…）摔跤 | |
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135
slated
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| 用石板瓦盖( slate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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136
triumphant
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| adj.胜利的，成功的；狂欢的，喜悦的 | |
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137
middle-aged
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| adj.中年的 | |
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139
fiber
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| n.纤维，纤维质 | |
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140
tilted
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| v. 倾斜的 | |
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141
sloppy
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| adj.邋遢的，不整洁的 | |
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142
countless
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| adj.无数的，多得不计其数的 | |
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143
vibration
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| n.颤动，振动；摆动 | |
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144
illustrate
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| v.举例说明，阐明；图解，加插图 | |
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145
extermination
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| n.消灭，根绝 | |
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146
bastards
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| 私生子( bastard的名词复数 )； 坏蛋； 讨厌的事物； 麻烦事 （认为别人走运或不幸时说）家伙 | |
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147
bastard
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| n.坏蛋，混蛋；私生子 | |
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148
growled
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| v.（动物）发狺狺声， （雷）作隆隆声( growl的过去式和过去分词 )；低声咆哮着说 | |
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149
virtues
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| 美德( virtue的名词复数 )； 德行； 优点； 长处 | |
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150
privy
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| adj.私用的；隐密的 | |
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151
regain
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| vt.重新获得，收复，恢复 | |
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152
imploringly
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| adv. 恳求地, 哀求地 | |
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153
grotesquely
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| adv. 奇异地,荒诞地 | |
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154
ravaged
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| 毁坏( ravage的过去式和过去分词 )； 蹂躏； 劫掠； 抢劫 | |
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155
deliberately
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| adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地 | |
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156
thump
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| v.重击，砰然地响；n.重击，重击声 | |
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157
rippled
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| 使泛起涟漪（ripple的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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158
nauseated
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| adj.作呕的，厌恶的v.使恶心，作呕( nauseate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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159
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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160
adversary
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| adj.敌手，对手 | |
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161
diminutive
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| adj.小巧可爱的，小的 | |
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162
steered
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| v.驾驶( steer的过去式和过去分词 )；操纵；控制；引导 | |
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163
machinery
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| n.(总称)机械，机器；机构 | |
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164
sensor
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| n.传感器，探测设备，感觉器（官） | |
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165
imminent
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| adj.即将发生的，临近的，逼近的 | |
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166
turret
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| n.塔楼，角塔 | |
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167
cannon
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| n.大炮，火炮；飞机上的机关炮 | |
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168
Flared
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| adj. 端部张开的, 爆发的, 加宽的, 漏斗式的 动词flare的过去式和过去分词 | |
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169
slagged
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| v.（使）成渣（状）( slag的过去式和过去分词 )；诋毁；贬损；辱骂 | |
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170
elation
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| n.兴高采烈，洋洋得意 | |
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171
slashed
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| v.挥砍( slash的过去式和过去分词 )；鞭打；割破；削减 | |
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172
tiresome
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| adj.令人疲劳的，令人厌倦的 | |
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173
descend
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| vt./vi.传下来，下来，下降 | |
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174
rattled
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| 慌乱的，恼火的 | |
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175
debris
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| n.瓦砾堆，废墟，碎片 | |
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176
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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177
buck
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| n.雄鹿，雄兔；v.马离地跳跃 | |
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178
vertical
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| adj.垂直的，顶点的，纵向的；n.垂直物，垂直的位置 | |
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179
sleeting
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| 下雨夹雪，下冻雨( sleet的现在分词 ) | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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181
flipped
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| 轻弹( flip的过去式和过去分词 )； 按（开关）； 快速翻转； 急挥 | |
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182
garbled
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| adj.（指信息）混乱的，引起误解的v.对（事实）歪曲，对（文章等）断章取义，窜改( garble的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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183
screeched
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| v.发出尖叫声( screech的过去式和过去分词 )；发出粗而刺耳的声音；高叫 | |
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184
slewed
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| adj.喝醉的v.杀死，宰杀，杀戮( slay的过去式 )( slew的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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185
swarming
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| 密集( swarm的现在分词 )； 云集； 成群地移动； 蜜蜂或其他飞行昆虫成群地飞来飞去 | |
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186
belly
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| n.肚子，腹部；(像肚子一样)鼓起的部分，膛 | |
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187
throttles
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| n.控制油、气流的阀门( throttle的名词复数 )；喉咙，气管v.扼杀( throttle的第三人称单数 )；勒死；使窒息；压制 | |
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188
flattened
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| [医]（水）平扁的，弄平的 | |
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189
sterilized
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| v.消毒( sterilize的过去式和过去分词 )；使无菌；使失去生育能力；使绝育 | |
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190
terrain
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| n.地面，地形，地图 | |
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191
winked
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| v.使眼色( wink的过去式和过去分词 )；递眼色（表示友好或高兴等）；（指光）闪烁；闪亮 | |
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192
chunks
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| 厚厚的一块( chunk的名词复数 )； （某物）相当大的数量或部分 | |
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193
cascade
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| n.小瀑布，喷流；层叠；vi.成瀑布落下 | |
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194
insistent
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| adj.迫切的，坚持的 | |
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195
flick
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| n.快速的轻打，轻打声，弹开；v.轻弹，轻轻拂去，忽然摇动 | |
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196
sheared
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| v.剪羊毛( shear的过去式和过去分词 )；切断；剪切 | |
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197
justify
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| vt.证明…正当(或有理)，为…辩护 | |
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198
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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199
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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200
bellowed
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| v.发出吼叫声，咆哮（尤指因痛苦）( bellow的过去式和过去分词 )；（愤怒地）说出（某事），大叫 | |
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201
fictitiously
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| adv.虚构地；假地 | |
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