Fred saw the sky and earth flashing in rapid succession before his faceplate. Decades oftraining took over. This was just like a parasail drop ... except this time there was no chute. He forced his arms and legs open; the spread-eagle position controlled his tumbleand slowed his velocity3.
Time seemed to simultaneously4 crawl and race—something Kelly had once dubbed"SPARTAN5 Time." Enhanced senses and augmented6 physiology7 meant that in periods ofstress Spartans8 thought and reacted faster than a normal human. Fred's mind raced as heabsorbed the tactical situation.
He activated9 his motion sensors11, boosting the range to maxi.mum. His team appeared as blips on his heads-up display. With a sigh of relief he saw that all twenty-six of them were present and pulling into a wedge formation.
"Covenant13 ground forces could be tracking the Pelican14," Fred told them over the COM."Expect AA fire."The Spartans immediately broke formation and scattered15 across the sky.
Fred risked a sidelong glance and spotted16 the Pelican. It tum.bled, sending shards17 ofarmor plating in glittering, ugly arcs, be.fore1 it impacted into the side of a jaggedsnowcapped mountain.
The surface of Reach stretched out before them, two thousand meters below. Fred saw a carpet of green forest, ghostly mountains in the distance, and pillars of smoke rising from the west. He spied a sinuous18 ribbon of water that he recognized: Big Horn River.
The Spartans had trained on Reach for most of their earlyERIC NYLUND 13lives. This was the same forest where CPO Mendez had left them when they were children. With only pieces of a map and no food, water, or weapons, they had captured aguarded Pelican and re.turned to HQ. That was the mission where John, now the Master Chief, had earned command of the group, the mission that had forged them into a team.
Fred pushed the memory aside. This was no homecoming.
UNSC Military Reservation 01478-B training facility would be due west. And thegenerators? He called up the terrain21 map and overlaid it on his display. Joshua had done his work well: Cortana had delivered decent satellite imagery as well as a topo.graphicsurvey map. It wasn't as good as a spy-sat flyby, but it was better than Fred had expectedon such short notice.
He dropped a NAV marker on the position of the generator19 complex and uploaded thedata on the TACCOM to his team.
He took a deep breath and said: "That's our target. Move toward it but keep your incoming angle flat. Aim for the treetops. Let them slow you down. If you can't, aim for water... and tuck in your arms and legs before impact."Twenty-six blue acknowledgment lights winked22, confirming his order.
"Overpressurize your hydrostatics just before you hit."That would risk nitrogen embolisms for his Spartans, but they were coming in at terminalvelocity, which for a fully23 loaded Spartan was—he quickly calculated—130 meters per second. They had to overpressurize the cushioning gel or their organs would be crushedagainst the impervious24 MJOLNIR armor when they hit.
The acknowledgment lights winked again ... although Fred sensed a slight hesitation25.
Five hundred meters to go.
He took one last look at his Spartans. They were scattered across the horizon like bits ofconfetti.
He brought up his knees and changed his center of mass, try.ing to flatten27 his angle as heapproached the treetops. It worked, but not as well or as quickly as he had hoped.
One hundred meters to go. His shield flickered29 as he brushed the tops of the tallest of thetrees.
He took a deep breath, exhaled30 as deeply as he could, grabbed14 HALO: FIRST STRIKEhis knees, and tucked into a ball. He overrode31 the hydrostatic sys.tem and overpressurized the gel surrounding his body. A thou.sand tiny knives stabbed him— pain unlike any he'd experienced since the SPARTAN-II program had surgically32 alteredhim.
The MJOLNIR armor's shields flared33 as he broke through branches—then drained in one sudden burst as he impacted dead-center on a thick tree trunk. He smashed through itlike an armored missile.
He tumbled, and his body absorbed a series of rapid-fire im.pacts34. It felt like taking a fullclip of assault rifle fire at point-blank range. Seconds later Fred slammed to a bone-crunching halt.
His suit malfunctioned35. He could no longer see or hear any.thing. He stayed in that limbostate and struggled to stay con2.scious and alert. Moments later, his display was filledwith stars. He realized then that the suit wasn't malfunctioning36... he was.
"Chief!" Kelly's voice echoed in his head as if from the end of a long tunnel. "Fred, get up," she whispered. "We've got to move."His vision cleared, and he slowly rolled onto his hands and knees. Something hurt inside,like his stomach had been torn out, diced37 into little pieces, and then stitched backtogether all wrong. He took a ragged38 breath. That hurt, too.
The pain was good—it helped keep him alert.
"Status," he coughed. His mouth tasted like copper39.
Kelly knelt next to him and on a private COM channel said, "Al.most everyone has minor40 damage: a few blown shield generators20, sensor10 systems, a dozen broken bones and contusions. Nothing we can't compensate41 for. Six Spartans have more serious injuries.They can fight from a fixed42 position, but they have limited mobil.ity." She took a deepbreath and then added, "Four Kour K"IA.
Fred struggled to his feet. He was dizzy but remained upright. He had to stay on his feetno matter what. He had to for the team, to show them they still had a functioning leader.
It could have been much worse—but four dead was bad enough. No Spartan operation had ever seen so many killed in one mis.sion, and this op had barely begun. Fred wasn'tsuperstitious, but he couldn't help but feel that the Spartans' luck was running out.
"You did what you had to," Kelly said as if she were reading his mind. "Most of us wouldn't have made it if you hadn't been thinking on your feet."ERIC NYLUND 15Fred snorted in disgust. Kelly thought he'd been thinking on his feet—but all he'd done was land on his ass26. He didn't want to talk about it—not now. "Any other good news?" hesaid.
"Plenty," she replied. "Our gear—munitions boxes, bags of extra weapons—they're scattered across what's passing for our LZ. Only a few of us have assault rifles, maybe five in total."Fred instinctively43 reached for his MA5B and discovered that the anchoring clips on hisarmor had been sheared44 away in the impact. No grenades on his belt, either. His drop bag was gone, too.
He shrugged45. "We'll improvise," he said.
Kelly picked up a rock and hefted it.
Fred resisted the urge to lower his head and catch his breath. There was nothing hewanted to do more right now than sit down and just rest and think. There had to be a way to get his Spartans out of here in one piece. It was like a training exercise—all he neededto do was figure out how best to accomplish their mis.sion with no more foul-ups.
There was no time, though. They'd been sent to protect those generators, and theCovenant sure as hell weren't sitting around waiting for them to make the first move. The columns of smoke that marked where Reach HighCom once stood testified to that.
"Assemble the team," Fred told her. "Formation Beta. We're heading toward thegenerators on foot. Pack out our wounded and dead. Send those with weapons ahead as scouts46. Maybe our luck will change."Kelly barked over the SQUADCOM: "Move, Spartans. For.mation Beta to the NAV point."Fred initiated48 a diagnostic on his armor. The hydrostatic sub.system had blown a seal,and pressure was at minimal49 functional50 levels. He could move, but he'd have to replacethat seal before he'd be able to sprint51 or dodge52 plasma53 fire.
He fell in behind Kelly and saw his Spartans on the periphery54 of his tactical friend-or-foemonitor. He couldn't actually see any of them because they were spread out and dartedfrom tree to tree to avoid any Covenant surprises. They all moved silently through theforest: light and shadow and an occasional muted flash of luminous56 green armor, thengone again.
"Red-One this is Red-Twelve. Single enemy contact ... neutralized57."16 HALO: FIRST STRIKE"One here, too," Red-Fifteen reported. "Neutralized."There had to be more. Fred knew the Covenant never traveled in small numbers.
Worse, if the Covenant were deploying58 troops in any signifi.cant59 numbers, that meant theholding action in orbit had turned ugly ... so it was only a matter of time before thismission went from bad to worse.
He was so intent on listening to his team's field checks, he al.most ran into a pair ofJackals. He instinctively melted into the shadow of a tree and froze.
The Jackals hadn't seen him. The birdlike aliens sniffed60 at the air, however, and thenmoved forward more cautiously, closing on Fred's concealed61 position. They wavedlasma pistols before them and clicked on their energy shields. The small, oblongpppro.tective fields rippled62 and solidified63 with a muted hum.
Fred keyed his COM channel to Red-Two, twice. Her blue ac.knowledgment lightimmediately winked in response to his call for backup.
The Jackals suddenly turned to their right and sniffed rapidly.
A fist-sized rock whizzed in from the aliens' left. It slammed into the lead Jackal's occipitalcrest with a wet crack. The creature squawked and dropped to the ground in a pool ofpurple-black blood.
Fred darted55 ahead and in three quick steps closed with the re.maining Jackal. Hesidestepped around the plane of the energy shield and grabbed the creature's wrist. TheJackal squawked in fear and surprise.
He yanked the Jackal's gun arm, hard, and then twisted. The Jackal struggled as its ownweapon was forced into the mottled, rough skin of its neck.
Fred squeezed, and he could feel the alien's bones shatter. The plasma pistol dischargedin a bright, emerald flash. The Jackal flopped64 over on its back, minus its head.
Fred picked up the fallen weapons as Kelly emerged from the trees. He tossed her one ofthe plasma pistols, and she plucked it out of the air.
"Thanks. I'd still prefer my rifle to this alien piece of junk," she groused65.
ERIC NYLUND 17Fred nodded, and clipped the other captured weapon to his harness. "Beats the hell out ofthrowing rocks," he replied.
"Affirmative, Chief," she said with a nod. "But just barely.""Red-One," Joshua's voice called over the SQUADCOM. "I'm a half-klick ahead of you. You need to see this.""Roger," Fred told him. "Red Team, hold here and wait for my signal."Acknowledgment lights winked on.
In a half crouch66, Fred made his way toward Joshua. There was light ahead: The shadethinned and vanished because the forest was gone. The trees had been leveled, every one blasted to splin.ters or burned to charred67 nubs.
There were bodies, too; thousands of Covenant Grunts68, hun.dreds of Jackals and Elites70 littered the open field. There were also humans—all dead. Fred could see several fallen Marines still smoldering72 from plasma fire. There were overturned Scor.pion tanks,Warthogs with burning tires, and a Banshee flier. The flier had snagged one canard73 on a loop of barbed wire, and it pro28.pelled itself, riderless, in an endless orbit.
The generator complex on the far side of this battlefield was intact, however. Reinforcedconcrete bunkers bristling74 with ma.chine guns surrounded a low building. The generators were deep beneath there. So far it looked as if the Covenant had notman.aged75 to take them, though not for lack of trying.
"Contacts ahead," Joshua whispered.
Four blips appeared on his motion sensor. Friend-or-foe tags identified them as UNSCMarines, Company Charlie. Serial76 numbers flashed next to the men as his HUD pickedthem out on a topo map of the area.
Joshua handed Fred his sniper rifle, and he sighted the con.tacts through the scope. They were Marines, sure enough. They picked through the bodies that littered the area, lookingfor sur.vivors and policing weapons and ammo.
Fred frowned; something about the way the Marine71 squad47 moved didn't feel right. Theylacked unit cohesion77, with their line ragged and exposed. They weren't using any of theavailable cover. To Fred's experienced eye, the Marines didn't even seem to be heading ina specific direction. One of them just ambled78 in circles. hem12 just ambled in circles.
18 HALO: FIRST STRIKEFred sent a narrow-beam transmission on UNSC global fre.quency. "Marine patrol, this isSpartan Red Team. We are ap.proaching your position from your six o'clock.Acknowledge."The Marines turned about and squinted79 in Fred's direction, and brought their assaultrifles to bear. There was static on the channel, and then a hoarse80, listless voice replied:"Spartans? If you are what you say you are ... we could sure use a hand.""Sorry we missed the battle, Marine."" 'Missed'?" The Marine gave a short, bitter laugh. "Hell, Chief, this was just round one."Fred returned the sniper rifle to Joshua, pointed81 toward his eyes and then to the Marines in the field. Joshua nodded, shoul.dered the rifle, and sighted them. His finger hoverednear the weapon's trigger—not quite on it. It never hurt to be careful.
Fred got up and walked to the cluster of Marines. He picked his way past a tangle82 of Grunt69 bodies and the twisted metal and charred tires that had once been a Warthog.
The men looked as if they had been to hell and back. They all sported burns, abrasions,and the kilometer-long stare indicative of near shock. They gaped83 at Fred, mouths open; itwas a reac.tion that he had often seen when soldiers first glimpsed a Spar.tan: two meters tall, half a ton of armor, splashed with alien blood. It was a mix of awe84 andsuspicion and fear.
He hated it. He just wanted to fight and win this war, like the rest of the soldiers in theUNSC. The Corporal seemed to snap out of his near fugue. He removed his helmet,scratched at his cropped red hair, and looked behind him. "Chief, you'd better head backto base with us before they hit us again."Fred nodded. "How many in your company, Corporal?"The man glanced at his three companions and shook his head. "Say again, Chief?"These men were likely on the verge85 of battle shock, so Fred controlled his impatience86 and replied in as gentle a voice as he could muster87: "Your FOF tags say you're with CharlieCompany, Corporal. How many are you? How many wounded?""There's no wounded, Chief," the Corporal replied. "There's no 'company' either. We're allthat's left."
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1
fore
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| adv.在前面；adj.先前的；在前部的；n.前部 | |
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con
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| n.反对的观点，反对者，反对票，肺病；vt.精读，学习，默记；adv.反对地，从反面；adj.欺诈的 | |
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velocity
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| n.速度，速率 | |
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simultaneously
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| adv.同时发生地，同时进行地 | |
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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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Augmented
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| adj.增音的 动词augment的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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physiology
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| n.生理学，生理机能 | |
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spartans
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| n.斯巴达（spartan的复数形式） | |
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activated
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| adj. 激活的 动词activate的过去式和过去分词 | |
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sensor
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| n.传感器，探测设备，感觉器（官） | |
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sensors
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| n.传感器，灵敏元件( sensor的名词复数 ) | |
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hem
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| n.贴边，镶边；vt.缝贴边；(in)包围，限制 | |
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covenant
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| n.盟约，契约；v.订盟约 | |
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pelican
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| n.鹈鹕，伽蓝鸟 | |
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scattered
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| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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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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shards
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| n.（玻璃、金属或其他硬物的）尖利的碎片( shard的名词复数 ) | |
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sinuous
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| adj.蜿蜒的，迂回的 | |
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generator
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| n.发电机，发生器 | |
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generators
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| n.发电机，发生器( generator的名词复数 )；电力公司 | |
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terrain
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| n.地面，地形，地图 | |
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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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fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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impervious
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| adj.不能渗透的，不能穿过的，不易伤害的 | |
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hesitation
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| n.犹豫，踌躇 | |
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ass
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| n.驴；傻瓜，蠢笨的人 | |
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flatten
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| v.把．．．弄平，使倒伏；使(漆等)失去光泽 | |
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pro
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| n.赞成，赞成的意见，赞成者 | |
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flickered
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| （通常指灯光）闪烁，摇曳( flicker的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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exhaled
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| v.呼出，发散出( exhale的过去式和过去分词 )；吐出（肺中的空气、烟等），呼气 | |
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overrode
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| 越控( override的过去式 )； （以权力）否决； 优先于； 比…更重要 | |
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surgically
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| adv. 外科手术上, 外科手术一般地 | |
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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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pacts
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| 条约( pact的名词复数 )； 协定； 公约 | |
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malfunctioned
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| 发生故障(malfunction的过去式与过去分词) | |
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malfunctioning
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| 出故障 | |
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diced
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| v.将…切成小方块，切成丁( dice的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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ragged
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| adj.衣衫褴褛的，粗糙的，刺耳的 | |
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copper
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| n.铜；铜币；铜器；adj.铜(制)的；(紫)铜色的 | |
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minor
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| adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修 | |
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compensate
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| vt.补偿，赔偿；酬报 vi.弥补；补偿；抵消 | |
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fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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instinctively
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| adv.本能地 | |
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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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shrugged
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| vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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scouts
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| 侦察员[机，舰]( scout的名词复数 )； 童子军； 搜索； 童子军成员 | |
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squad
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| n.班，小队，小团体；vt.把…编成班或小组 | |
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initiated
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| n. 创始人 adj. 新加入的 vt. 开始，创始，启蒙，介绍加入 | |
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minimal
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| adj.尽可能少的，最小的 | |
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functional
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| adj.为实用而设计的，具备功能的，起作用的 | |
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sprint
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| n.短距离赛跑；vi. 奋力而跑，冲刺；vt.全速跑过 | |
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dodge
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| v.闪开，躲开，避开；n.妙计，诡计 | |
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plasma
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| n.血浆，细胞质，乳清 | |
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periphery
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| n.(圆体的)外面；周围 | |
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darted
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| v.投掷，投射( dart的过去式和过去分词 )；向前冲，飞奔 | |
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luminous
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| adj.发光的，发亮的；光明的；明白易懂的；有启发的 | |
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neutralized
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| v.使失效( neutralize的过去式和过去分词 )；抵消；中和；使（一个国家）中立化 | |
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deploying
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| （尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的现在分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用 | |
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cant
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| n.斜穿，黑话，猛扔 | |
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sniffed
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| v.以鼻吸气，嗅，闻( sniff的过去式和过去分词 )；抽鼻子（尤指哭泣、患感冒等时出声地用鼻子吸气）；抱怨，不以为然地说 | |
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concealed
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| a.隐藏的，隐蔽的 | |
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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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solidified
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| （使）成为固体，（使）变硬，（使）变得坚固( solidify的过去式和过去分词 )； 使团结一致； 充实，巩固； 具体化 | |
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64
flopped
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| v.（指书、戏剧等）彻底失败( flop的过去式和过去分词 )；（因疲惫而）猛然坐下；（笨拙地、不由自主地或松弛地）移动或落下；砸锅 | |
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groused
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| v.抱怨，发牢骚( grouse的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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crouch
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| v.蹲伏，蜷缩，低头弯腰；n.蹲伏 | |
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charred
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| v.把…烧成炭( char的过去式)；烧焦 | |
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68
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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69
grunt
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| v.嘟哝；作呼噜声；n.呼噜声，嘟哝 | |
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70
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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71
marine
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| adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵 | |
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72
smoldering
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| v.用文火焖烧，熏烧，慢燃( smolder的现在分词 ) | |
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73
canard
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| n.虚报；谣言；v.流传 | |
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74
bristling
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| a.竖立的 | |
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aged
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| adj.年老的，陈年的 | |
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76
serial
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| n.连本影片，连本电视节目；adj.连续的 | |
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77
cohesion
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| n.团结，凝结力 | |
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78
ambled
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| v.（马）缓行( amble的过去式和过去分词 )；从容地走，漫步 | |
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79
squinted
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| 斜视( squint的过去式和过去分词 )； 眯着眼睛； 瞟； 从小孔或缝隙里看 | |
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80
hoarse
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| adj.嘶哑的，沙哑的 | |
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81
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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82
tangle
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| n.纠缠；缠结；混乱；v.(使)缠绕；变乱 | |
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83
gaped
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| v.目瞪口呆地凝视( gape的过去式和过去分词 )；张开，张大 | |
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84
awe
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| n.敬畏，惊惧；vt.使敬畏，使惊惧 | |
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85
verge
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| n.边，边缘；v.接近，濒临 | |
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86
impatience
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| n.不耐烦，急躁 | |
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87
muster
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| v.集合，收集，鼓起，激起；n.集合，检阅，集合人员，点名册 | |
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