The dropship rolled, inverted3, and spun4 out of control. It tum.bled and pitched, and oneof the I-beams solidly welded to the hull6 bucked7 and snapped.
The Spartans8 of Blue Team were strapped9 to the hull in quick-release harnesses. No one,however, gave any thought to the red quick-release button in the center of their chests.
They were all hanging on for their lives.
The forward monitor was black because there was nothing for them to see in Slipspace.
The only light inside the dropship came from chemical light sticks activated10 and tossedinside before they departed. Those plastic sticks had cracked, and their lumi.nous contents had balled into a million microscopic12 blobs in the zero gee13.
Although the hydrostatic gel inside his MJOLNIR armor had been pressurized to itsmaximum safe value, John's bones still felt as if they were being shaken apart.
This violent ride started when they had cleared Ascendant Justice's launch bay andentered the inky void of Slipspace. This "normal" Slipspace was nothing like John hadexperienced before. Without the smoothing effect of Dr. Halsey's alien crystal—this ridewas a thousand times worse.
Radiation levels spiked14 and dipped... but so far the dosages getting into the lead-lineddropship were survivable.
"Now I know," Linda said, "why only big ships travel through Slipspace."296HALO: FIRST STRIKE"You know those SS probes?" Fred asked. "They're almost solid Titanium-A."The Master Chief checked his team's biosigns: erratic15 but still within normal operationalparameters. Grace's heart skipped a beat or two, but then returned to a normal strong rhythm. No broken bones or signs of internal bleeding yet, either. It was also a good sign that Blue Team were reasonably calm about their dire16 situation. The Chief knew it was allthey could do until they cleared the Slipspace field generated by Ascendant Justice.
He ran a diagnostic on his MJOLNIR shields. They still re.charged faster than they were drained by the ambient radiation that stormed invisibly around them. He wished the realCortana were with him. She would have said something to distract him.
"Status?" John asked.
Four blue acknowledgment lights winked17 on, and four Spar.tans gave him thumbs-up signals.
Fred chimed in, "This isn't so bad. The last insertion I made, we hit the ground before thedropship. Now, that was a rough ride. We were—"The dropship lurched violently and cut off Fred's story.
Cracks appeared along the armor welded to the port wall. Molten lead oozed18 from therupture.
Despite the hydrostatic gel and the padding, a jolt19 slammed the Master Chief's headagainst the front of his helmet with force enough to make black stars explode in his eyes.Another jolt slammed his head into the back of his helmet. The inside of the dropshipwent entirely20 dark.
"Chief? Chief?" Cortana's voice whispered through his hel.met speaker. "Chief, respondplease."John's vision came into focus. His biosigns sluggishly21 pulsed on his heads-up dis lay.Beyond the display, it was completely dark. He activated his external lights and pppointedhis head along the interior of the dropship.
His Spartans hung limp in their harnesses. Aside from spheres of lead that had meltedunder the hull armor, resolidified, and now floated like champagne23 bubbles in the interiorof the vessel24, there was no other discernible motion.
"We made it?"ERIC NYLUND 297"Affirmative," the cloned Cortana answered. "I'm picking up a tremendous volume ofCovenant COM traffic on the F-through K-bands. They've pinged us three times alreadyfor a response, Chief. Awaiting orders.""How can you pick up any signal inside this lead-lined hull?""The hull is breached25 in many sections, Chief. The COM traf.fic is also unusually strong,indicating extremely close proximity26 of Covenant1 forces.""Stand by," he told her. He hit the quick release on his harness and floated free. He calledup Blue Team's biosigns and found them all unconscious, but alive. He grabbed a first-aidkit, in.jected them each with a mild stimulant27, and released them from their safetyrestraints.
"Where are we?" Will asked.
The Master Chief looked instinctively28 to the forward moni.tors, but they were dead."There's only one way to find out," he replied. "I'll take the portside hatch. Fred, you're onthe starboard.""Roger, Blue-One," Fred replied.
The Chief rotated the manual release of the hatch and it eased open. Beyond was thevelvet black of space, filled with stars that shone yellow and amber29 and red. He clipped atether onto his suit and then onto the hull and leaned out the hatch.
As Cortana had indicated, there were Covenant forces in close proximity. A cruiser glidedsilently past them three hundred me.ters away. All John could see was its silver-blue hull,its plasma30 turrets31 with their lateral32 lines aglow33 with fire, and the flare34 of its engine cones35 as it passed... and then John saw the rest of them.
There were Covenant cruisers and larger carriers; there were even bigger vessels36 withfive bulbous sections that were two kilometers stem to stern and had a dozen deadlyenergy projec.tors. Motes37 of dust swirled between the numerous ships: Seraph38 fighters,dropships, and tentacled39 Engineer pods.
"How many ships," he asked Cortana, "are we looking at?""Two hundred forty-seven warships41," she replied. "Estima.tion of the total population based on the sampling from your lim.ited field of vision puts that total number at more than five hundred Covenant warships."For the first time the Chief froze; his gauntlets locked onto the298HALO: FIRST STRIKEedge of the hatch, and his arms failed to respond. Five hundred ships? There was more firepower here than he had ever seen be.fore11. This fleet would easily overwhelm any UNSC defensive42 force—whether or not the Admiral got through with his warn.ing. Theiropening salvo would be a tidal wave of plasma, and it would obliterate43 Earth's orbitalfortresses before they could fire a shot.
A thousand kilometers below, space rippled44, parted, and seven more cruisers appeared innormal space. They maneuvered45 to join the rest of the pack.
John realized he had seen this magnitude of destructive power: Halo. The ring was a weapon designed to kill all sentient46 life for dozens of light-years in every direction.
And he had stopped that threat. He could stop this one, too. He had to.
His plan called for the infiltration47 and destruction of their command-and-control station.But how would that stop this gathering48 offeree? It wouldn't... but it might buy Earthenough time to come up with a plan to counter this seemingly invincible49 armada.
"You said they've pinged us three times?" John asked Cortana.
"Affirmative. They've been curious about our status, but not as much as you might expect.There's a tremendous amount of COM traffic. They're probably only interested in us as a naviga.tion hazard.""Send a signal and explain that our engines are crippled and we'll need assistance tomove. Let's see if we can get them to take us to this central station for repairs.""Sending message now."The Master Chief piped what he was seeing to Blue Team. "Time to wake up," he said."Armor and weapons check on the double."There was a pause of several seconds before Blue Team's ac.knowledgment lights pulsedin his HUD. He knew they were having the same reaction of fear, and then drawing thesame con5.clusion as he had about their mission. They couldn't fail: The fate of humanitylay in their hands.
John angled his head around to take a look at the dropship.
The majority of the dropship's hull had peeled away, and leadERIC NYLUND299and titanium plates underneath50 showed through. Without their reinforcements, the craftwould have disintegrated51 on the rough ride through Slipspace.
"Covenant C & C responding to our request," the copied Cor-tana informed him. "Ferry en route to take us in for repairs. They were a little confused about which warship40 we belong to, but I simulated static to cover our ship's registration52 ID. They're too busy to take too close a look at us."The Master Chief returned inside the dropship. "We're get.ting towed," he told Blue Team.
Linda came up to him and made a circle in the air with her in.dex finger. John noddedand turned around so she could visually inspect his MJOLNIR suit. Computer diagnostics were fine, but his Spartans didn't take any chances with their armor. Especially not in an evacuated53 environment.
"You're good," she told him.
John then returned the favor and examined her suit. Fred and Will had done an excellent job integrating the replacement54 parts into Linda's armor. Aside from their pristinecondition, they were a perfect match.
He patted her on the shoulder and gave her a thumbs-up to in.dicate that her armor was in working order.
"Ordnance55 load out," Grace said and unraveled the duffel bags they had tied to the hull.The packages had been wrapped with lead foil, layers of thermal56 padding, and then alayer of utility tape. "Heavy or "light?she asked.
"We go in heavy," John said. "Except Linda."Linda started to object, but he explained, "We'll need you to hang back and cover us withyour sniper rifle. I want you fast and deadly. Take a close-range weapon, extra ammo, and whatever you need to keep your sniper rifle working in the field.""Roger," Linda said. Her voice was cold, hard, and brittle58. This was the voice John hadheard as she reported in while snip57.ing targets around the team. John sometimes found ita little too cold... but he knew this was a good sign. Linda was preparing to do what shedid best: kill with a single shot.
"The rest of us will take whatever we can carry. Once we're in I have a feeling we won't beable to come back. If we have to, we can always lighten our load."300HALO: FIRST STRIKEThe Chief grabbed a battle rifle and, for close use, a pair of submachine guns. He took apair of silencers for the SMGs and hip2 holsters for the smaller weapons. He picked up a dozen frag grenades in their plastic ring carrier and slotted that into the left thigh59 section of his armor.
He'd need ammunition60, a lot of it, if things got hot. So he took extra clips for the SMGs and the battle rifle and taped them onto his chest, arms, and right thigh. More clips went into a back.pack, along with two Lotus antitank mines, a few cans of C-7 ex.plosive,detonators, timers, two field first-aid kits61, and a fiber-optic probe.
While the rest of Blue Team got their gear together, John told them, "Stay off the COM from now on."They all nodded.
Lead lining62 or not, they were close to too many listening Covenant ears to take any more chances with the COM.
He moved to the still-open port hatch, slid the fiber-optic probe outside, and plugged itinto his helmet. Grainy images ap.peared on his heads-up display.
Hundreds of Covenant ships swarmed63 into view. In their midst a speck64 glowed and grew larger until the Master Chief saw it was a ship of similar design to their own: two U-shaped hulls65, each the size of their dropship, sat on top of one another. This shipaccelerated toward them and separated—one part moved to their dropship's stern and the other drifted to the nose.
The clanging of metal on metal reverberated66 through the hull, and the Master Chief felt agentle motion in the pit of his stomach.
He looked back and passed on a thumbs-up to Fred, indicating that their tow had arrived,and Fred passed this signal on to the rest of the team.
On the fiber-optic feed the Master Chief saw that the Covenant tug67 maneuvered them through the fleet, up, over, and around ships a hundred times their size. There was a moment when they dived and there was nothing on screen save the stars and black ofspace. The Master Chief got a glimpse of the gold-colored star on his heads-up display,and then the video feed moved over to a planet of ocher smeared68 with clouds of sulfur dioxide and an or.biting moon of silver.
ERIC NYLUND301The tug turned to face a new ship in the distance. This vessel looked like two teardrop-shaped Covenant ships that had collided, giving the result an overall elongated69 figure-eight geometry.
They moved toward this ship, and the Master Chief made out more details. Spokes70 radiated from the narrow midpoint of the vessel and connected to a slender ring that hehadn't seen before because they had approached facing it edge-on. Featherlike tubes extended from either bulbous section and moved slowly over that central wheel. Johnsquinted to make out more details on this unusual ship, but he was already at maximum resolution.
It had a ring? Was it rotating? But the Covenant had gravita.tional technology. They didn't need rotating sections to simulate gravity.
Then he saw something recognizable on the structure: tiny ships docked to that ring.Covenant cruisers and carriers. There must have been sixty connected to the central hub.
The titanic71 perspective of this structure clicked into place. The carriers looked like toys.The twin teardrop shapes had to be thirty kilometers end to end. This could only be theCovenant command-and-control center, the Unyielding Hierophant.
The tug moved directly toward the station. It was precisely72 where they had to go, so itwas a lucky break... but ironically, it was also the last place the Master Chief wanted to be.
There was no telling what kind of sensors73 the Unyielding Hiero-phanthad, but they couldn't take chances. John retreated into the dropship and eased the hatch shut.
He moved deeper into the ship and waited with the rest of Blue Team.
Three minutes ticked by on his mission clock; John tried to control his breathing andfocus his mind.
Gravity settled his stomach, and there was a series of metallic74 clatters75 along the hull.Atmosphere hissed76 in though the cracks of their breached ship.
John pointed22 at Fred and Grace and then to the starboard hatch. They leveled their rifles and moved. He pointed to Linda and himself, then the port hatch, and they also movedinto position.
John wasn't sure what kind of reception waited for them on the other side of those hatches, but one thing was certain—they'dr302HALO: FIRST STRIKEhave to face it head-on. There was nowhere to hide inside the re.inforced and too-cramped interior of their dropship.
The port hatch cracked and squeaked77 open.
Linda and John aimed their rifles.
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1
covenant
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| n.盟约，契约；v.订盟约 | |
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hip
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| n.臀部，髋；屋脊 | |
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inverted
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| adj.反向的，倒转的v.使倒置，使反转( invert的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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spun
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| v.纺，杜撰，急转身 | |
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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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hull
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| n.船身；(果、实等的)外壳；vt.去(谷物等)壳 | |
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bucked
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| adj.快v.（马等）猛然弓背跃起( buck的过去式和过去分词 )；抵制；猛然震荡；马等尥起后蹄跳跃 | |
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spartans
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| n.斯巴达（spartan的复数形式） | |
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strapped
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| adj.用皮带捆住的，用皮带装饰的；身无分文的；缺钱；手头紧v.用皮带捆扎(strap的过去式和过去分词)；用皮带抽打；包扎；给…打绷带 | |
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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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fore
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| adv.在前面；adj.先前的；在前部的；n.前部 | |
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microscopic
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| adj.微小的，细微的，极小的，显微的 | |
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gee
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| n.马；int.向右！前进！，惊讶时所发声音；v.向右转 | |
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spiked
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| adj.有穗的；成锥形的；有尖顶的 | |
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erratic
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| adj.古怪的，反复无常的，不稳定的 | |
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dire
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| adj.可怕的，悲惨的，阴惨的，极端的 | |
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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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oozed
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| v.（浓液等）慢慢地冒出，渗出( ooze的过去式和过去分词 )；使（液体）缓缓流出；（浓液）渗出，慢慢流出 | |
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jolt
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| v.（使）摇动，（使）震动，（使）颠簸 | |
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entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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sluggishly
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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champagne
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| n.香槟酒；微黄色 | |
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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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breached
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| 攻破( breach的现在分词 )； 破坏，违反 | |
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proximity
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| n.接近，邻近 | |
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stimulant
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| n.刺激物，兴奋剂 | |
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instinctively
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| adv.本能地 | |
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amber
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| n.琥珀；琥珀色；adj.琥珀制的 | |
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plasma
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| n.血浆，细胞质，乳清 | |
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turrets
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| （六角）转台( turret的名词复数 )； （战舰和坦克等上的）转动炮塔； （摄影机等上的）镜头转台； （旧时攻城用的）塔车 | |
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lateral
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| adj.侧面的，旁边的 | |
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aglow
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| adj.发亮的；发红的；adv.发亮地 | |
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flare
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| v.闪耀，闪烁；n.潮红；突发 | |
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cones
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| n.（人眼）圆锥细胞；圆锥体( cone的名词复数 )；球果；圆锥形东西；（盛冰淇淋的）锥形蛋卷筒 | |
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vessels
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| n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人 | |
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motes
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| n.尘埃( mote的名词复数 )；斑点 | |
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seraph
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| n.六翼天使 | |
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tentacled
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| 有触角[触手]的 | |
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warship
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| n.军舰，战舰 | |
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warships
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| 军舰，战舰( warship的名词复数 )； 舰只 | |
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defensive
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| adj.防御的；防卫的；防守的 | |
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obliterate
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| v.擦去，涂抹，去掉...痕迹，消失，除去 | |
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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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maneuvered
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| v.移动，用策略( maneuver的过去式和过去分词 )；操纵 | |
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sentient
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| adj.有知觉的，知悉的；adv.有感觉能力地 | |
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infiltration
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| n.渗透；下渗；渗滤；入渗 | |
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gathering
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| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
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invincible
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| adj.不可征服的，难以制服的 | |
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underneath
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| adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面 | |
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disintegrated
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| v.（使）破裂[分裂，粉碎]，（使）崩溃( disintegrate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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registration
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| n.登记，注册，挂号 | |
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evacuated
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| 撤退者的 | |
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replacement
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| n.取代，替换，交换；替代品，代用品 | |
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ordnance
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| n.大炮，军械 | |
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thermal
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| adj.热的，由热造成的；保暖的 | |
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snip
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| n.便宜货，廉价货，剪，剪断 | |
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brittle
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| adj.易碎的；脆弱的；冷淡的；(声音)尖利的 | |
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thigh
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| n.大腿；股骨 | |
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ammunition
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| n.军火，弹药 | |
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kits
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| 衣物和装备( kit的名词复数 )； 成套用品； 配套元件 | |
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lining
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| n.衬里，衬料 | |
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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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speck
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| n.微粒，小污点，小斑点 | |
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hulls
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| 船体( hull的名词复数 )； 船身； 外壳； 豆荚 | |
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reverberated
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| 回响，回荡( reverberate的过去式和过去分词 )； 使反响，使回荡，使反射 | |
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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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smeared
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| 弄脏； 玷污； 涂抹； 擦上 | |
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elongated
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| v.延长，加长( elongate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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spokes
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| n.（车轮的）辐条( spoke的名词复数 )；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 | |
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71
titanic
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| adj.巨人的，庞大的，强大的 | |
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72
precisely
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| adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地 | |
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73
sensors
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| n.传感器，灵敏元件( sensor的名词复数 ) | |
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74
metallic
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| adj.金属的；金属制的；含金属的；产金属的；像金属的 | |
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75
clatters
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| 盘碟刀叉等相撞击时的声音( clatter的名词复数 ) | |
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76
hissed
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| 发嘶嘶声( hiss的过去式和过去分词 )； 发嘘声表示反对 | |
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77
squeaked
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| v.短促地尖叫( squeak的过去式和过去分词 )；吱吱叫；告密；充当告密者 | |
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