Halo_ First Strike - Eric S. Nylund [119]
"Governor," the Admiral said. His voice was smooth and resonated with the absolute authority of command. "I'll maneuver the Gettysburg and take a shot at extreme range with our plasma turret. That will blow down that cruiser's shields. I want you to coordinate with our AI and fire one of your nukes while their shields are down—blast them to bits."
"A brilliant tactic," Jiles said, and his lips parted in a mocking smile. "Except for one problem. We have no nuclear weapons. The ones you detected in the asteroid field were only neutron radiation emitters." He shrugged. "We bluffed."
Admiral Whitcomb cursed quietly. "Very smart, Jiles."
"You'll just have to use the seven plasma turrets on your ship, Admiral," Governor Jiles remarked. "That should be more than enough to—"
The Admiral chuckled, and he smiled in the same mocking fashion as Jiles. "We bluffed, too. We only have one turret... and it's not working so well."
"It appears we have both overestimated the other," Jiles said. "Under different circumstances this might be amusing." "Indeed." Whitcomb addressed Cortana. "Try and hail that Covenant cruiser. Maybe we can bluff them, too."
"They're responding," Cortana replied. "Religious rhetoric aside, they're demanding that we stand down and hand over the artifact or they will open fire."
"Give them our answer," Admiral Whitcomb said. "Fire when ready, Cortana." The turret on Ascendant Justice warmed, and plasma collected and focused into a thin ruby line that lanced forward—
—and unraveled into a wide spiral that coursed over the bow of the Gettysburg. The superheated gases boiled away patches of remaining Titanium-A armor and revealed the ship's skeletal superstructure.
"What the hell happened?" the Admiral shouted.
"Analyzing now," Cortana replied. "Plasma turret offline. Stand by, sir." "I can move my fleet to engage the enemy," Jiles said uncertainly.
Admiral Whitcomb surveyed the forward screens: Jiles, the approaching Covenant cruiser, and the asteroid field full of rocks floating on invisible currents. He narrowed his eyes, then said: "They'd blast you out of space before you could sneeze, Governor. And you don't have a weapon that'll get through their shields. No—I'll draw them off. Evac your people."
"Understood, Admiral." One of Jiles's eyebrows gracefully arched, and he bowed. "Thank you."
"Fred, move us at best speed. Haverson, come to course zero-nine-zero. Get us closer to that moon-sized chuck of stone, twenty thousand kilometers to port."
"Flank speed," Fred said. "Aye, sir."
"Course change, aye," Haverson replied.
The Gettysburg-Ascendant Justice glided toward the large rock, and the Covenant cruiser rapidly closed on them. The enemy ship vanished on the displays as they rounded to the dark side of the asteroid.
"New course. Come about to one-eight-zero," the Admiral ordered. "Full emergency power to the engines and answer all stop."
Thrasters spun the ship around, and vibrations rumbled through the weakened hull as it slowed and came to a stop, hidden behind the rock.
"Answering all stop," Fred announced.
"Sir, we are dead in space," Lieutenant Haverson said and nervously ran his fingers through his slicked-back red hair. "Traditional tactics advocate speed and maneuverability in ship-toship combat."
"Not in this asteroid field," Admiral Whitcomb replied. "But you make a good point about staying maneuverable. Align our nose toward the center of mass of the planetoid, and back us up, one half reverse. Keep us out of the enemy's gunsights as long as you can."
"Firing ministers. Answering one half reverse," Fred said.
HALO: FIRST STRIKE
The ship slowly angled toward the center of the large asteroid and backed away. "Cortana?" the Admiral asked. "Do we have a weapons turret or not?" "Yes, sir," Cortana said, "but the turret's magnetic coils that shape and aim the plasma charge have overloaded." The Admiral inhaled and sighed explosively.