Halo_ The Fall of Reach - Eric Nylund [119]
“A hundred alien vessels, sir. Between the combined force of the fleet and Reach’s orbital gun platforms, it is almost guaranteed there will be a disabled ship my squad can board and capture.”
Captain Keyes mulled this over. “There will also be hundreds of ships exchanging fire with one another. Missiles, nukes . . . Covenant plasma torpedoes.”
“Just get us close enough,” the Master Chief said. “Punch a hole in their shields long enough for us to get on their hull. We’ll do the rest.”
Captain Keyes chewed on his pipe. He tucked it into the cup of his hand. “There are operational complications with your plan. Cortana has been running thePillar of Autumn ’s shakedown. We have our own AI, but by the time we get it initialized and running this ship—the battle may be over.”
“I see, sir.”
Captain Keyes gazed a moment at the Master Chief, then sighed. “If there is a disabled Covenant ship and if we are close enough to itand if we’re not blown to a million bits by the time we get there, then I’ll transfer Cortana to you. I’ve flown ships without an AI before.” Captain Keyes managed a weak smile, but it quickly disappeared.
“Yes, sir!”
“We’ll be at rally point Zulu in twenty minutes, Master Chief. Have your team ready by then . . . for anything.”
“Sir.” He saluted.
Captain Keyes returned the salute and entered the elevator, puffing on his pipe and shaking his head.
The Master Chief turned to his teammates. They halted what they were doing.
“You all heard. This is it. Fred and James, I want to you to refit one of our Pelicans. Get every scrap of C-12 and shape a charge on her nose. If Captain Keyes downs a Covenant shield, we may have to blast our way into the ship’s hull.”
Fred and James replied, “Aye, sir.”
“Linda, assemble a team and get into every crate ONI packed for us—distribute that gear ASAP. Make sure everyone gets a thruster pack, plenty of ammo, grenades, and Jackhammer launchers if we have them. If we do get on board, we may encounter those armored Covenant types again—this time I want the firepower to take them out.”
“Yes, sir!” The Spartans scrambled to make ready for the mission. The Master Chief approached Kelly. On a private COM channel, he told her, “Crate thirteen on the
manifest has three HAVOK nuclear mines. Get them. I have the arming cards. Ready them for transport.” “Affirmative.” She paused. The Master Chief couldn’t see her face past the reflective shield of her helmet, but he knew her well
enough to know that the tiny slump of her shoulders meant that she was worried.
“Sir?” she said. “I know this mission will be tough, but . . . do you ever get the feeling that this is like one of Chief Mendez’s missions? Like there’s a trick . . . some twist that we’ve overlooked?” “Yes,” he replied. “And I’m waiting for it.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
0534 Hours, August 30, 2552 (Military Calendar) / UNSCPillar of Autumn , Epsilon Eridani System
ThePillar of Autumn detonated its port emergency thrusters. The ship slid out of the path of the asteroid,
missing it by ten meters— —The Covenant plasma trailing them did not. It impacted the city-sized rock and sent fountains of molten iron and nickel spewing into space.
Nine of the ten teardrop-shaped Covenant fighters—nicknamed “Seraphs” by ONI—dodged the asteroid
as well. The tenth ship slammed into the asteroid and vanished from the bridge’s view screen. The other single ships accelerated and swarmed around thePillar of Autumn , harassing her with pulse laser fire.
“Cortana,” Captain Keyes said, “activate our point defense system.” ThePillar of Autumn ’s 50mm cannons flashed—chipping away at the Covenant ships’ shields. “Already engaged, Captain,” Cortana said calmly. “Ensign Lovell,” Captain Keyes said. “Engines all stop and bring us about one hundred eighty degrees.
Lieutenant Hikowa, ready our MAC gun and arm Archer missile pods A1 through A7. I want a firing solution that has our Archer missiles hitting with the third MAC round.” “On it, sir,” Lieutenant Hikowa replied.
“Aye, sir,” Ensign