Halo_ The Fall of Reach - Eric Nylund [133]
“Fire when ready, Lieutenant Hikowa,” Captain Keyes ordered.
“Firing!” Thunder rumbled belowdecks. “MAC rounds away.”
The shells struck the Covenant vessel; Archer missiles impacted . . . only a handful got though her downed shields. “Cortana, crash-land our Longsword on that bastard. Set timer delay on the nuke for fifteen seconds.” “Afterburners on,” Cortana replied. “Impact in three . . . two . . . one. She’s down, sir.” ThePillar of Autumn sped past the Covenant ship. “Lieutenant Hall, divert any power you can muster to the engines.” “Bringing secondary reactor back online, sir. That gives us fifteen percent.” “Aft camera on center screen,” Captain Keyes ordered. The Covenant ship slowly turned toward thePillar of Autumn and its turret tracked their position. For the
first time in his life, Keyes prayed that a Covenant ship’s shields would hold. The alien ship became a flash of white light; its outline blurred. Their shields held for a split second as the Shiva warhead detonatedinside its protective aura. The shockwave rebounded off the asymmetrical
shape of the shields just before their collapse. Jets of energy exploded outward at three different angles. Thunder and plasma roiled into space . . . cleanly missing thePillar of Autumn . The light faded and the Covenant flagship was gone. Captain Keyes puffed again on his pipe and tapped it out. Maybe now they had a chance to rally what
remained of the UNSC fleet and defend Reach. “Congratulations Captain,” Cortana said. “I couldn’t have done better myself.” “Thank you, Cortana. Is there a planet nearby?” “Beta Gabriel,” she said. “Fourteen million kilometers. Practically next door.” “Good. Ensign Lovell, plot a course for a slingshot orbit. Reverse our trajectory back in-system.” “Sir,” Lieutenant Dominique interrupted. “Incoming transmission from Reach. It’s the Spartans.” “On speakers, Lieutenant.”
Static hissed from the channel. A man’s voice broke through.“—bad. Reactor complex seven has been compromised. We’re falling back. Might be able to save number three. Set off those charges now!” There was a series of explosions . . . more white noise, then the man returned.“Be advised Pillar of Autumn, groundside reactors are being taken. Orbital guns at risk. Nothing we can do. Too many. We will have to use the nukes—”Static washed away the transmission.
“Captain,” Cortana said. “You need to see this, sir.”
She overlaid a tactical map of the system on the main view screen. Tiny triangular red markers winked on the edges: Covenant ships—dozens of them—reentered the system from Slipspace.
“Sir,” she said, “when the guns around Reach go down. . . .”
“There will be nothing left to stop the Covenant,” he finished.
Captain Keyes turned to Lieutenant Dominique. “Get those Spartans back online,” he said. “Tell them to evac ASAP. In a few minutes, it’s going to get very nasty around Reach.”
He took a deep breath. “Then raise the Master Chief on a secure channel. Let’s hope he has some good news for us.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
0637 Hours, August 30, 2552 (Military Calendar) / Epsilon Eridani System, Reach Station Gamma
“Multiple signals on motion tracker,” the Master Chief said. “They’re all around us.” The passageway behind the Master Chief and Blue-One swarmed with blips. So did docking Bay Nine, ahead of them. The Master Chief saw, however, not all the blips were hostiles. Four Marine friend-or
foe tags strobed on his heads-up display: SGT. JOHNSON, PVT. O’BRIEN, PVT. BISENTI, and PVT. JENKINS. The Master Chief opened up a COM channel to them. “Listen up, Marines. Your lines of fire are sloppy;
tighten them up. Concentrate on one Jackal at a time—or you’ll just waste your ammo on their shields.” “Master Chief?” Sergeant Johnson said, startled. “Sir, yes sir!” “Blue-One,” the Master Chief said. “I’m going in. We’re going to open up theCircumference like a tin
can.” He nodded toward the Pelican in the adjacent bay. “Give me a few grenades over the top.”
“Understood,” she replied. “You’re covered, sir.” She