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CHAPTER TWO
0631 hours, August 30,2552 (Military Calendar)\Epsilon
Eridani system, unknown aerial position, planet Reach.
Fred saw the sky and earth flashing in rapid succession before
his faceplate. Decades of training 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
tumble and slowed his velocity.
Time seemed to simultaneously crawl and race—something
Kelly had once dubbed "SPARTAN Time." Enhanced senses and
augmented physiology meant that in periods of stress Spartans
thought and reacted faster than a normal human. Fred's mind
raced as he absorbed the tactical situation.
He activated his motion sensors, 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.
"Covenant ground forces could be tracking the Pelican," Fred
told them over the COM. "Expect AA fire."
The Spartans immediately broke formation and scattered
across the sky.
Fred risked a sidelong glance and spotted the Pelican. It tum-
bled, sending shards of armor plating in glittering, ugly arcs, be-
fore it impacted into the side of a jagged snowcapped 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
sinuous ribbon of water that he recognized: Big Horn River.
The Spartans had trained on Reach for most of their early