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184
HALO: FIRST STRIKE
Locklear hefted the fuel rod gun, grunting from the exertion.
The weapon glowed an eerie green along its fuel casing.
Grace relieved him of the too-heavy weapon and shouldered it
with ease.
"Make sure you get a handgun," the Chief told Locklear.
"We'll be in close quarters underground."
"Roger that," Locklear said.
"We're close," the Admiral called out.
The Master Chief moved up to the cockpit to watch. The line
of dropships and drones maneuvered toward a pile of
truck-sized stones that had been carved from the mountain. A
spiraling hole, ten kilometers across, sat where Menachite
Mountain had once risen majestic and impregnable, covered
with forests and glaciers.
It was only a strip mine now, with a single shaft drilled down
its center. A Covenant cruiser hovered over the shaft, and the
purple glow of a grav lift knifed into the hole.
"That's our LZ," Whitcomb announced. "Polaski, I want you
to drive this crate straight down—but ease up a tad on the en-
gines and let their grav beam do the work. It'll take us all the way
down to whatever's at the bottom."
"With respect, Admiral," Polaski said, "I'm not sure we'll fit."
The Admiral squinted at the hole. "We'll fit," he said. "I have
every confidence in you, Warrant Officer. Now make it quick. I
don't think anyone topside is going to think us going down there
is a good idea."
"Yes, sir!" Her eyes locked onto the hole. "No problem, sir."
The Master Chief marveled at the Admiral's lack of fear. He
trusted the man's judgment; he had been criticized during his
campaigns for unorthodox tactics and strategies, but his insight
had been proven correct each time. The Master Chief, however,
also had observed that the higher up the chain of command you
received your orders, the more likely those orders would de-
mand the near impossible.
"Hang on," the Chief called back to his team.
Polaski nosed the Covenant dropship over and plummeted
into the dark purple scintillating grav beam. The instant they
entered the field, the ship jumped, accelerated, and shuddered
into the hole drilled through solid rock.