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220
HALO: FIRST STRIKE
years .. . as it had in them all. But with Will something special
had been lost.
Grace, Blue-Six, had a knack for explosives. She could shape a
charge to cut through a single steel bolt with only a whisper
sound, or rig a hundred thousand liters of kerosene to blow into a
firestorm from hell. Ironically her temper was nonexistent.
John opened a COM channel. "Give me a systems check,
Blue Team."
Five acknowledgment lights winked on.
"This reminds me of the underwater mission Chief Mendez
sent us on at Emerald Cove," Fred whispered. "When he sabo-
taged half our air tanks? And we ended up stealing his."
"And after," Anton said, laughing, "we ditched him and camped
on that island. It was a week with nothing to do but light bonfires,
bake clams, and surf."
"Mmrnmm," Grace added, "calamari."
John wondered if Emerald Cove even existed anymore. The
UNSC had abandoned that colony a decade ago. The Covenant
had most likely glassed that world.
"Blue Team." Polaski's voice broke over the COM. "Local
conditions are as calm as they're going to get. Exiting in three...
two...one!'
John felt the acceleration in the pit of his stomach. He rose,
moved to the hatch, and popped it open. Outside, Ascendant Jus-
tice's hull moved past them—almost every square centimeter of
the flagship's polished alloy skin had been scarred by heat and
micrometeors; tendrils of metal vapor snaked and shimmered in
the vacuum.
On Ascendant Justice's upper deck he saw the looming
shadow of the inverted UNSC frigate Gettysburg still miracu-
lously attached. It was on fire, pockmarked with craters, and
venting atmosphere, but it was remarkably intact. If not for the
thousands of dead Naval personnel undoubtedly on board, he
might have christened the ship "lucky."
The dropship slowed and Polaski drifted, turned, and de-
scended onto the surface of the ship.
"Latch engaged," she said over the COM. "All yours, Chief."
"Fred, Grace, and I will reconnoiter," he told Blue Team. "An-
ton, Will, and Li, get ready to move the arc welder and hull plates