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262
HALO: FIRST STRIKE
came to life. The Chief scrutinized the Gettysburg's weapons
inventory.
Governor Jiles appeared on the number three forward display,
his face placid except his lips, which pressed together so tightly
that they were only a thin white line of concentration.
"Governor," the Admiral said. His voice was smooth and reso-
nated with the absolute authority of command. "I'll maneuver
the Gettysburg and take a shot at extreme range with our plasma
turret. That will blow down that cruiser's shields. I want you to
coordinate with our AI and fire one of your nukes while their
shields are down—blast them to bits."
"A brilliant tactic," Jiles said, and his lips parted in a mocking
smile. "Except for one problem. We have no nuclear weapons.
The ones you detected in the asteroid field were only neutron ra-
diation emitters." He shrugged. "We bluffed."
Admiral Whitcomb cursed quietly. "Very smart, Jiles."
"You'll just have to use the seven plasma turrets on your ship,
Admiral," Governor Jiles remarked. "That should be more than
enough to—"
The Admiral chuckled, and he smiled in the same mocking
fashion as Jiles. "We bluffed, too. We only have one turret...
and it's not working so well."
"It appears we have both overestimated the other," Jiles said.
"Under different circumstances this might be amusing."
"Indeed." Whitcomb addressed Cortana. "Try and hail that
Covenant cruiser. Maybe we can bluff them, too."
"They're responding," Cortana replied. "Religious rhetoric
aside, they're demanding that we stand down and hand over the
artifact or they will open fire."
"Give them our answer," Admiral Whitcomb said. "Fire when
ready, Cortana."
The turret on Ascendant Justice warmed, and plasma col-
lected and focused into a thin ruby line that lanced forward—
—and unraveled into a wide spiral that coursed over the bow
of the Gettysburg. The superheated gases boiled away patches
of remaining Titanium-A armor and revealed the ship's skeletal
superstructure.
"What the hell happened?" the Admiral shouted.