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24
HALO: FIRST STRIKE
ravine like the backs of their hands. It wasn't marked on any
map, but it was where they'd trained for months with Dr. Halsey.
Beneath the mountain were caverns that the Office of Naval In-
telligence had converted into a top-secret facility. It was fortified
and hardened against radiation, and could probably withstand
anything up to and including a direct nuclear strike. A perfect
hole to hide in if everything went sour.
"Team Gamma." Fred selected Red-Twenty-one,
Red-Twenty-two, and Red-Twenty-three from the roster. "You'll
extract the Admiral and his staff and bring them back to the
generators. We'll need the extra crew."
"Affirmative," Red-Twenty-one replied.
Technically Fred was following Whitcomb's order to extract
him from his current position. What the Admiral didn't realize,
though, was that he would have probably been safer staying put.
"Team Beta—" Fred selected Red-Twenty through Red-Four.
"—you're on generator defense."
"Understood, Chief."
"Team Alpha—" He selected Kelly, Joshua, and himself.
"Awaiting orders, sir," Joshua said.
"We're going to that valley to kill anything there that isn't
human."
Fred and Kelly faced the three Banshee fliers that had been
dragged into the makeshift compound. Fred peered inside the
cockpit of the nearest craft and tabbed the activation knob. The
Banshee rose a meter off the ground, its antigrav pod glowed a
faint electric blue, and it started to drift forward. He snapped it
off, and the Banshee settled to the ground. He quickly tested the
other two, and they also rose off the ground.
"Good. All working."
Kelly crossed her arms. "We're going for a ride?"
A Warthog pulled up and skidded to a halt in front of them,
Joshua at the wheel. The rear held half a dozen Jackhammer mis-
siles and a trio of launchers. A crate sat in the passenger's seat,
one loaded with the dark, emerald-green duct tape that every sol-
dier in the UNSC ubiquitously referred to as "EB Green."
"Mission accomplished, sir," Joshua said as he climbed from
the Warthog.