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Harland didn’t turn toward the man. He covered Cochran with another blanket. “I don’t know. Can youfight?”
“I think so.”
He passed Walker a rifle. “Good. Get up there and stand watch.” He got out a cigarette, lit it, took a puff,and then handed it to Walker.
Walker took it, shakily stood, and went outside.
“Sir!” he said. “Dropship inbound. One of ours!”
Harland grabbed his signal flares. He ran outside and squinted at the horizon. High on the edge of thedarkening sky was a dot, and the unmistakable roar of Pelican engines. He pulled the pin and tossed thesmoker onto the ground. A moment later, thick clouds of green smoke roiled into the sky.
The dropship turned rapidly and descended toward their location.
Harland shielded his eyes. He searched for the rest of the dropships. There was only one.
“Onedropship?” Walker whispered. “That’s all they sent? Christ, that’s not backup—that’s a burialdetail.”
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The Pelican eased toward the ground, spattering mud in a ten-meter radius, then touched down. Thelaunch ramp fell open and a dozen figures marched out.
For a moment Harland thought they were the same creatures he had seen earlier—armored and biggerthan any human he’d ever laid eyes on. He froze—he couldn’t have raised his gun if he had wanted to.
They were human, though. The one in the lead stood over two meters tall and looked like he weighedtwo hundred kilograms. His armor was a strange reflective green alloy, and underneath matte black.Their motions were so fluid and graceful—fast and precise, too. More like robots than flesh and blood.
The one that first stepped off the ship strode toward him. Though his armor was devoid of insignia,Harland could see the insignia of a Master Chief Petty Officer in his helmet’s HUD.
“Master Chief, sir!” Harland snapped to attention and saluted.
“Corporal,” it said. “At ease. Get your men together and we’ll get to work.”
“Sir?” Harland asked. “I’ve got a lot of wounded here. What work will we be doing, sir?”
The Master Chief’s helmet cocked quizzically to one side. “We’ve come to take Sigma Octanus Fourback from the Covenant, Corporal,” he said calmly. “To do that, we’re going to kill every last one ofthem.”
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CHAPTER TWENTY
1800 Hours, July 18, 2552 (Military Calendar) /Sigma Octanus IV, grid nineteen by thirty-seven
The Master Chief surveyed what was left of Camp Alpha. There were only fourteen Marine regulars left—balanced against the four hundred men and women who had been slaughtered here.
He said to Kelly, “Post a guard on the dropship, and put three on patrol. Take the rest and secure the LZ.”
“Yes, sir.” She turned to face the other Spartans, pointed, made three quick hand gestures, and theydispersed like ghosts.
The Master Chief turned to the Corporal. “Are you in command here, Corporal?”
The man looked around. “I guess so . . . yes, sir.”
“As of 0900 Standard Military time, NavSpecWep is assuming control of this operation. All Marinepersonnel now report through our chain of command. Understand, Corporal?”