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The Master Chief stepped up to Weapons Station One. He was cross-trained on the weapons ops system of every class of UNSC warship, but he'd never actually fired any shipborne weapon be?fore. The MAC gun on this frigate was one of the largest weapons in the human arsenal. He wished they had rounds for it—he would've given anything to launch one of the six-hundred-ton de?pleted uranium projectiles at that Covenant cruiser. He carefully tapped commands on the keyboard, and the darkened screen
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.
ERIC NYLUND
263
"Analyzing now," Cortana replied. "Plasma turret offline. Stand by, sir."
"I can move my fleet to engage the enemy," Jiles said uncertainly.
Admiral Whitcomb surveyed the forward screens: Jiles, the approaching Covenant cruiser, and the asteroid field full of rocks floating on invisible currents. He narrowed his eyes, then said: "They'd blast you out of space before you could sneeze, Governor. And you don't have a weapon that'll get through their shields. No—I'll draw them off. Evac your people."