0622 hours, August 30,2552 (Military Calendar) UNSC Vessel Pillar of Autumn, Epsilon Eridani system near Reach Station Gamma.

SPARTAN-104, Frederic, twirled a combat knife, his fingers nimble despite the bulkyMJOLNIR combat armor that encased his body. The blade traced a complicated series ofgraceful arcs in the air. The few remaining Naval  personnel on the deck turned pale and averted their eyes—a Spartan wielding a knife was gen.erally accompanied by thepresence of several dead bodies.

He was nervous, and this was more than the normal pre-mission jitters. The team'soriginal objective—the capture of a Covenant ship—had been scrubbed in the face of a new enemy offensive. The Covenant were en  route to Reach, the last of the UnitedNa.tions Space Command's major military strongholds.

Fred couldn't help but wonder what use ground troops would be in a ship-to-shipengagement. The knife spun.

Around him, his squadmates loaded weapons, stacked gear, and prepped for combat,their efforts redoubled since the ship's Captain had personally come down to themustering area to brief the team leader, SPARTAN- 117—but Fred was already squaredaway. Only Kelly had finished stowing gear before him.

He balanced the point of the knife on his armored finger. It hung there for severalseconds, perfectly still.

A subtle shift in the Pillar of Autumn's gravity caused the knife to tip. Fred plucked it from the air and sheathed it in a sin.gle deft move. A cold feeling filled his stomach as herealized what the gravity fluctuation meant: The  ship had just changed course—another complication.

ERIC NYLUND 3Master Chief SPARTAN-117—John—marched to the nearest COM panel as CaptainKeyes's face filled the screen.

Fred sensed a slight movement to his right—a subtle hand sig.nal from Kelly. He openeda private COM freq to his teammate.

"Looks like we're in for more surprises," she said.

"Roger that," he replied, "though I think I've had enough sur.prises for one op."Kelly chuckled.

Fred focused his attention on John's exchange with Keyes. Each Spartan—selected from an early age and trained to the pin.nacle of military science—had undergone multipleaugmenta.tion procedures: biochemical,  genetic, and cybernetic. As a result, a Spartan could hear a pin drop in a sandstorm, and every Spartan in the room was interested inwhat the Captain had to say. If you 're going to drop into hell, CPO Mendez, the  Spartans' first teacher, had once said, you may as well drop with good intel.

Captain Keyes frowned on the ship's viewscreen, a nonregula-tion pipe in his hand.Though his voice was calm, the Captain's grip on the pipe was white-knuckle tight as heoutlined the situa.tion. A single space vessel  docked in Reach's orbital facilities had failed to delete its navigational database. If the NAV data fell into Covenant hands, the enemywould have a map to Earth.

"Master Chief," the Captain said, "I believe the Covenant will use a pinpoint Slipspacejump to a position just off the space dock. They may try to get their troops on the stationbefore the Super MAC guns can take out  their ships. This will be a difficult mission, Chief.I'm... open to suggestions.""We can take care of it," the Master Chief replied.

Captain Keyes's eyes widened and he leaned forward in his command chair. "How exactly,Master Chief?""With all due respect, sir, Spartans are trained to handle diffi.cult missions. I'll split mysquad. Three will board the space dock and make sure that NAV data does not fall into theCovenant's hands. The remainder of the  Spartans will go groundside and re.pel theinvasion forces."Fred gritted his teeth. Given his choice, he'd rather fight the Covenant on the ground. Likehis fellow Spartans, he loathed off-planet duty. The op to board the space dock would befraught4 HALO: FIRST STRIKEwith danger at every turn—unknown enemy deployment, no gravity, useless intel, no dirtbeneath his feet.

There was no question, though: The space op was the toughest duty, so Fred intended tovolunteer for it.

Captain Keyes considered John's suggestion. "No, Master Chief. It's too risky—we've gotto make sure the Covenant don't get that NAV data. We'll use a nuclear mine, set it closeto the docking ring, and detonate it.""Sir, the EMP will burn out the superconductive coils of the orbital guns. And if you usethe Pillar of Autumn's conventional weapons, the NAV database may still survive. If theCovenant search the wreckage—they may  obtain the data.""True," Keyes said and tapped his ipe thoughtfully to his chin. "Very well, Master Chief.We'll go with your suggestion. I'll ppplot a course over the docking station. Ready yourSpartans and prep two dropships. We'll launch you—" He consulted with Cortana."—infive minutes.""Aye, Captain. We'll be ready.""Good luck," Captain Keyes said, and the viewscreen went black.

Fred snapped to attention as the Master Chief turned to face the Spartans. Fred began tostep forward——but Kelly beat him to it. "Master Chief," she said, "permis.sion to lead the space op."She had always been faster, damn her.

"Denied," the Master Chief said. "I'll be leading that one.

"Linda and James," he continued. "You're with me. Fred, you're Red Team leader. You'llhave tactical command of the ground operation.""Sir!" Fred shouted and started to voice a protest—then squelched it. Now wasn't thetime to question orders... as much as he wanted to. "Yes, sir!""Now make ready," the Master Chief said. "We don't have much time left."The Spartans stood a moment. Kelly called out, "Attention!" The soldiers snapped to andgave the Master Chief a crisp salute, which was promptly returned.

Fred switched to Red Team's all-hands freq and barked, "Let's move, Spartans! I wantgear stowed in ninety seconds, and finalERIC NYLUND 5prep in five minutes. Joshua: Liaise with Cortana and get me current intel on the droparea—I don't care if it's just weather satellite imagery, but I want pictures, and I wantthem ninety seconds ago."Red Team jumped into action.

The pre-mission jitters were gone, replaced with a cold calm. There was a job to do, andFred was eager to get to work.

Flight Officer Mitchell flinched as a stray energy burst streaked into the landing bay andvaporized a meter-wide section of bulk.head. Red-hot, molten metal splattered thePelican dropship's viewport.

Screw this, he thought, and hit the Pelican's thrusters. The gunmetal-green transportbalanced for a moment on a column of blue-white fire, then hurtled out of the Pillar ofAutumn's launch bay and into space. Five seconds later all hell broke loose.

Incoming energy bursts from the lead Covenant vessels cut across their vector andslammed into a COMSat. The communi.cations satellite broke apart, disintegrating intoglittering shards.

"Better hang on," Mitchell announced to his passengers in the dropship's troop bay.

A swarm of Seraphs—the Covenant's scarablike attack fighters—fell into tight formation and arced through space on an intercept course for the dropship.

The Pelican's engines flared and the bulky ship plummeted toward the surface of Reach.The alien fighters accelerated and plasma bursts flickered from their gunports.

An energy bolt slashed past on the port side, narrowly missing the Pelican's cockpit.

Mitchell's voice crackled across the COM system: "Bravo-One to Knife Two-Six: I coulduse a little help here."He rolled the Pelican to port to avoid a massive, twisted hunk of wreckage from a patrolcutter that had strayed too close to the oncoming assault wave. Beneath the blackenedplasma scorches, he could just make out  the UNSC insigne. Mitchell scowled. This was getting worse by the second. "Bravo-One to Knife Two-Six, where the hell are you?" heyelled.

A quartet of wedge-shaped, angular fighters slotted into cover.ing position on Mitchell'sscopes—Longswords, heavy fighters.

6 HALO: FIRST STRIKE"Knife Two-Six to Bravo-One," a terse, female voice crackled across the COM channel."Keep your pants on. Business is good today."Too good. No sooner had the fighters taken escort position over his dropship than theapproaching Covenant fighters opened up with a barrage of plasma fire.

Three of the Pelican's four Longsword escorts peeled off and powered toward theCovenant ships. Against the black of space, cannons flashed and missiles etched ghostlytrails; Covenant energy weapons cut through the  night and explosions dotted the sky.

The Pelican and its sole escort, however, accelerated straight toward the planet. It shotpast whirling wreckage; it rolled and maneuvered as missiles and plasma boltscrisscrossed their path.

Mitchell flinched as Reach's orbital defense guns fired in a hot, actinic flash. A white ballof molten metal screamed directly over the Pelican and its escort as they rocketedbeneath the de.fense platform's ring-shaped  superstructure.

Mitchell sent the Pelican into the planet's atmosphere. Va.porous flames flickered across the ship's stunted nose, and the Pelican jounced from side to side.

"Bravo-One, adjust attack angle," the Longsword pilot ad.vised. "You're coming in too hot.""Negative," Mitchell said. "We're getting to the surface fast— or we're not getting there atall. Enemy contacts on my scopes a't four by three oclock."A dozen more Covenant Seraphs fired their engines and an.gled toward the twodescending ships.

"Affirmative: four by three. I've got 'em, Bravo-One," the Longsword pilot announced."Give 'em hell down there."The Longsword flipped into a tight roll and rocketed for the Covenant formation. Therewas no chance that the pilot could take out a dozen Seraphs—and Knife Two-Six had toknow that. Mitchell only hoped that the  precious seconds Two-Six bought them would beenough.

The Pelican opened its intake vents and ignited afterburners, plummeting toward theground at thirteen hundred meters per second. The faint aura of flames around the craftroared from red to blinding orange.

ERIC NYLUNDThe Pelican's aft section had been stripped of the added crash seats that usually linedthe section's port and starboard sides. The life-supppport generators on the firewallbetween pas.senger and pilot's compartment had also been discarded to make room.Under other circumstances, such modifications would have left the Pelican's troop bayunusually  cavernous. Every square centimeter of space, however, was occupied.

Twenty-seven Spartans braced themselves and clung to the frame of the ship; theycrouched in their MJOLNIR armor to ab.sorb the shock of their rapid descent. Theirarmor was half a ton of black alloy, faintly luminous  green ceramic plates, and wink.ingenergy shield emitters. Polarized visors and full helmets made them look part Greek heroand part tank—more machine than human. At their feet equipment bags and ammunitionboxes  were lashed in place. Everything rattled as the ship jostled through the increasinglydense air.

Fred hit the COM and barked: "Brace yourselves!" The ship lurched, and he struggled tokeep his footing.

SPARTAN-087, Kelly, moved nearer and opened a frequency. "Chief, we'll get that COMmalfunction squared away after we hit planetside," she said.

Fred winced when he realized that he'd just broadcast on FLEETCOM 7: He'd spammedevery ship in range. Damn it.

He opened a private channel to Kelly. "Thanks," he said. Her reply was a subtle nod.

He knew better than to make such a simple mistake—and as his second in command,Kelly was rattled by his mistake with the COM, too. He needed her rock-solid. He neededall of Red Team frosty and wired tight.

Which meant that he needed to make sure he held it together. No more mistakes.

He checked the squad's biomonitors. They showed all green on his heads-up display, withpulse rates only marginally accel.erated. The dropship's pilot was a different story.Mitchell's heart fired like an assault rifle.

Any problems with Red Team weren't physical; the biomoni.tors confirmed that much.Spartans were used to tough missions; UNSC High Command never sent them on any"easy" jobs.

8 HALO: FIRST STRIKETheir job this time was to get groundside and protect the gen.erators that powered theorbiting Magnetic Accelerator Cannon platforms. The fleet was getting ripped to shreds inspace. The massive MAC guns were the  only thing keeping the Covenant fromoverrunning their lines and taking Reach.

Fred knew that if anything had Kelly and the other Spartans rattled, it was leaving behindthe Master Chief and his hand-picked Blue Team.

Fred would have infinitely preferred to be with Blue Team. He knew every Spartan herefelt like they were taking the easy way out. If the ship-jockeys managed to hold off theCovenant as.sault wave, Red Team's mission  was a milk run, albeit a neces.sary one.

Kell 's hand bumped into Fred's shoulder, and he recognized it as a consoling gesture.Kellyyy's razor-edged agility was multi.plied fivefold by the reactive circuits in herMJOLNIR armor. She wouldn't have "accidentally" touched him unless she meant it, andthe gesture spoke volumes.

Before he could say anything to her, the Pelican angled and gravity settled the Spartans' stomachs.

"Rough ride ahead," the pilot warned.

The Spartans bent their knees as the Pelican rolled into a tight turn. A crate broke itsretaining straps, bounced, and stuck to the wall.

The COM channel blasted static and resolved into the voice of the Longsword's pilot:"Bravo Two-Six, engaging enemy fighters. Am taking heavy incoming fire—" The channelwas abruptly swallowed in static.

An explosion buffeted the Pelican, and bits of metal pinged off its thick hull.

Patches of armor heated and bubbled away. Energy blasts flashed through the boilingmetal, filling the interior with fumes for a split second before the ship's pressurized atmosphere blew the haze out the gash in its side.

Sunlight streamed though the lacerated Titanium-A armor. The dropship lurched to port,and Fred glimpsed five Covenant Seraph fighters driving after them and wobbling in theturbu.lent air.

"Gotta shake 'em," the pilot screamed. "Hang on!"ERIC NYLUND 9The Pelican pitched forward, and her engines blasted in full overload. The dropship'sstabilizers tore away, and the craft rolled out of control.

The Spartans grabbed on to cross beams as their gear was flung about inside the ship.

"It's going to be a helluva hot drop, Spartans," their pilot hissed over the COM."Autopilot's programmed to angle. Re.verse thrusters. Gees are takin' me out. I'll—"A flash of light outlined the cockpit hatch, and the tiny shock-proof glass window shattered into the passenger compartment.

The pilot's biomonitor flatlined.

The rate of their dizzying roll increased, and bits of metal and instruments tore free anddanced around the compartment.

SPARTAN-029, Joshua, was closest to the cockpit hatch. He pulled himself up and lookedin. "Plasma blast," he said. He paused for a heartbeat, then added: "I'll reroute control tothe ter.minal here." With his right hand,  he furiously tapped commands onto thekeyboard mounted on the wall. The fingers of his left hand dug into the metal bulkhead.

Kelly crawled along the starboard frame, held there by the spinning motion of the out-ofcontrolPelican. She headed aft of the passenger compartment and punched a keypad,priming the explosive bolts on the drop hatch.

"Fire in the hole!" she yelled.

The Spartans braced.

The hatch exploded and whipped away from the plummeting craft. Fire streamed along the outer hull. Within seconds the compartment became a blast furnace. With the grace ofa high-wire performer, Kelly leaned out  of the rolling ship, her armor's energy shieldsflaring in the heat.

The Covenant Seraph fighters fired their lasers, but the energy weapons scattered in thesuperheated wake of the dropping Peli.can. One alien ship tumbled out of control, too deep in the atmo.sphere to easily maneuver.  The others veered and arced up back intospace.

"Too hot for them," Kelly said. "We're on our own.""Joshua," Fred called out. "Report.""The autopilot's gone, and cockpit controls are offline," Joshua answered. "I can counterour spin with thrusters." He tapped in10 HALO: FIRST STRIKEa command; the port engine shuddered, and the ship's rolling slowed and ceased.

"Can we land?" Fred asked.

Joshua didn't hesitate to give the bad news. "Negative. The computer has no solution forour inbound vector." He tapped rapidly on the keyboard. "I'll buy as much time as I can."Fred ran over their limited options. They had no parasails, no rocket-propelled dropcapsules. That left them one simple choice: They could ride this Pelican straight into hell...

or they could get off.

"Get ready for a fast drop," Fred shouted. "Grab your gear. Pump your suits' hydrostaticgel to maximum pressure. Suck it up, Spartans—we're landing hard.""Hard landing" was an understatement. The Spartans—and their MJOLNIR armor—weretough. The armor's energy shields, hydrostatic gel, and reactive circuits, along with theSpartans' augmented skeletal structure, might be enough to withstand a high-speed crashlanding... but not a supersonic impact.

It was a dangerous gamble. If Joshua couldn't slow the Peli.can's descent—they'd bepaste.

"Twelve thousand meters to go," Kelly shouted, still leaning over the edge of the aft door.

Fred told the Spartans: "Ready and aft. Jump on my mark."The Spartans grabbed their gear and moved toward the open hatch.

The Pelican's engines screamed and pulsed as Joshua angled the thruster cams to reversepositions. The deceleration pulled at the Spartan team, and everyone grabbed, or made, ahandhold.

Joshua brought what was left of the craft's control flaps to bear, and the Pelican's nosesnapped up. A sonic boom rippled through the ship as its velocity dropped below Mach 1.

The frame shuddered and rivets popped.

"Eight kilometers and this brick is still dropping fast," Kelly called out.

"Joshua, get aft," Fred ordered.

"Affirmative," Joshua said.

The Pelican groaned and the frame pinged from the stress— and then creaked as the craftshuddered and flexed. Fred set hisERIC NYLUND11armored glove on the wall and tried to will the craft to hold to.gether a little longer.

It didn't work. The port engine exploded, and the Pelican tum.bled out of control.

Kelly and the Spartans near the aft drop hatch dropped out.

No more time.

"Jump," Fred shouted. "Spartans: Go, go, go!"The rest of the Spartans crawled aft, fighting the gee forces of the tumbling Pelican. Fredgrabbed Joshua—and they jumped.