0930 hours, September 4,2552 (Military Calendar) UNSC High Command (HighCom)Facility Bravo-6, Sydney, Australia, Earth. Two and a half weeks ago.

Lieutenant Wagner walked through metal-and explosive-detector gates and into theatrium entrance of the large, vaguely conical structure. Officially designated UNSCHighCom Facility B-6, the sprawling edifice had been  nicknamed "the Hive."It was overcast in Sydney. Gray light filtered in through the crystal dome overhead.

He marched past officers and NCOs moving with purpose to whatever destinations occupied their time. He ignored the dis.plays of acacia trees and exotic ferns meant for the press and civilian tours. Today there was no  time for pleasantries.

In another hour the apparent calm and efficiency of HighCom would be shattered into a billion pieces. Only a few of the brass knew that the UNSC's mightiest outpost, Reach, was now noth.ing more than a cinder.

Wagner approached the receptionist's station under the watchful eyes of a trio ofarmored Marine MPs.

Keeping Reach's fate quiet was not the UNSC's biggest se.cret, not by a country mile.

Virtually no one in the civilian popu.lation of the Inner Colonies knew how perilouslyclose they were to losing this war. ONI Section Two had done a brilliant job of preservingthe fiction that Earth forces held their own  against the Covenant.

And what did the citizens of the Outer Colonies think? Those who hadn't fled to remoteoutposts and hidden privateer basesERIC NYLUND 99weren't in any position to make trouble. The Covenant didn't take prisoners.

"You're expected today, Lieutenant," the receptionist said. She was a young Chief PettyOfficer and looked like she didn't have a care, or a clue. But her eyes gave her away. Sheknew something. Maybe not what, but  she had undoubtedly picked up on the increasedsecurity protocols ... or the haunted looks in the eyes of her commanding officers.

"Please proceed to elevator eight," she told him and returned her attention to the screenin front of her.

He made a mental note to find out who this perceptive erson was and see if she could berecruited into Section Three. ONI had lost a lot of good pppeople in the last few weeks.

Wagner moved to the solid steel wall, and a pair of doors parted for him. He entered thesmall room; the doors closed and locked with a whisper-quiet snik.

A fingerprint pad and retinal scanner extended from the wall. Wagner pressed his handonto the scanner, and a needle stabbed his index finger. They'd check his DNA against thesample on file. He blinked once and then  rested his chin on the retinal scanner.

"Good morning, Lieutenant," a sweet female voice whispered in his ear.

"Good morning, Lysithea. How are you today?""Ver well, now that I see that you have returned safely from your mission. I assumeeveryyything went as expected.""You know that's classified," he told the AI.

"Certainly," she replied, her tone playful. "But I'll find out anyway, you know. Why notsave me the time and just tell me?"Although he generally enjoyed this tete-a-tete with Lysithea, he knew it was part of thebiometric scan, too. She scanned his brainwaves and voice patterns in response to herqueries and matched them to older responses  in her memory. She probably tested hisloyalty in security measures as well—he didn't put any.thing past Section Three; theygrew more paranoid every day.

"Of"course you'll find out," Wagner rep"lied. But I still can't tell you. That would be a breach of security, punishable under Article 428-A. In fact," he said in a more serious tone, "I'll have to report this violation to my  controller."100HALO: FIRST STRIKEShe laughed, and it sounded like fine bone china clinking to.gether. "You may proceed,Lieutenant," she told him.

The doors parted and revealed a corridor lined with walnut panels and paintings ofWashington Crossing the Delaware, Ad.miral Cole's Last Stand, various alien landscapes,and space battles.

Although he had barely felt the descent, Wagner knew he had dropped three kilometers into the planet, through solid layers of granite, reinforced concrete, plates of Titanium-A,and EMP-hardened metal. None of this  made him feel any safer, though; ONI's researchfacility on Reach had the same setup, and it hadn't done those poor bastards any good.

He stepped off the elevator. Lysithea whispered at his back: "Watch out in there. They're looking to put someone's head on a pike."Wagner swallowed and straightened the microscopic wrinkles in his uniform. He searched for a reason to delay—anything that would keep him out of the room at the end of this corridor. He sighed and overcame his  inertia. No one kept the Security Com.mittee for the UNSC waiting.

A pair of MPs snapped to as he approached the set of double doors. They didn't salute,and their hands rested on their hol-stered sidearms. They stared straight ahead, butWagner knew that if he twitched the wrong way  he'd be shot first and ques.tioned later.

The doors silently swung inward.

He entered, and the doors closed behind him and locked. Wagner recognized most of thebrass seated at the crescent-shaped table: Major General Nicolas Strauss, Fleet AdmiralSir Terrence Hood, and Colonel James  Ackerson. Vice Admiral Whit-comb's chair was empty.

Another half-dozen officers were also present, and all were of command rank, whichmade Wagner nervous. Each had display tablets set before them, and even upside down, Wagner recog.nized his preliminary report  and video records.

Wagner saluted.

General Strauss leaned forward and snapped off his display. "Christ! Did we know they had so many damn ships?" HeERIC NYLUND 101banged a fist onto the table. "Why the hell didn't we know about this? Who in ONI let thisone slip by?"Ackerson leaned back. "No one is to blame, General—except the Covenant, obviously. I'mmore concerned with our response to this incursion. Our fleet was decimated."Ackerson's reputation preceded him. Wagner had heard about the lengths to which he'dgone in the past to make sure his own operations got priority over Section Three's. Hisrivalry with the SPARTAN-II program leader,  Dr. Catherine Halsey, was the stuff oflegend. Wagner thought Ackerson had been reassigned to a front-line post. Apparentlyhe'd squirmed out of it. That was trouble.

Admiral Hood straightened and pushed his display away and finally acknowledgedWagner. He returned the salute. The Ad.miral was impeccably groomed, not a silver hairout of place on his head, and yet there were dark  circles under his eyes. "At ease,Lieutenant."Wagner tucked his hands behind the small of his back and moved his feet slightly apart,but otherwise didn't relax a mil.limeter. One was never at ease when in the presence oflions, sharks, and scorpions.

Hood turned to Ackerson. "Decimate is the wrong word, Colonel. We would have been decimated if we lost one ship out of every ten." He voice rose slightly. "Instead, we lostten of our ships for every one that managed  to limp away. It was a total disaster!""Of course, Admiral." Ackerson nodded, pretending to listen, and his eyes flickered over the report again. His eyebrows raised as he noticed the time and date stamp. "There's one thing, how.ever, I'd like answered first."  His glassy glare locked onto Wag.ner. "The time difference between the events in this report and now..." He trailed off, lost in thought."Congratulations, Lieu.tenant. This is a new speed record from Reach to  Earth.Espe.cially when I know you took the time to perform the legally required random jumps before returning to Earth.""Sir," Wagner replied. "I followed the Cole Protocol to the letter."That was a lie and everyone in this room knew it. ONI was al.ways bending the ColeProtocol. In this case, it was probably102HALO: FIRST STRIKEjustified because of the value of the intel. Still, if they wanted to crucify him, all they hadto do was check the time logged on his Prowler's engines and do the math.

Hood waved his hand. "That's hardly the issue.""I think it is," Ackerson snappe"d. Reach is gone. There's nothing between Earth and theCovenant now except a lot of vacuum—that and whatever secrecy we can preserve.""We'll review Section Three's practices later, Colonel." Ad.miral Hood turned to Wagner.&............