2000 hours, September 12,2552 (revised date, Military Calendar)Aboard hybrid vesselGettysburg-Ascendant Justice, station-keeping in Eridanus system.

Admiral Whitcomb, the Master Chief, Fred, and Lieutenant Haverson bounded off theelevator and onto the bridge of the Gettysburg.

Cortana's image nickered on the holographic pad near the star map. "Covenant cruiser isonly two hundred thousand kilome.ters away," she reported. "Closing fast on an intercept course."The Admiral barked orders: "Fred, take the Engineering sta.tion, Haverson on NAV, andChief, you're on Weapons Station One; get it up and running and see if there are any systems we overlooked. Lieutenant, move us  away from the enemy on course one-eightzeroby two-seven-zero.""One-eight-zero by two-seven-zero, aye," Haverson replied. He strapped himself into theNAV station, and his fingers danced over the controls. "Coming about, Admiral."Gettysburg-Ascendant Justice turned and moved deeper into the asteroid field.

The Master Chief stepped up to Weapons Station One. He was cross-trained on theweapons 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 tolaunch one of the six-hundred-ton de.pleted uranium projectiles at that Covenant cruiser. He  carefully tapped commands on the keyboard, and the darkened screen262HALO: FIRST STRIKEcame to life. The Chief scrutinizenize'd the Gettysburgs weapons inventory.

Governor Jiles appeared on the number three forward display, his face placid except hislips, which pressed together so tightly that they were only a thin white line ofconcentration.

"Governor," the Admiral said. His voice was smooth and reso.nated with the absoluteauthority 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 tocoordinate with our AI and fire one of your nukes while their shields are down—blastthem 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 thatwe 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 thinruby 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 theship's skeletal superstructure.

"What the hell happened?" the Admiral shouted.

ERIC NYLUND263"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 Covenantcruiser, and the asteroid field full of rocks floating on invisible currents. He narrowed hiseyes, then said: "They'd blast you out of space  before you could sneeze, Governor. Andou don't have a weapon that'll get through their shields. No—I'll draw them off. Evacyyyour people.""Understood, Admiral." One of Jiles's eyebrows gracefully arched, and he bowed. "Thankyou.""Fred, move us at best speed. Haverson, come to course zero-nine-zero. Get us closer tothat moon-sized chuck of stone, twenty thousand kilometers to port.""Flank speed," Fred said. "Aye, sir.""Course change, aye," Haverson replied.

The Gettysburg-Ascendant Justice glided toward the large rock, and the Covenant cruiserrapidly closed on them. The enemy ship vanished on the displays as they rounded to thedark side of the asteroid.

"New course. Come about to one-eight-zero," the Admiral or.dered. "Full emergencypower to the engines and answer all stop."Thrasters spun the ship around, and vibrations rumbled through the weakened hull as itslowed and came to a stop, hidden behind the rock.

"Answering all stop," Fred announced.

"Sir, we are dead in space," Lieutenant Haverson said and nervously ran his fingersthrough his slicked-back red hair. "Tra.ditional tactics advocate speed andmaneuverability in ship-to-ship combat.""Not in this asteroid field," Admiral Whitcomb replied. "But you make a good point aboutstaying maneuverable. Align our nose toward the center of mass of the planetoid, andback us up, one half reverse. Keep us out of  the enemy's gunsights as long as you can.""Firing ministers. Answering one half reverse," Fred said.

264HALO: FIRST STRIKEThe ship slowly angled toward the center of the large asteroid and backed away.

"Cortana?" the Admiral asked. "Do we have a weapons turret or not?""Yes, sir," Cortana said, "but the turret's magnetic coils that shape and aim the plasma charge have overloaded."The Admiral inhaled and sighed explosively. "Master Chief, you got anything on Weapons Station One?""Archer missile pods depleted," the Master Chief answered. He scanned the display,hoping he had missed something. "No rounds for the MAC gun. All Shiva nuclear missiles fired as well, sir. The only things left in the tubes  are three Clarion spy drones.""No plasma and no missiles," Admiral Whitcomb said. "We might as well open an air lockand throw rocks at 'em."Throw rocks? The Master Chief wondered if they could fash.ion a slug to shoot from theMAC cannon. Let its magnetic coils propel the mass to supersonic velocities and—Magnetic coils?

"Sir," the Master Chief said. "We may have a way to fire the plasma turret after all. The Gettysburg's MAC gun has seventeen superconducting coils. Cortana might be able to use them to shape and aim the plasma.""Yes," the Admiral said, nodding.

"Maybe," Cortana amended and stared off into space, think.ing. "Calculating fieldstrength drop-off now." The mathematic symbols scrolling across her body increasedthreefold. She frowned. "This would be easier if the  Gettysburg was oriented bottom toAscendant Justice's top. I'll have to guess at the inter.ference from the intervening hulls,but it still might work. Chief—power it up. I'll need to recalibrate the pulse generation tomatch  the plasma output.""MAC gun magnetic fields coming online," the Master Chief said as he tapped incommands. "Rerouting power from Ascen.dant Justice's reactor.""We won't have enough power to move fast if we have to," Fred remarked, watching theenergy fed to the Gettysburg's en.gines drop to nothing.

"That's okay." The Admiral absentmindedly tugged at the endERIC NYLUNOof his mustache. "We wouldn't be able to outrun that Covenant cruiser even if we had fullpower. Our only chance is to take them out before they take us out. Launch those Clarion spy drones, Chief. Target the region  abeam that planetoid—so we can see around thecorner."The Master Chief kept one eye on the fluctuating magnetic field strengths of thesuperconducting coils as he programmed a course for the spy drones. Set to either side ofthe large asteroid, they'd effectively give them  another set of eyes to see past theobstructing rock.

"Drones away," the Chief said and launched them; their feath.ery propellant trailsvanished into the distance.

"Cortana," Admiral Whitcomb said, "slave your targeting sys.tem to the feed from those drones. I want a clean shot fired before the cruiser crosses that rock's shadow and shootsat us.""Working," she replied. "Getting magnetic field variations from the Ascendant Justice-to-Gettysburg energy transfer.""Drones in position and images online," the Master Chief said and pushed the video feedto the forward screen.

Doubled images of the Covenant cruiser appeared. Along its three bulbous sections,lateral plasma conduits glowed and every turret bristled with energy, ready to fire. Theirlaser batteries oblit.erated the large asteroids in  their path, while the smaller ones sim.ply bounced off their shields. The warship accelerated as it entered the gravitationalinfluence of the planetoid between them.

"They're going to slingshot around," the Admiral said. "Cor.tana, give me your besttargeting solution and fire at will!"Cortana narrowed her eyes and calculations flashed across her body. "Extrapolating theircourse and speed," she breathed. "I got them."On Weapons Station One the Master Chief saw the accelera.tion coils of the Gettysburg'sMAC pulse—then redline with power. Magnetic field lines ballooned, overlapped, and distorted asymmetrically. Static washed across  his MJOLNIR armor's shields, and every electrically conducting surface on the bridge sparked as the magnetic lines of force penetrated through the ship and toward the turret on Ascendant Justice.

Their only working turret heated, and plasma gathered at its266HALO: FIRST STRIKEtip; streamers looped upon themselves like tiny solar flares, vi.brated, intensified toorange and then blue-white.

"Almost there," Cortana cried. "Hang on."The ball of squeezed plasma imploded. It instantly boiled away a thirty-meter section ofarmor and hull from Ascendant Justice; the plasma vanished for a split second—then abolt of coiled energy corkscrewed toward the  edge of the planetoid.

The Covenant cruiser rounded the planetoid, targeted the Get.tysburg, and fired.

Cortana's single shot impacted on the nose of the enemy craft first. The cruiser's shieldflashed solid silver for a moment and was gone. The supercompressed plasma tore intothe hull of the warship—exploding the metal  where it touched. The plasma forked anddetonated outward as it chained through the vessel. Secondary explosions rippledthrough the alien ship's hull.

Edges of its shattered hull glow............