CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

0616 Hours, August 30, 2552 (Military Calendar)

UNSC Pillar of Autumn , Epsilon Eridani System near Reach Station Gamma The plan started to fall apart almost the instant the Pillar of Autumn launched their Pelican dropships.

“Bring us about to heading two seven zero,” Captain Keyes ordered Ensign Lovell.

“Aye, Captain,” Lovell said.

“Lieutenant Hall, track the dropships’ trajectories.”

“Pelican One on target to dock with station Gamma,” Lieutenant Hall reported. “Pelican Two initiating descent burn. They are five by five to land just outside FLEET HQ—”

“Captain,” Cortana interrupted. “Spatial disruption behind us.”

The view screen snapped to the aft. Black space bubbled with green points of light; the stars in the distance faded and stretched—a Covenant frigate appeared from nowhere.

“Lieutenant Dominique,” Captain Keyes barked, “notify FLEETCOM that we have unwanted visitors in the backyard. I respectfully suggest they reorient those orbital guns ASAP. Ensign Lovell, turn this ship around and give me maximum power to the engines. Lieutenant Hikowa, prepare to fire the MAC gun and arm Archer missile pods B1 through B7.”

The crew jumped to their tasks.

The Pillar of Autumn spun about, her engines flared, and she slowly came to a halt. The ship started back toward the new Covenant threat.

“Sir,” Cortana said. “Spatial disruptions increasing exponentially.”

Two more Covenant frigates appeared, flanking the first ship.

As soon as they exited Slipstream space—a white-hot line streaked across the blackness. A Super MAC

gun had targeted them and fired. The Covenant ship only existed for a moment longer. Its shields flashed and the hull blasted into fragments.

“They’re powered down,” Captain Keyes said. “No lights, no plasma weapons charging, no lasers. What are they doing?”

“Perhaps,” Cortana said, “their pinpoint jumps require all their energy reserves.”

“A weakness?” Captain Keyes mused.

“Not for long,” Cortana replied. “Covenant energy levels climbing.”

The two remaining Covenant ships powered up—lights snapped on, engines glowed, and motes of red light appeared and streamed along their lateral lines.

“Entering optimal firing range,” Lieutenant Hikowa announced. “Targeting solutions computer for both ships, Captain.”

“Target the port vessel with our MAC gun,” Lieutenant Hikowa. “Ready Archer missiles for the starboard target. Let’s hope we can draw their fire.”

Lieutenant Hikowa typed in the commands. “Ready, sir.”

“Fire.”

The Pillar of Autumn ’s MAC gun fired three times. Thunder roiled up from the ventral decks. Archer missiles snaked through space toward the Covenant frigate on the starboard edge of the enemy formation.

The Covenant ships fired . . . but not at the Pillar of Autumn . Plasma bolts launched toward the two closest orbital guns.

The Pillar of Autumn ’s MAC rounds struck the Covenant ship once, twice. Their shields flared, glowed, and dimmed. The third round struck clean and penetrated her hull aft—sent the ship spinning counterclockwise.

The orbital MAC guns fired again—a streak of silver and the port Covenant vessel shattered—a split second later the starboard ship exploded, too.

But their plasma torpedoes continued toward their targets, splashing across two of the orbital defense platforms. The guns melted and collapsed into boiling molten spheres in the microgravity.

Thirteen guns left, Captain Keyes thought. Not exactly a lucky number.

“Lieutenant Dominique,” he said, “request FLEETCOM to send all arriving vessels in-system to take up defense positions near our guns. The Covenant is willing to sacrifice a ship for one of our orbital guns.

Advise them the Covenant ships appear to be dead in space for a few seconds after they execute a pinpoint jump.”

“Got it, sir,” Lieutenant Dominique said. “Message away.”

“Lieutenant Hikowa,” Captain Keyes said. “Send the destruction codes to those wild missiles we launched.”

“Aye, sir.”

“Belay that,” Captain Keyes said. Something didn’t feel right. “Lieutenant Hall, scan the region for anything unusual.”

“Scanning, sir,” she said. “There are millions of hull fragments; radar is useless. Thermal is off the charts

—everything is hot out there.” She paused, leaned closer, and a hank of her blond hair fell into her face, but she didn’t brush it aside. “Reading motion toward Gamma station, sir. Landing pods.”

“Lieutenant Hikowa,” Keyes said. “Repurpose those Archer missiles. New targets—link with Lieutenant Hall for coordinates.”

“Yes, Captain,” they said in unison.

“Diversion, distraction, and deceit,” Captain Keyes said. “The Covenant’s tactics are almost getting predictable.”

A hundred pinpoints of fire dotted the distant space as their missiles found Covenant targets.

“Picking up activity just out of the effective range of our orbital guns,” Cortana said.

“Show me,” Captain Keyes said.

The titanic Covenant vessel Keyes had seen before was back. It fired its brilliant blue-white beam—a lance across space—that struck the destroyer Herodotus , one hundred thousand kilometers distant. The beam cut clean through the ship, stem to stern, bisecting her.

“Christ,” Ensign Lovell whispered.

A salvo of orbital gun rounds fired at this new target . . . but it was too far away. The ship moved out of the trajectory of the shells. They missed.

Another beam flashed from the Covenant vessel. Another ship—a carrier, the Musashi —was severed amidships as it moved to cover the orbital guns. The aft section of the ship continued to thrust forward, her engines still running hot.

“They’re going to sniper our ships,” Keyes said. “Leave us nothing to fortify Reach.” He took out his pipe and tapped it in the palm of his hand. “Ensign Lovell. Plot an intercept course. Engines to maximum. We’re going to take that ship out.”

“Sir?” Lovell sat straighter. “Yes, sir. Plotting course now.”

Cortana appeared on the holographic display. “I assume you have another brilliant navigational maneuver to evade this enemy, Captain.”

“I thought I’d fly straight in, Cortana . . . and let you do the driving.”

“Straight? You are joking.” Logic symbols streamed up her body.

“I never joke when it comes to navigation,” Captain Keyes said. “You will monitor the energy state of that ship. The instant you detect a buildup in their reactors, a spike of particle emissions—anything—

you fire our emergency thrusters to throw off their aim.”

Cortana nodded. “I’ll do my best,” she said. “Their weapon does travel at light speed. There won’t be much time to—”

A bang resonated through their port side hull. Captain Keyes flew sideways. Blue-white light flashed on their port view screen.

“One shot missed,” Cortana replied.

Captain Keyes stood up and straightened his uniform. “Ready MAC gun, Lieutenant Hikowa. Arm Archer missile pods C1 through E7. Give me a firing solution for missile impact on our last MAC

round.”

Lieutenant Hikowa arched an eyebrow. She had good reason to be dubious. They would be firing more than five hundred missiles at a single target. “Solution online, sir. Guns hot and ready.”

“Distance, Lieutenant Hall?”

“Closing in on extreme range for MAC guns, sir. In four . . . three. . . .”

An explosion to starboard and the Pillar of Autumn jumped. Keyes was braced this time.

“Fire, Lieutenant Hikowa. Send them back where they belong.”

“Missiles away, sir. Waiting to coordinate MAC rounds.”

Blue lightning washed out the view screen. Dull thumps sounded through the Pillar of Autumn like a string of firecrackers going off. The ship listed to port, and it started to roll.

“We’re hit!” Lieutenant Hall said. “Decompression on Decks C, D, and E. Sections two through twenty-seven. Venting atmosphere. Reactor’s damaged, sir.” She listened to her headset. “Can’t get a clear report of what’s going on belowdecks. We’re losing power.”

“Seal those sections. Lieutenant Hikowa, do we have gun control?”

“Affirmative.”

“Then fire at will, Lieutenant.”

The Pillar of Autumn shuddered as its MAC gun fired. Pings and groans diffused though her damaged hull. A trio of white-hot projectiles appeared on the view screen, chasing the Archer missiles toward their intended target.

The first round struck the Covenant ship; its shields rippled. The second and third rounds struck, and more than five hundred missiles detonated along her length. Flame dotted the massive vessel, and her shields blazed solid silver. They faded and popped. A dozen missiles impacted her hull and exploded, scarring the bluish armor.

“Minimal damage to the target, sir,” Lieutenant Hall reported.

“But we downed their shields,” Captain Keyes said. “We can hurt them. That’s all I needed to know.

Lieutenant Hikowa, make ready to fire again. Identical targeting solution. Lieutenant Hall, launch our remote-piloted Longsword interceptor and arm its Shiva nuclear warhead. Cortana, take control of the single ship.”

Cortana tapped her foot. “Longsword away,” she said. “Where do you want me to park this thing?”

“Intercept course for the Covenant ship,” he told her.

“Sir,” Lieutenant Hikowa cried. “We have an insufficient charge rate to fire the MAC guns.”

“Understood,” Captain Keyes said. “Divert all power from the engines to regenerate gun capacitors.”

“May I point out—” Cortana said and crossed her arms “—that if you power down the engines, we will be inside the blast radius of the Shiva warhead when it reaches the Covenant ship?”

“Noted,” Captain Keyes said. “Do it.”

“Capacitors at seventy-five percent,” Lieutenant Hikowa announced. “Eighty-five. Ninety-five. Full charge, sir. Ready to fire.”

“Fire at will,” Captain Keyes ordered.

“Missiles away—”

A javelin of blue-white energy from the Covenant ship slashed at the Pillar of Autumn . The beam struck, and cut through the hull. The Pillar of Autumn slid into a flat spin as the explosive decompression knocked the ship off course. As the Autumn spun, the Covenant energy beam carved a spiral pattern in the hull, shredding armor and puncturing deep into the ship.

The ship lurched sickeningly as the beam played across the portside Archer pods; the missiles detonated in their tubes. Keyes was nearly thrown from the command chair as the deck bucked beneath him.

He tightened his safety straps and scowled at the tactical displays. “Damage report!” he yelled, his voice competing with the dozens of hazard alarms that blared through the bridge speakers.

Cortana brought up a holographic view of the ship and flagged damaged areas in pulsing red. “Port launch and storage bays have been breached—fires on all decks, all sections. Primary fusion chamber is breached.”

The Pillar of Autumn tumbled out of control.

“Cortana, get us straight and level. We have to fire our guns!”

“Yes, Captain.” Her body became a blur of mathematical symbols. “This is an extremely chaotic trajectory,” she said. “Atmosphere still venting. Hang on. There. Got it.”

The Pillar of Autumn righted herself. The Covenant ship centered on the main view screen. This close Captain Keyes saw how huge the ship was—three times the mass of a normal cruiser. There was a pod mounted on the top deck; it swiveled and tracked the Pillar of Autumn , bringing the turret to bear. It glowed electric white as it built up another lethal charge.

“Fire when ready, Lieutenant Hikowa,” Captain Keyes ordered.

“Firing!” Thunder rumbled belowdecks. “MAC rounds away.”

The shells struck the Covenant vessel; Archer missiles impacted . . . only a handful got though her downed shields.

“Cortana, crash-land our Longsword on that bastard. Set timer delay on the nuke for fifteen seconds.”

“Afterburners on,” Cortana replied. “Impact in three . . . two . . . one. She’s down, sir.”

The Pillar of Autumn sped past the Covenant ship.

“Lieutenant Hall, divert any power you can muster to the engines.”

“Bringing secondary reactor back online, sir. That gives us fifteen percent.”

“Aft camera on center screen,” Captain Keyes ordered.

The Covenant ship slowly turned toward the Pillar of Autumn and its turret tracked their position. For the first time in his life, Keyes prayed that a Covenant ship’s shields would hold.

The alien ship became a flash of white light; its outline blurred. Their shields held for a split second as the Shiva warhead detonated inside its protective aura. The shockwave rebounded off the asymmetrical shape of the shields just before their collapse. Jets of energy exploded outward at three different angles.

Thunder and plasma roiled into space . . . cleanly missing the Pillar of Autumn .

The light faded and the Covenant flagship was gone.

Captain Keyes puffed again on his pipe and tapped it out. Maybe now they had a chance to rally what remained of the UNSC fleet and defend Reach.

“Congratulations Captain,” Cortana said. “I couldn’t have done better myself.”

“Thank you, Cortana. Is there a planet nearby?”

“Beta Gabriel,” she said. “Fourteen million kilometers. Practically next door.”

“Good. Ensign Lovell, plot a course for a slingshot orbit. Reverse our trajectory back in-system.”

“Sir,” Lieutenant Dominique interrupted. “Incoming transmission from Reach. It’s the Spartans.”

“On speakers, Lieutenant.”

Static hissed from the channel. A man’s voice broke through. “—bad. Reactor complex seven has been compromised. We’re falling back. Might be able to save number three. Set off those charges now!”

There was a series of explosions . . . more white noise, then the man returned. “Be advised Pillar of Autumn , groundside reactors are being taken. Orbital guns at risk. Nothing we can do. Too many. We will have to use the nukes—” Static washed away the transmission.

“Captain,” Cortana said. “You need to see this, sir.”

She overlaid a tactical map of the system on the main view screen. Tiny triangular red markers winked on the edges: Covenant ships—dozens of them—reentered the system from Slipspace.

“Sir,” she said, “when the guns around Reach go down. . . .”

“There will be nothing left to stop the Covenant,” he finished.

Captain Keyes turned to Lieutenant Dominique. “Get those Spartans back online,” he said. “Tell them to evac ASAP. In a few minutes, it’s going to get very nasty around Reach.”

He took a deep breath. “Then raise the Master Chief on a secure channel. Let’s hope he has some good news for us.”