Page 4 - ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS First and foremost, I would like to thank the personnel at Central Command: Syne Mitchell and the newest officer on our team, Kai Nylund. The Intel Officers at Microsoft's Franchise Development Group: Doug Zartman, Nancy Figatner, and Edward Ventura, and most notably Eric S. Trautman...
Page 5 - SECTION; REACH
Page 6 - CHAPTER ONE; Epsilon Eridani system near
CHAPTER ONE 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 bulky MJOLNIR combat armor that encased his body. The blade traced a complicated se...
Page 7 - ERIC NYLUND
ERIC NYLUND 3 Master Chief SPARTAN-117—John—marched to the nearest COM panel as Captain Keyes's face filled the screen. Fred sensed a slight movement to his right—a subtle hand sig- nal from Kelly. He opened a private COM freq to his teammate. "Looks like we're in for more surprises," she sa...
Page 16 - CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER TWO 0631 hours, August 30,2552 (Military Calendar)\Epsilon Eridani system, unknown aerial position, planet Reach. Fred saw the sky and earth flashing in rapid succession before his faceplate. Decades of training took over. This was just like a parasail drop ... except this time there was no ...
Page 23 - CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER THREE 0649 hours, August 30,2552 (Military Calendar) \ Epsilon Eridani system, Orbital Defense Generator Facility A-331, planet Reach. Fred looked over the battlefield from the top of the southern bunker, his temporary command post. The structure had been hastily erected, and some of the fas...
Page 30 - CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FOUR 0711 hours, August 30,2552 (Military Calendar)\Epsilon Eridani system, Longhorn Valley, planet Reach. The alarm hooted, and Zawaz sprang to his feet with a startled yelp. The squat alien, a Grunt clad in burnished orange armor, fumbled and dropped his motion scanner. He keened in fear a...
Page 37 - SECTION I; THRESHOLD
Page 38 - CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER FIVE 1637 hours, September 22,2552 (Military Calendar) \ Aboard Longsword fighter, uncharted system, Halo debris field. Three weeks later. The Master Chief settled into the pilot's seat of the Longsword attack craft. He didn't fit. The contoured seat had been engi- neered to mate with a stan...
Page 51 - CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SIX 1710 hours, September 22,2552 (Military Calendar) \ Aboard Longsword fighter, uncharted system, Halo debris field. The Master Chief held on to the ship's frame with one hand so he wouldn't float away in zero gee. With the other hand he pressed the pistol deeper into Johnson's forehead. T...
Page 62 - CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER SEVEN 1750 hours, September 22,2552 (Military Calendar) \ Aboard unidentified Covenant flagship, uncharted system, Halo debris field. Plasma bolts impacted on the Longsword's hull and splashed across the windshield. The packets of glowing energy sizzled across the cockpit and etched cloudy, ...
Page 76 - CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER EIGHT 1802 hours, September 22,2552 (Military Calendar) \ Aboard unidentified Covenant flagship, uncharted system, Halo debris field. The Master Chief ducked as the hissing energy blade slashed at him. He dived toward the Elite and slammed the butt of his rifle into the alien's midsection. T...
Page 88 - CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER NINE 1827 hours, September 22,2552 (Military Calendar) \ Aboard unidentified Covenant flagship, uncharted system, Halo debris field. The flagship plunged through Threshold's churning atmo- sphere. Cortana could not hold the ship's attitude. It wobbled and blasted a fiery scar through the clo...
Page 100 - CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER TEN 1852 hours, September 22,2552 (Military Calendar) \ Captured Covenant flagship, in Slipspace, location unknown. After the Chief had left to investigate the cryopod, Haverson made certain that the bridge doors locked. He turned and walked over to the Covenant Engineer who'd repaired the M...
Page 102 - CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN 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 the atrium entrance of the large, vaguely conical structur...
Page 111 - SECTION 2; DEFENSE OF CASTLE BASE
Page 112 - CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER TWELVE 0744 hours, August 30,2552 (Military Calendar)\Epsilon Eridani system, Longhorn Valley, planet Reach. Five days ago. Steamy clouds parted like a drawn curtain; a fireball one hun- dred meters across roared over Fred and Kelly's position. Fred traced the line of flames back through the...
Page 117 - ERIC NYLUNO
ERIC NYLUNO 113 Hunter must have made up its mind—come to find them and stomp them into the ground. "Move," Fred whispered. They crossed the field, quickly and silently, and the Grunts never saw them. Fred and Kelly reached the smooth-surfaced Wraith tanks. He gave Kelly a go signal, and she...
Page 124 - CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER THIRTEEN 0810 hours, August 30,2552 (Military Calendar)\Epsilon Eridani system, ONI underground facility, planet Reach. Dr. Halsey studied the five Spartans in the hallway and pushed her antique glasses farther up the ridge of her nose. Despite everything their presence here meant—Reach inva...
Page 136 - CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN 0901 hours, August 30,2552 (Military Calendar)\Epsilon Eridani system, ONI underground facility, planet Reach. The secure storage doors whispered open, and overhead fluo- rescent lights strobed on. Fred saw motion—but it was only his own reflection in the burnished-mirror finish of ...
Page 143 - CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN 0002 hours, September 7,2552 (Military Calendar) \ ONI underground facility, planet Reach. Fred followed the trail of odd symbols along the left-hand stone wall until they twisted into a spiral mosaic and vanished into ever-smaller curls. The symbols were part of the rock, com- posed...
Page 153 - SECTION 3; RESCUE
Page 154 - CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN 0455 hours, September 23,2552 (Military Calendar) \ Captured Covenant flagship, in Slipspace, location unknown. John brushed off the frost buildup that clouded the top half of the cryotube, and revealed the green-armored figure sprawled behind the plastasteel shell. SPARTAN-058. Lind...
Page 161 - CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN 1002 hours, July 14,2523 (Military Calendar)\Epsilon Eridani system, planet Reach, Spartan training exercise. Twenty-nine years ago. John crawled forward and peered over the edge of the rise. A lush, green valley stretched out below him. In the distance, the silvery reflections of ...
Page 171 - CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN TIME:DATE RECORD ANOMALYX Estimated 0510 hours, September 23,2552 (Military Calendar)\Aboard captured Covenant flagship, Epsilon Eridani system. Cortana only partially listened to the debate between the Master Chief and the others. The discussion was moot. She had projected the outc...
Page 177 - CHAPTER NINETEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN TIME:OATE ERROR \ Estimated 0530 hours, September 23, 2552 (Military Calendar)\Aboard captured Covenant dropship, Epsilon Eridani system, en route to surface of Reach. The Master Chief stood on the deck of the Covenant dropship. He stood because the crash seats had been designed for...
Page 187 - CHAPTER TWENTY
CHAPTER TWENTY TIME:DATE RECORD ANOMALY\Estimated 0610 hours, September 23,2552 (Military Calendar)\ Aboard captured Covenant dropship, Epsilon Eridani system, en route to surface of Reach. Polaski accelerated the captured dropship to its maximum velocity—just under Mach 1. The craft arced up and jo...
Page 195 - periphery of Epsilon
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE TIME:DATE RECORD ANOMALYX Estimated 0640 Hours, September 23,2552 (Military Calendar)\Aboard captured Covenant flagship Ascendant Justice, periphery of Epsilon Eridani system. Ascendant Justice emerged from the non-Euclidian, non-Einsteinian realms that humans had erroneously call...
Page 203 - SECTION 4; GAMBIT
Page 223 - in anomalous Slipspace bubble.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR TIME:DATE RECORD [[ERROR]]ANOMALY\Date unknown \ Captured Covenant dropship near flagship Ascendant Justice, in anomalous Slipspace bubble. The faintly blue luminous walls of the Covenant dropship pressed in, which made John feel slightly claustrophobic. It was ironic when he sto...
Page 237 - SECTION 5; MASSACRE AT
Page 246 - in Slipspace en route to
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN TIME:DATE STAMP [[ERROR]] ANOMALY\Revised date estimated 0450, September 12,2552, captured Covenant flagship Ascendant Justice, in Slipspace en route to Eridanus system. Dr. Halsey buzzed the door open, and the Master Chief en- tered the clean room. "You wanted to see me, Do...
Page 276 - CHAPTER THIRTY
CHAPTER THIRTY 0440 hours, September 13,2552 (revised date, Military Calendar)\Aboard hybrid vessel Ascendant Justice-Gettysburg, station-keeping in Eridanus system. Time was running out. Dr. Halsey could feel the Covenant nearly upon them and her window of opportunity shrinking to a pinpoint. Only ...
Page 289 - SECTION 6; FIRST STRIKE
Page 341 - SECTION VII; HARBINGER
Page 342 - EPILOGUE
EPILOGUE Ninth Age of Reclamation, Step of Silence \ Covenant Holy City "High Charity," Sanctum of the Hierarchs. A hundred thousand probes darted and scanned with winking electronic eyes across the void of tangled nonspaces enveloping the Covenant inner empire. They gathered data and emerge...