Halo Lighting System First Strike Games - Manual (Page 161)

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 the Big Horn River twisted through the
thick forest. Aside from a flock of birds that wheeled overhead,
there was no activity below. He inched back to a blackened, hol-
low tree stump and crawled inside.
Fred and Linda sat inside the hollowed-out cedar stump. It
muffled their conversations and insulated them from the sol-
diers' thermal goggles. "It's all clear for now," he whispered. A
moment later Sam, Kelly, and Fhajad appeared, ghostlike, from
their camouflaged positions nearby. They crouched outside the
cedar stump and watched for patrols.
From a distance they looked like soldiers on field maneuvers.
Each was tall, fit, and agile, and looked to be in their late teens or
early twenties. Closer observation told a different story. Each
Spartan was no more than twelve years old.
"Weapons check," John told Fred and Linda. "We can't afford
any mistakes on this one, especially not with the rifles."
Linda and Fred disassembled and inspected their SRS99C-S2
sniper rifles—which they'd liberated from a pair of Tango Com-
pany shooters who'd been sent to hunt them down two days ago.
If the soldiers of Tango Company didn't capture them and beat
them into unconsciousness—this would be fun.
John checked his pistol. CPO Mendez had issued the weapon.
It used compressed air to fire a narq-dart. The effective range