Halo Lighting System First Strike Games - Manual (Page 18)

14 HALO: FIRST STRIKE
his knees, and tucked into a ball. He overrode the hydrostatic sys-
tem and overpressurized the gel surrounding his body. A thou-
sand tiny knives stabbed him—pain unlike any he'd experienced
since the SPARTAN-II program had surgically altered him.
The MJOLNIR armor's shields flared as he broke through
branches—then drained in one sudden burst as he impacted
dead-center on a thick tree trunk. He smashed through it like an
armored missile.
He tumbled, and his body absorbed a series of rapid-fire im-
pacts. It felt like taking a full clip of assault rifle fire at point-blank
range. Seconds later Fred slammed to a bone-crunching halt.
His suit malfunctioned. He could no longer see or hear any-
thing. He stayed in that limbo state and struggled to stay con-
scious and alert. Moments later, his display was filled with stars.
He realized then that the suit wasn't malfunctioning... he was.
"Chief!" Kelly's voice echoed in his head as if from the end of
a long tunnel. "Fred, get up," she whispered. "We've got to move."
His vision cleared, and he slowly rolled onto his hands and
knees. Something hurt inside, like his stomach had been torn
out, diced into little pieces, and then stitched back together all
wrong. He took a ragged breath. That hurt, too.
The pain was good—it helped keep him alert.
"Status," he coughed. His mouth tasted like copper.
Kelly knelt next to him and on a private COM channel said, "Al-
most everyone has minor damage: a few blown shield generators,
sensor systems, a dozen broken bones and contusions. Nothing
we can't compensate for. Six Spartans have more serious injuries.
They can fight from a fixed position, but they have limited mobil-
ity." She took a deep breath and then added, "Four KIA."
Fred struggled to his feet. He was dizzy but remained upright.
He had to stay on his feet no matter what. He had to for the team,
to show them they still had a functioning leader.
It could have been much worse—but four dead was bad enough.
No Spartan operation had ever seen so many killed in one mis-
sion, and this op had barely begun. Fred wasn't superstitious, but
he couldn't help but feel that the Spartans' luck was running out.
"You did what you had to," Kelly said as if she were reading
his mind. "Most of us wouldn't have made it if you hadn't been
thinking on your feet."