Halo Lighting System First Strike Games - Manual (Page 202)

198 HALO: FIRST STRIKE
These subcommuniques were orders. They originated from
new ships entering the Epsilon Eridani system and were, in turn,
accepted and acknowledged by those outbound.
It was an automated mail system that could carry messages
from the center of the Covenant Empire to the outer reaches of
the galaxy. The Covenant were either too arrogant, or too igno-
rant, to properly encrypt these orders.
Still, Cortana realized that the UNSC had not, until just now,
discovered their deceptively simple system... so who was more
ignorant?
There were deployment orders for hundreds of ships: carriers,
destroyers, tenders—a massive fleet. They were to meet at select
locations, join up, refuel, gather resources, and then orient for
the next Slipspace jump.
Cortana knew how to translate these simple symbols into stel-
lar coordinates.
There—a jump to the Lambda Serpentis system to gather tri-
tium gas for their reactors. And there—another jump to the
Hawking system to meet with three dozen carriers and effect a
transfer of Seraph fighters. And there—
Cortana halted all her processes. She directed her full intellect
to check and recheck her translation matrix a hundred times.
There was no error.
The terminating coordinates for the Covenant's impending
operation was Sol.
The Covenant were headed to Earth.