"That never sounded like an owl, Fred." "Kelly." "We've got two hours to get back to base before Oni starts spilling over time." "Where's the chief?" "Where's Linda?" "Quick shore leave, chief." "We're lucky command let us come at all." "This is it?" "Most of it's gone, but yeah, it's the place." "Then let's do this." "Ni'" "private journal entry." "Encrypt halsey 424-3." "Delete if tampered." "A long time ago, I committed myself to a path, a direction." "There were many branches in that path, but ultimately they all flowered, I think." "John was the first seed." "I couldn't personally screen every candidate." "The outer colonies were simply too scattered, too distant." "But I had to set an example for the other extraction teams." "So the first candidate..." "The first candidate, I dealt with personally." "But the outer colonies were still very dangerous places in those days, albeit for radically different reasons." "And so the office of naval intelligence assigned me a chaperone, perhaps for my safety, perhaps for theirs." "Time to wake up, lieutenant Keyes." "We are preparing to exit slipspace near the eridanus system." "Dr. halsey?" "Already awake and on the bridge, sir." "Eh, of course she is." "Dr. halsey." "Are these shuttles all so damned claustrophobic?" "There is barely room for one person in here, let alone two." " Doctor..." " Toran..." "Awaiting your orders, Dr. halsey." "Start a pre-burn warm-up cycle for the fusion engines." "Understood, doctor." "Exiting slipspace in six seconds." "Good." "And some music." "Rachmaninoff's concerto no. 3, I think." "Now, lieutenant, you needed my attention?" "I was going to say I should act as pilot." "If I wished to be chauffeured, you would already be in this chair, lieutenant." "If you wish to make yourself useful, take the comms and make sure our arrival is discreet." "What are we doing here?" "This area is dangerous." "It's been an insurrectionist stronghold for years." "Meaning?" "Meaning the insurrection isn't some ragtag group of colonial rowdies." "Toran, list rebel acts of violence in this sector in last five days." "Seventy-two hours ago, insurrectionists destroy emergency food caravan." "Eighteen hours ago, rebellion raids merchant vessel, murders entire..." "I am painfully aware of the rebellion, lieutenant." "Something needs to be done." "Oni agrees with me." "That is why we are here." "Om?" "But if the office of naval intelligence..." "This is a recon mission?" "How terribly perceptive of you." "But what could you possibly need to recon out here?" "I'm dressed like a fool." "You're dressed like a father trying to get his daughter into a decent school." "I don't have a daughter." "And I don't have a pony." "Pay attention." "We are here to observe a boy, the first of many evaluations in the weeks to come." "I'm supposed to be protecting shipping lanes, not babysitting." "This child could be more useful to the unsc than a fleet of destroyers, a thousand lieutenants of even me." "In the end, one child could be the difference between peace and an unwinnable war." "Ah." "There's our young man." "Journal entry." "Same encryption scheme." "Who's next?" "John was the first, and he was the best." "Come on, he can't stop us all!" "Even as a child, I could see how special he was." "Sense his unformed potential." "I simply needed to carve away everything else to get to it." "To shape it." "Form him into everything I knew he would eventually become." "Him?" " He can't be more than..." " Six." "John, like all of our candidates, is six years old." "And like the others, he has all the genetic markers." "There's something else that makes him of interest." "Of interest to whom, precisely?" "Here, record our interaction." "I'll talk to him, find out if his character is as exceptional as his DNA." "Hello, what's your name?" "It's John." "And what game were you playing, John?" " War?" " King of the hill." "Mom says I'm too rough with the other kids." "You like games?" "So do I." "I have another game if you're interested." "This is a coin." "Win the game and you keep the coin." "You see the two sides?" "Yes." "A man and a bird." "Which side will land up?" "Bird." "Very good." "Again." "Man." " Again." " Man." "Bird." "Bird." "Five out of five, John." "That's unusual." "You said I could keep it if I won." "Yes." "You can keep it, John." "Yes!" "I cursed myself for using his name." "I couldn't afford the luxury of fondness." "No telling if subject 117 would even survive what lay ahead." "Tell me you recorded that." "It all fell into place so quickly after John." "It wasn't long before I had my final candidates." "These are the 75, déja." "Confidential journal entry." "Red encryption using my private key." "As I said before, I don't regret any of this." "I've thought it all the way through." "I am certain it will be worthwhile." "Right at that moment, across several star systems, children were being acquired and shipped, like freight to the planet reach." "We were replacing the children with flash clones." "Imperfect simulacra but nigh impossible to detect." "If I could have used the clones, of course I would have, but the damn things broke down faster than we could grow them." "We needed real children." "Whole children." "It was a regrettable but necessary deception." "I needed those subjects." "Orion-h would not have succeeded built on a foundation of compromise." "On!" "Would have its soldiers, and I would have my solution." "May god have mercy on us all." "Doctor, they are here." "They are ready." "Send them in." "And, déja, on second thought, don't save this file." "What happened?" "How did I get here?" "I don't know." "Take a seat." "All of you." "Per naval code 45812, you are hereby conscripted into unsc's special project code-named Orion-ll, also known as spartan ll." "Your parents are gone." "The planet reach is your new home." "Your fellow trainees are your new family." "Each of you has been hand-selected and called to serve." "Your bodies are already faster and stronger than other children, and we are going to make them even better." "Chief petty officer Mendez, escort the children to the mess hall, feed them, get them to bed." "Trainees, fall out!" "John." "Johnny, you need to wake up." "Mom?" "Wake up!" "Wake up, trainee!" "I said up!" "Do you know which way up is?" "Last one up gets it, Jorge!" "My name's pronounced "George."" "Don't you back talk me, Jorge!" " What's happening?" " I don't know." "Just go, go!" "Come on." "Everyone's headed this way." " I'm Sam, by the way." " I'm Kelly." "It'll be okay, Kelly." "Trainees, I am chief Mendez." "Lam your commanding officer." "Every day, dawn till dusk, you will do exactly what I say, when I say, how I say." " Am I clear, trainees?" " Sir, yes, sir." "Naturally, they didn't all make it." "We expected drop-outs." "There were accidents, incidents, bad luck." "Better that we separated the chaff from the wheat immediately." "Come in." "Class is about to begin." "We trained their minds as well as their bodies." "War strategy, theoretical tactics, sun tzu, nothing in the sprawling history of conflict was overlooked." "We taught them about thermopylae, about the unbeatable spartans." "Xerxes wanted to steal Greece from the spartans." "His forces numbered in the thousands." "Why didn't xerxes just sail around them?" "Xerxes wanted to send a message, John." "He failed and just 300 spartans saved Greece." "Yes!" "That is all for today." "But tomorrow I will tell you about wolves." "Today's mission is ring the bell." "When every member of your team has rung the bell, cross this line." "Question, trainee?" " What do we win, sir?" " You win dinner, 117." " Last team to finish goes without dinner." " Oh, no!" "Make ready." "Go!" "I knew John was a natural leader, even if he didn't." "John, a little help?" "First." "A leader must inspire passion, and 117 certainly did that." "Hey, thanks for nothing." "Good work, trainees." "Everybody eats, except 117 and his team." "But I was first." "You were first, but your team came in last." "And you don't win unless your team wins." "Get out of here." " Kelly!" " No." "Kelly's right, Sam." "He could've helped us today, instead he left us in the dirt." "I'm sorry, guys" "I stole them a few nights ago." "They're stale but better than nothing." " It's not Turkey." " I know." "It won't happen again." "Promise." "And that was it." "Logic, consequences, spark of leadership." "Ah things I saw in him from the start." "You are each being handed a portion of a map of the area below." "The mission is simple." "You will be individually deployed and use your piece of the puzzle to navigate to the extraction point." "Last trainee to make it to extraction will be left behind." "And it is a very long walk back." " 117, you're first." " Yes, sir." " Sam, the river." " I got it." "Pass the word, quietly." "117, front and center." "Good luck, 117." "You sound nothing like an owl, Sam." " Ah, I've been practicing." " It sounded exactly like an owl." "I was just drawing you out of cover." "Look what I found." "Blueberries?" "Nice!" "I hope these are blueberries." "Better than the food in the mess." "Your lips are blue." "So are yours." "In the end, the wilderness mission wasn't a test of strength or survival but of friendship, camaraderie, loyalty." "What are you doing?" "I'm putting our mark on this place, so we can remember it." "Now and forever." " We should meet up with the others." " Then what?" "Someone is still gonna get left behind." "Then I find a way to get everyone home." "One of those map fragments was bogus." "But I'm sure this is the extraction point." "Almost a day's hike from here." "Then we better get moving." "Hold." "You guys with me." "Fall out." "And keep quiet." "I heard something." "And what I find fascinating is that even though you think you've prepared for every eventuality..." "They're armed but they aren't in uniform." "And they don't look like soldiers." "Insurrectionists, maybe?" "Every contingency..." "So what now?" "Every permutation..." "Wolves." "When déja taught us about the wolves, how they hunt..." "What does that..." "The wolves." "Children still manage to surprise you." "Wolves, children, are fierce hunters." "But while any wolf can hunt and kill a rabbit, one wolf against larger prey" "can face a grisly end." " What the..." " I need help!" "My friend is hurt!" " Go bring that girl back." " Yes, sir." "But when wolves hunt in a pack..." " Where's the girl?" " I think I broke my leg." "Oh, I got your broken leg right here, kid." "They take down larger prey with ease." "What the hell, Vince?" "One little girl too much for you to handle?" "Ah, doctor." "Trainee 117 was just explaining why he attacked and injured unsc soldiers." "And why he stole the property they were left to guard." "Ma'am, the craft was unsc, but the men in the force were hostile and were not in regulation uniform." " You flew home?" " Not exactly." "I rigged the autopilot to return to base, ma'am." "And you brought them all home?" "According to orders, last trainee to the ship was supposed to walk." "Instead, we stuck together, like the spartans at thermopylae." "In the real ending of the story, 117, the spartans are betrayed and slaughtered." "It is their sacrifice that actually saves and unites Greece." "But we had more choices." "The men you hit with rocks didn't." "No, sir, they did not." "So, doctor, what do we do with this one?" "Well, Mendez, I suggest a promotion to squad leader." "Thank you, sir." "What is the highest rank I can attain?" "As a non-commissioned officer, 117, the highest rank you can attain is master chief petty officer." "Then I will." "Perhaps you will at that, but your next mission won't be so easy." "And there will be casualties." "What is that mission, sir?" "Your mission, John, is to survive." "Samuel-034, blue team mission report." "I don't remember the operation, but when we awoke, we were something new." "Unbreakable materials grafted to our bones, gene therapy." "Muscle density increased, enhanced skeletal and muscular growth." "Of course, we had no clue what we had to live through first." "Replay the message, déja." "Message from admiral Ysionris Jeromi." "Chief medical officer, research station hopeful." "Catherine, I wish I had better news." "Further analysis has yielded zero alternatives to mitigate the risks in your proposed hypothetical experimentation." "But I understand the theoretical framework, Catherine, and admire the imagination." "But!" "Hope it is in fact a hypothetical study." "Details are in the attached files." "But your proposed treatments could result In any of the following, cell necrosis, stroke, cardiovascular failure and even Fletcher syndrome." "You proposed the use of lab animals, simian proxies, in your tests." "I must be blunt." "I cannot imagine any more than half of the subjects surviving this process." "I would hate to see the poor creatures destroyed in some section h!" "Project, Dr. halsey." "Well, I've said my piece." "Best of luck to you, Catherine." "Doctor, augmentation was always a vital but statistically dangerous stage." "How many?" "Oni was promised soldiers, and you were the only mind that could accomplish it." "How many dead, déja?" "Twenty-seven deceased." "36% of the candidates." "Children." "36% of the children." "The subjects are just one-half of the equation, doctor." "Both Mjolnir and the cognitive impression modeling are critical." "You're correct." " Doctor?" " This is our only option." "Every day the insurrection invents new acts of terror to pull humanity farther into the muck." "Our civilization is balanced on a razor's edge, and the insurgents threaten to bring it down around our ears." "If even one candidate survives and balance is restored, history will absolve me for the greater good." "Duty." "Honor." "Self-sacrifice." "We were 14 when we lost almost half of our comrades to augmentation failures." "Death does not diminish these qualities in a soldier." "We shall remember our dead." "Honors, attention!" "Kids I grew up with, never said goodbye to." "We commit the bodies of our fallen to space." "I stiff remember their names." "The deaths affected each of us differently." "Fire teams came and went, but core loyalties and friendships endure." "Even beyond death." "Of course, it didn't sit well with John." "Where are you taking my men?" "Let 'em go, squad leader." "They can't fight anymore." "They don't belong here." "What happens to them?" "The Navy takes care of its own." "Their minds are still sharp." "And our war effort can always use soldiers for less physical duties." "John never left anyone behind." "Not if he could help it." "Was there something else, son?" "Sir, I'm squad leader." "Members of my unit died." "What should I have done to keep that from happening?" "117." "John." "What your class went through, that any of you survived at all is a testament to your strength." "Walk with me." "A leader must be ready to send the men under his command to their deaths." "Your duty is to the mission." "I'm sorry, sir, but I fail to see how that applies to this situation." "The lesson is sacrifice." "It is acceptable to spend lives when necessary, squad leader." "What is not acceptable is to waste said lives." "Which was this, sir?" "Spent or wasted?" "Get some rest, squad leader." " What did Mendez say?" " Not much." "Let me guess." "Something about duty and sucking it up." "That sounds nothing like him." "Like your owl." "It sounds exactly like him." "Me and kels are going to the shooting range later." "You in?" "No." "I'm going to hit the gym." "John was still processing our losses." "Emotionally and physically." "For weeks after augmentation, every bone in our bodies ached." "Our eyes throbbed and bled." "We got headaches." "Fell down." "Clumsy in our new skins." "Dr. halsey told us our brains would have to relearn how to work with our new bodies." "Learn how to use new strength and speed." "But it wasn't easy." "And it was frustrating." "The thing about John is that he really only knew three ways to react to people." "If you were his superior officer, he obeyed you." "If you were in his squad, he would die for you." "But if you were a threat?" "Then god help you." "Heart rate steady." "Pulse level." "He's barely breaking a sweat." "What is he doing?" "What we built him to do." "He's winning." "I'm gonna stop this now." "How is his adrenaline level, I wonder." "Attention!" "At ease." "Your workout is over for today." "Sir, those men." "Was this a test?" "You engaged and neutralized a threat, squad leader." "They started it." "I was defending myself." "But still they were fellow soldiers." "People die." "Sacrifice is a necessary consequence of war." "But, sir, they were wasted, not spent." "Because of me." "Your priorities are to follow orders, and to preserve your life and the lives of your team." "Is that clear, squad leader?" "Yes, sir." "We heard what happened." "Everyone on the ship did." "It was an accident." "That didn't make it any easier for John." "Apologies, doctor, but I have been attempting to decode a transmission from the planet harvest." " And?" " It's fragmented and incomplete." "And it stopped repeating." "Show me what you have." "Gods." "Déja, give me a feed from harvest." " Scanning spectrum." " Anything." "A comm station, a news feed, a grain elevator, damn it." "Not found." "It may be interference or a problem with the slipspace beacon relays." "Harvest is on a 12-hour signal delay." "Get Mendez, but keep scanning harvest." "I'm accelerating the schedule." "I want a test in a combat mission." "Ma'am, that's needlessly aggressive." "I disagree." "Brass wants spartans deployed, and so do I." "There's a mission Oni has been saving for the right team." "Colonel Robert watts earned his rank in the unsc, but in 2512 he went turncoat." "And now leads the Insurrectionist forces in the eridanus system." "Watts has spent 12 years leading raids against unsc targets, killing civilians and military alike." "We have intel that watts is planning to attack medical satellites in the outer colonies." "Recently, one of watts' men cut a deal with Oni." "We have known for some time that watts' forces were launching from the eridanus asteroid belt." "But there are millions of rocks scattered over billions of kilometers." "Our informant did not know the exact location." "However, he did know that the freighter laden is a supply vessel." "Mendez." "Laden is set to leave dock in six hours for routine engine recertification." "And yet, she's been loaded with enough food and water to supply a small city." "Spartans, you will be dropped at the eridanus h space docks." "You'll be dressed the same as members of the laden crew." "Once in the base, you will infiltrate the installation and take watts alive." "If you can." "They would've detected a unsc ship." "They wouldn't detect us." "Be prepared for anything." "Finally, squad leader, you are hereby promoted to petty officer third class." "Everything went off without a hitch." "Before long, we were safe in the micro gravity well." "I can never get shut-eye before a mission." "What are you doing?" "Scanning freight and shipping documents." "Read it to me." "That'll put me to sleep." "Ten hours out, blue team." "We'll rotate sleep cycles." " Find anything, Kelly?" " Everything." "Laden doesn't have a ship board al and their security is a joke." "Course setting." "We've got a loose trajectory into the belt, but no final destination." "Meaning insurgents don't even trust their own people." "Keep digging, and wake me in four." "I'll take over watch." "Where did everyone go?" "John?" "Where were you when we needed you?" "I'm up." "What've you got?" "I picked up where Kelly left off and I found something odd in the ship's manifest." "Hidden in the standard rations, there's a single crate of cigars, steaks and chocolates." "Luxury items." "That crate is going to watts." "Precisely what I was thinking." "Follow me." "Stay quiet." "Blend in." "Kelly, get a bearing on that crate." "On the monorail, headed towards the tallest building in town." "Only the best for colonel watts." "Nav marker at 443 meters and holding." "Top floor, helmets on." "Move out." "Fresh batch, colonel." "It was going well." "We felt good." "We got cocky." "Well, I did." "Sam, look out!" "John!" "John, can you hear me?" "It should've been me." "Secure the area." "The biofoam will keep your guts where they belong till we get home." "It's going to hurt." "That was stupid, John." "Queen doesn't sacrifice everything to collect a pawn." "All the pieces go back in the same box when the game is done." " You hit?" " Nope." "I'm lucky." "Some idiot caught my bullet for me." "Do not make me laugh right now." "You won't take me alive." "My men will come for you." "Empty the crate." "Sam, load the cargo." "Cargo?" "Unhand me, boy." "I don't know who or what you are, but I know two things, son." "One, none of you are gettin' out alive." "And two, I am absolutely not getting in that damned box." "We believed we had dealt the insurrection a mortal blow." "Maybe we did." "But everything was about to change." "Who's that?" "Uniform says Keyes." "Maybe he's here to interrogate watts?" "Nice work, 117." " John, isn't it?" " Yes, sir." "Have we met?" "A long time ago." "You wouldn't remember." "You were just a kid fighting in the dust." "Now you're a warrior." "And just in the Nick of time." " Sir?" " You'll know soon enough." "Dismissed." "Amphitheater, spartans." "On the double." "What do you think it is?" "Insurrection revenge strike?" "It's something else." "Something big." "At ease, spartans." "Lam vice admiral Stanforth." "This is harvest." "Population of three million." "A peaceful and productive farming world." "On February 3rd, at 1423 hours, the harvest orbital platform made long range radar contact with this object." "After that, all contact with harvest was lost." "Command assembled a battle group." "What they found was all that was left of harvest." "Three million fives lost." "The colony burnt to ash." "Power like humanity has never seen." "Then they encountered this." "A starship of unknown design." "It destroyed the Vostok and the Arabia in under a minute, using highly advanced weapons and impenetrable shielding." "The heracles escaped into slipspace with substantial damage and brought this intel back." "They will not negotiate, they will not communicate." "They cannot be reasoned or bartered with." "We had just fought the insurrectionists, stopped a plot to murder millions." "Only to realize that this could be the very end of humankind." "Period." "Humanity will fight back." "We've already seen that we cannot do it with the blunt instrument of a fleet." "We need the surgical precision of a scalpel." "The spartan program is that scalpel." "We received a message before the attack in ueg base English." "Play the message, beowulf." "Humans, your destruction is the will of the gods." "And we are their instrument." "Kelly-087 of blue team." "Mission debrief." "We were on the commonwealth, en route to chi ceti iv." "When we weren't in cryo, we were all crammed into the bunk room, there was always more prep, more planning." "Damn it!" " You're still dropping your shoulder." " I know." "Let's go again." "Does project Mjolnir mean anything to anyone?" "Gotta be some kind of weapon." "Brass isn't very imaginative with codenames." "Spartan 117, report to the bridge." "Yes, ma'am." "Sam, get everyone ready." "On the double." "You heard the petty officer." "Dog the distractions and into uniforms, spartans." "As we scrambled to get ready," "John was dragged into a pissing contest between Dr. halsey and the captain." "Ma'am." "Captain Wallace." "There it is again." "Doctor, that puts our ghost at 80 million clicks." "Even if it were a ship, and I don't concur that it is, it would take an hour to get within weapons range." "Besides, it's disappeared again." "Captain, it is my recommendation that we go to battle stations." "We have plenty of time." "Unless there's something you're not telling us." "This is not widely known, captain, but the alien ships at harvest disappeared, then reappeared, much closer." " An intrasystem jump?" " We believe so, spartan." "Not possible." "I can tell you that slipstream space simply cannot be navigated that accurately." "You mean we cannot navigate it with that kind of accuracy." "We'll take the dropship." "I will see these spartans make it to project Mjolnir." "All hands to battle stations." "This is not a drill." "Reactors to 90%." "Come about to course 125." "All hands, brace for impact." "We were being hunted down like dogs." "Our only chance was whatever was down in that testing facility." "They call themselves the covenant." "Energy shields." "That's amazing." "Bring the ship around." "And arm the Mac." "Unlike the missiles, the Mac round 101 is an unguided projectile, so the firing solution has to be perfectly aligned to hit." "Ready another Mac round." "Mac system destroyed, captain." "The commonwealth carries nuclear missiles, correct?" "Detonation at this range will destroy us as well." "Excuse me, sir." "The alien tactics have been unnecessarily vicious." "They didn't have to take that second Mac round." "In my opinion, sir, they would engage anything that challenged them." "They're sending a message." "Longsword squadron delta, get those ships into the black, boys." "Buy us some time." "Roger that, sir." "On our way." "Arm the nuclear warhead." "Proximity detonator at 100 meters." "Fire." "Three, two..." "Power us back up." "Slowly." "Sensors coming back on." "All longsword interceptors vaporized." "Covenant ship intact, sir." "No." "It is moving off, though, sir." "Most likely to make repairs." "I have my orders." "To get you and yours to chi ceti iv at all costs." "As we execute a flyby orbit, your dropship will take you and your crew planet-side." "If the covenant return, we will lure them away." "Damascus materials testing facility to incoming pelican." "Identify." "This is Dr. Catherine halsey, Damascus clearance 197371-Alpha." "Doctor, you're cleared for landing." "Pad four." "This is project Mjolnir." "Mjolnir wasn't just weapons tech." "It was Halsey's endgame." "Her force multiplier." "We were only half of the plan." "The armor was the other." "The armor's shell is a multilayer alloy of remarkable strength." "An on board computer connects with your neural interface to continually track tactical information." "And the inner structure is composed of a new reactive metal liquid crystal that is amorphous, yet fractually scales and amplifies force." "Ma'am, so you're saying this exoskeleton enhances both the wearer's strength and speed?" "Yes, 104, by a multiple of five." " Sign me up." " And the drawbacks, ma'am?" "This system is so reactive that our previous tests with unaugmented volunteers ended in failure." "The amplified movements broke their bones, tore their muscles." "Their own agony-induced spasms killed them." "But you are not normal humans." "Your enhanced musculature and skeletons should be enough to allow you to harness the armor's power." " Now, I'll need a..." " I'll do it." "I'll be first." "I thought you might." "Of course, John volunteered." "He was always the first to explore the unknown for the rest of us." "Move very slowly, deliberately." "The armor cannot be powered down, the response cannot be scaled back." "It's shifting." "Each suit has a gel-filled layer to regulate temperature and fit." " John, ready for your first step?" " Yes, ma'am." "We couldn't watch, but we couldn't turn away." "If felt like the entire fate of humanity lay in one step." "Come on, man, you got this." "It's lighter than I expected." "Easy now." "Well?" "How does it feel?" "Like I was made to wear it, ma'am." "John was right." "He was made to wear it." "We all were." "Spartans, this is what we've trained our entire lives to do." "If we lose here, we lose everything." " Let's send our own message." " Sir, yes, sir!" "Commonwealth to Dr. halsey." "I'm here, captain." "The covenant ship is moving." "They'll be on us inside 10 minutes." "I'm sorry, doctor." "It looks as if you're on your own." "Dr. halsey, let us take a shot." "We're the best possible option." "Your only option." "Blue team is ready, and you know it." "John was right." "And halsey either did know it, or at least knew better than to argue." "Godspeed, John." "I'm just saying, you could have volunteered red team instead." "You want me to pull over?" "Let you out right here?" "As chief Mendez would say, "it's a long walk home."" "Look, you know I trust you and everything, but how are we supposed to take on a covenant ship in a pelican?" "Drown them in our blood?" "I was thinking, the commonwealth's pelicans are carrying nukes." "Nukes won't even scratch 'em." "No." "Not from outside their ship." "That's right." "We can't beat them with brute force, remember?" "Scalpels, surgical precision." "We're small enough, they won't see us coming." "I hope." "Gear up." "Ship's on autopilot." "Course can be tracked via our hud." "You heard this plan?" "And we're still doing it?" "I think it's a great plan." "I seriously love this plan!" "I'm on board." "I love this plan." "I love it, too." "All right, here we go." "John?" "If we miss..." "We won't." "The turrets!" "The shields have to at least Iris for them to fire." "If we time this right, we're behind their shields." "We time it wrong, we're smoke." "Sam, Kelly, with me." "Fred, Linda, take the other side." "We'll rendezvous somewhere in the middle." "On my mark." "Mark!" "Go!" "Go!" "Go!" "I'm not going to make it!" "Everyone makes it." "I need intel." "I've got Cherenkov radiation readings from all over the ship." "Could be anything." "Agreed, but the largest reading is coming from the center." "Likely the ship's reactor." "Sam, you take point." "Kelly, in the middle, guiding the way." "I'll bring up the rear." "The pressure doors were immense." "The ceilings were three meters high, the air thick and oily." "Different symbols, different languages." "Oni had theorized the covenant was more than just one race." "This helped confirm it." "They aren't bulletproof." "Good to know." "Collect samples." "Tissue, armor, weapons." "Oni will want it." "Think we should've tried communicating?" "They understood us just fine." "Come on." "We don't know what else is on the way." "Clear." "John!" "My heart stopped when Sam took the shot in the chest." "I'm okay." "Just burns like nothing else." "You'll be fine." "But biofoam won't seal this." "That was stupid, Sam." " You did the same thing for me." " That was different." "They can't afford to lose you, John." "This is the source of the radiation spike." "I have no idea what it is." "Doesn't matter, as long as it explodes." "I'll arm the warhead, you two..." "Contacts!" " They've got shields." " Only in the front." "I'll seal the door." "John, finish arming that warhead." "I remember thinking that no matter how dark the future, we could face it as a team." "Warhead countdown set." "Let's move!" "Or so I thought." "You guys should get moving." "You guys?" "You're not coming?" "Kelly..." "No!" "We don't leave anyone behind." "My suit is breached." "I step into that vacuum and I'm dead anyway." "No." "No!" "We don't leave anyone behind!" "He's not staying to die, Kelly." "He's staying to fight." "Go." "Our new friends aren't gonna wait for us to argue." "I know spartans don't cry, but for once, I was glad for the helmet." "Sam was our first loss since augmentation." "We thought training, augmentation, armor made us untouchable, invulnerable, immortal." "Blue team." "We were wrong." "We were children." "This was the only thing John was ever afraid of." "Losing one of us." "And we knew we weren't finishing this fight, we were just getting started." "I was 14 then." "Ah I can think about was that day." "Sam carved our mark into the world, right here in the wilderness, before it was all burned." "For Sam." "For Sam." "Sam fell first, and yet he showed us that the covenant could be killed." "Sam proved we could win this war." "Every battle won is built on the foundation of that sacrifice." "If we survive this, it's because Sam showed us the way." "Chief?" "Sam was my friend." "He was my brother." "He was our brother." "Last time we were here, I asked Sam to trust me to take us home, to follow me." "Will you trust me now?" "Will you follow me?"