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Chapter three – Halo Lighting System First Strike Games User Manual

Page 23

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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 fast-drying instacrete hadn't

fully hardened.

The bunker was not the best defensive position, but it gave

him a clear view of the area as his team worked to strengthen

the perimeter of the generator complex. Spartans strung razor

wire, buried Antilon mine packs, and swept the area on patrols.

A six-man fireteam searched the battleground for weapons and

ammunition.

Satisfied that the situation was as stable as possible, he sat and

began to remove portions of his armor. Under normal circum-

stances a team of techs would assist in such work, but over time

the Spartans had all learned how to make rudimentary field re-

pairs. He located a broken pressure seal and quickly replaced it

with an undamaged one he'd recovered from SPARTAN-059's

armor.

Fred scowled. He hated the necessity of stripping gear from

Malcolm's suit. But it would dishonor his fallen comrade not to

use his gift of the spare part.

He banished thoughts of the drop and finished installing the

seal. Self-recrimination was a luxury he could ill afford, and

the Red Team Spartans didn't have a monopoly on hard times.

Charlie Company's surviving Marines had held off the Cove-

nant assault with batteries of chainguns, Warthogs, and a pair of