Prologue
0743 Hours, August 30, 2552 (Military Calendar) /
Aboard Pelican dropship near Facility A-331
Reach
0:00.
A plume of ash and fire uplifted half the mountainside containing the generator complex. The wave of expanding heat and debris raced to catch up with the Pelican, swirling hungrily, absorbing everything in its path, singeing at the dropship's wingtips. Then suddenly the blast fell behind and faded, satisfied.
Covenant warships broke through the atmosphere, plasma warming along their lateral lines. Rivers of fire poured from their mouths, and the earth for miles was scarred in flame.
Jack let out his breath in a rush of emotions and looked about the cabin. Logan and Rachel sat, heads lowered. Eric could be seen through the open doorway to the cockpit, trembling with fear or rage or sadness, Jack couldn't tell. Ashley's voice broke in over the speakers, and after a slight waver, she spoke.
"Sir? Red Team?"
Jack's heart went cold, knowing the reality but hating it nonetheless.
"There's no time," Jack said. Fred, Will, Isaac. All of them. There was nothing he could do. "We'll have to find a ship that can take us out of here," Jack said. A moment went by, and Ashley continued.
"Green-One, sir. I've hailed an outbound frigate with a request for pickup. Lieutenant Commander Alkaev Vladimir says we're welcome onboard," Ashley said, then paused, adding, "He also says we'd better get there before he breaks orbit or he's leaving us behind."
Jack winked his acknowledgement light as the Pelican shifted and accelerated towards a new destination. He was too drained to speak. He opened the Spartan roster and marked all the other Spartans as MIA. He then re-assigned Green Team's roster to accommodate their losses. Green-One through Five, ending with Eric. Jack sat there, staring at the blinking tag labeling them "Green Team".
What are we now? A handful of Spartans. All the others are dead.
Jack tried to make sense of their deaths, find a reason why it had all gone wrong, find something that had been accomplished. But he knew deep inside that they had failed. That for the first time, Spartans hadn't won. That perhaps they couldn't win.
No. John is still alive. Together we might just stand a chance.
Jack wondered what John would say when Jack told him what happened. How each Spartan fought, bled, died, all for nothing. But it was then that Jack realized something. Perhaps it was not what a Spartan did in death that defined their sacrifice, all that they had achieved. Perhaps it was what each Spartan did in life, all these years, that amounted to their true value. Many Spartans had died this day.
But the Covenant felt a scar from each one of them.
Ashley called out from the cockpit.
"Entering the frigate's hangar at top speed! Hold on!"
Jack grabbed a hold of the railing and watched the words "Green Team" blink back at him, over and over inside his helmet. He had only one thought in his mind as the Pelican's nose dipped and they impacted.
The Covenant will fear the color of MJOLNIR Green.