"1 - The Fall Of Reach" - читать интересную книгу автора (Halo ebooks txt)

Sand and bits of metal pinged off of the ChiefТs helmet.
The Chief and his team opened fire again, picking off the remaining Grunts that were still alive and
struggling to stand.
His motion detector flashed a warning. There were incoming projectiles high at two oТclockЧvelocities
at over a hundred kilometers per hour.
Five Covenant Banshee fliers appeared over the ridge.
УNew contacts. All teams, open fire!Ф he barked.
The Spartans, without hesitation, fired on the alien fliers. Bullet hits pinged from the fliersТ chitinous
armorЧit would take a very lucky shot to take out the antigrav pods on the end of the craftТs stubby
meter-long Уwings.Ф
The fire got the aliensТ attention, however. Lances of fire slashed from the BansheesТ gunports.
The Chief dove and rolled to his feet. Sandstone exploded where he had stood only an instant before.
Globules of molten glass sprayed the Spartans.
The Banshees screamed over their headsЧthen banked sharply for another pass.
УBlue-Three, Blue-Five: Theta Maneuver,Ф the Chief called out.
Blue-Three and -Five gave him the thumbs-up signal.
They regrouped at the edge of the cliff and clipped onto the steel cables that dangled down the length of
the rock wall.
УDid you set up the fougasses with fire or shrapnel?Ф the Chief asked.
УBoth,Ф Blue-Three replied.
УGood.Ф The Chief grabbed the detonators. УCover me.Ф
The fougasses were never meant to take down flying targets; the Spartans had put them there to mop up
the Grunts. In the field, though, you had to improvise. Another tenet of their training: adapt or die.
The Banshees formed into a Уflying VФ and swooped toward them, almost brushing the ground.
The Spartans opened fire.
Bolts of superheated plasma from the Banshees punctuated the air.
The Chief dodged to the right, then to the left; he ducked. Their aim was getting better.
The Banshees were one hundred meters away, then fifty meters. Their plasma weapons might recycle
fast enough to get another shot . . . and at this range, the Chief wouldnТt be dodging.
The Spartans jumped backward off the cliffЧguns still blazing. The Chief jumped, too, and hit the
detonators.
The ten fougassesЧeach a steel barrel filled with napalm and spent AP and shredder casingsЧhad been
buried a few meters from the edge of the cliff, their mouths angled up at thirty degrees. When the
grenades at the bottom of the barrels exploded, it made one hell of a barbecue out of anything that got in
their way.
The Spartans slammed into the side of the cliffЧthe steel cables they were attached to twanged taut.
A wave of heat and pressure washed over them. A heartbeat later five flaming Banshees hurtled over
their heads, leaving thick trails of black smoke as they arced into the water. They splashed down, then
vanished beneath the emerald waves. The Spartans hung there a moment, waiting and watching with
their assault rifles trained on the water.
No survivors surfaced.
They rappelled down to the beach and rendezvoused with Blue-Two and -Four.
УRed Team reports mission objective achieved, Chief,Ф Blue-Two said. УThey send their compliments.Ф
УItТs hardly going to balance the scales,Ф Blue-Three muttered, and kicked the sand. УNot like those
Grunts when they slaughtered the 105th Drop Jet Platoon. They should suffer just as much as those guys
did.Ф
The Chief had nothing to say to that. It wasnТt his job to make things sufferЧhe was just here to win
battles. Whatever it took.
УBlue-Two,Ф the Chief said. УGet me an uplink.Ф
УAye aye.Ф She patched him into the SATCOM system.