212
HALO: FIRST STRIKE
She probed the region with her sensors, but her range was lim-
ited to a thousand kilometers as if she were in an obscuring fog.
There—a contact. And another. And then a dozen more.
Fourteen Covenant cruisers resolved from the blue mist.
"Cortana," the Master Chief said. "What's our status?"
"Same as ever," Cortana replied. "We're in trouble."
The Covenant warships fired.
"Damn," Cortana muttered.
She initiated her last option: She fired back, hoping to take
some of them to hell with her.