Читать онлайн «Halo: New Blood»
Автор Мэтт Форбек
For my father, Ken Forbeck, who fought like hell to stay alive the entire time I wrote this, and now has enough new parts in him that he might qualify as a Spartan himself.
Also, as always, for my wife, Ann, and our kids: Marty, Pat, Nick, Ken, and Helen. Their love of games and stories and just sheer fun inspires me every day.
ARCHIVIST’S NOTE
After the incident on Talitsa in 2555, each surviving Spartan was thoroughly debriefed in light of the salient issues raised concerning conflicting emotions and loyalties among the subjects of the SPARTAN-IV program. Edward Buck’s unusual candor proved illuminating at this crucial juncture in the institution’s history, in the years after the end of the Human-Covenant Conflict (also referred to as the Covenant War) and in the early development of the Spartan branch. His story is presented here in its entirety for placement in the historical record.
ONE
REPORT OF SPARTAN EDWARD BUCK
OFFICE OF NAVAL INTELLIGENCE EYES ONLY
I never wanted to be a Spartan. They didn’t even exist when I was growing up on Draco III, unless you count the citizens of the Greek city of Sparta back on Earth, I suppose, but that’s one hell of a stretch.
The super-soldiers from the SPARTAN-II program, like the Master Chief? Back when I was a marine, they always struck me as glory-hungry bullet-catchers. And I wasn’t just your average grunt slinging slugs for the United Nations Space Command. For the better part of my career, I was one of the top soldiers in the human part of the galaxy, the ones the regular marines look up to.
I was an ODST.
That’s an Orbital Drop Shock Trooper. We’re the ones who get packed into our high-tech coffins and then shot out of perfectly good spacecraft. From there, we zip through skies burning with enough ordnance to turn a regular ship to slag, then slam down behind enemy lines and start clearing the LZ for the next wave of marines lining up behind us.
We had a damn hard job, and we did it better than anyone.
The old-school Spartans? The best thing they did for the rest of us on the field of battle was draw enemy fire.
That’s no small benefit, mind you, and I got nothing against the Master Chief himself.
I’ve met him. Fought alongside him. He’s a good Joe. You know, for a genetically engineered superhuman who was kidnapped at six years old to be shaped into a killing machine.He never morphed into a monster and tried to bite my head off. Not once.
That’s a far sight better than I can say about those Covenant bastards we put down together. And don’t even get me started on the Flood. (So far, I’ve managed to avoid coming into contact with those nasty critters though. Not coincidentally, the docs tell me that’s the best way to prevent
But times change. Spartans change. Hell, even I changed.
The Covenant War ended. We won. With the help of the Arbiter and his rebellious Elite pals, we kicked the rest of their bifurcated asses off Earth, and then we cleared out every human system we could find.
Go, humanity! Am I right?
