Halo: First Strike Quotes
"If you're going to drop into hell, you may as well drop with good intel."
"The few remaining Naval personnel on the deck turned pale and averted their eyes—a Spartan wielding a knife was generally accompanied by the presence of several dead bodies."
"A Spartan could hear a pin drop in a sandstorm."
"A cold feeling filled his stomach as he realized what the gravity fluctuation meant: The ship had just changed course—another complication."
"With all due respect, sir, Spartans are trained to handle difficult missions."
"The Spartans stood a moment. Kelly called out, 'Attention!' The soldiers snapped to and gave the Master Chief a crisp salute, which was promptly returned."
"Screw this, he thought, and hit the Pelican's thrusters."
"We're Spartans. What could possibly go wrong?"
"Time seemed to slow inside the beam of purple light that ferried goods and troops to and from the belly of the ship."
"Ten thousand Covenant deaths. It wasn't worth losing Joshua or any of the other Spartans, but it was something."
"Maybe," Fred said. "Maybe not. Come on, we're not done yet."
"There's nothing out there. I told you: just dust and echoes."
"The struggle against the Flood must have gotten to him, more than he'd realized."
"Adjusting course," Cortana said calmly. "ETA two minutes."
"I hear you, Chief. Looking forward to those Navy nurses."
"Orbital exit burn in ten seconds," Polaski said.
"Just shoot me now, Sarge," Locklear protested, "and get it over with. Don't torture me with that crap first."
"Show-off," Cortana muttered in the Chief's helmet speaker.
"Really?" Polaski replied, irritated. "No wonder they call you 'smart' AIs."
"They're launching fighters," Haverson warned.
"Forward weapons systems and shields are disabled," Cortana said.
"We're invited in. It'd be damn impolite to say no."
"Good work, people," the Chief said, standing. "But that was just the easy part."
"Still plenty of room in here, I see," she said.
"Funny that there's no welcoming committee yet," Cortana whispered.
"Don't waste your ammunition, Corporal," the Sergeant said.
"No more time to play around," Polaski muttered.
"Good." He turned to the others. "We're going in. I'll lead."
"Understood," the Chief said. "Polaski and Haverson with me. Johnson and Locklear, you take the escape pod route."
"I'll do what I can, Chief," Cortana told him. "But you'd better move fast. I'm running out of options."
"It was ironic that after facing the best warriors in the Covenant, and after defeating the Flood, he could be killed by a handful of Grunts."
"Be careful. Your armor is breached. You can no longer function in a compromised atmosphere."
"All the time in the world, he told himself. No need to rush. Let the enemy come to you."
"I didn't welcome the end; I knew, though, that I had done my best, fought and won so many times for his team, the Navy, and the human race."
"Our orders were given when the UNSC had a fleet, and when Reach was still an intact military presence. All that has changed."
"Imagine if every ship could maneuver with pinpoint precision in Slipspace."
"There must be something wrong with you, Lieutenant, because you do not seem to understand me even though my words are crystal clear."
"Reach is gone. There's nothing between Earth and the Covenant now except a lot of vacuum—that and whatever secrecy we can preserve."
"The Spartans, Doctor Halsey. We lost too many good people on Reach. Not to mention dozens of ships."
"Those 'freaks' have more confirmed kills than any three divisions of ODSTs and have garnered every major citation the UNSC awards."
"Covenant plasma bombardment had always proceeded in an orderly crisscrossing pattern across a planet until every square centimeter of the surface was glass and cinder."
"They weren't going to engage a Hunter in hand-to-hand combat."
"Not all AIs have the fail-safe option, my dear... just the ones that matter."
"They crept forward, smooth and silent—oil sliding over oil."
"Nothing about this engagement had been 'usual.'"
"Their pride demanded that they fight, and die fighting, if need be."
"Fred had faced death a dozen times, brushed so close to it he had stared it in the face until it blinked and turned away."
"He wondered how Blue Team—John, Linda, and James—had fared."
"Not without knowing if the other Spartans were still out there fighting."
"Fred realized that he was holding his breath."
"They stood on one of a dozen tiered levels that encircled the room."
"There was something too fascinating and nearly familiar about those symbols."
"Fred said. 'Kelly, blow the hallway. Let's move.'"
"Fred's shadow lengthened, and its edges sharpened."
"If any one of the Spartans could be called a 'lone wolf,' it was Linda."
"Why was it that soldiers would face their own deaths without blinking an eye... but when faced with the death of a squadmate, they turned away and lied to themselves?"
"John whispered so softly that only he and Cortana heard: 'Oly Oly Oxen Free.'"
"Each Spartan was no more than twelve years old."
"So we'll return the favor and do whatever it takes to win, too."
"He wondered if that's what her eyes looked like when she sighted through the sniper scope."
"He would rather have died than betray his teammates."
"You just shoot when I tell you to and keep it all puckered up tight."
"The Master Chief took so many chances and had defied death so many times, she had given up calculating his odds of survival."
"We're gonna get hit heavy by whatever's down there. You make sure you hit them back three times harder."
"I won't leave a single man or woman behind on this planet for the Covenant to tear apart for sport."
"It was only a strip mine now, with a single shaft drilled down its center."
"Despite his brusque manner, the Admiral knew his business."
"She had projected the outcome as 100 percent certain."
"He had never thought he would see her again."
"He hadn't thought it possible for so many Covenant to be so still."
"No one moved. No one breathed except Locklear, who exhaled a long and heartfelt expletive."
"Ascendant Justice emerged from the non-Euclidian, non-Einsteinian realms that humans had erroneously called 'Slip-space.'"
"Cortana had to remain focused and think of something useful to do while she waited."
"If the Halo data got into Covenant hands—the war would be over."
"Interesting. The present insystem chatter was undoubtedly focused on the intruders."
"His correct analysis of the situation based on the six-note signal irritated Cortana."
"Logically, there was only one way to do this: She was going to have to fight and kill them all."
"This was different strange—as if she had a glimpse into something wonderful... and infinite."
"John tensed as he watched the thousands of Covenant crowding on the galleries surround him and his team."
"The light inside the ship cleared—all traces of the purple tint seemed to recede like a tide."
"Same as ever," Cortana replied. "We're in trouble."
"It was a starburst of edges and refracted light."
"This time it was a starburst of edges and refracted light."
"And wherever we are," she murmured, "the rules have changed."
"One thing was greater than any human enemy on the sea: nature."
"The greatest victories and the most crushing defeats had one thing in common: they were brought about by the will and the courage of people."
"Every separate mass in the bubble will compact into a single mass. We wouldn't survive the transition."
"The next time someone wanted him to go on a zero-gee op, he'd—"
"The Covenant know Earth's location and are on the move, most likely preparing a massive attack."
"I don't take orders from civilians," he snapped. "Not even her."
"But with one more twist. In the few minutes we were in that tangled version of Slipspace, we traveled here."
"It wouldn't do us any good, though. The alien artifact in Doctor Halsey's possession emits high levels of radiation in Slipspace."
"For a long time I had thought that we had to sacrifice a few for the good of the entire human race."
"I have killed and maimed and caused a great deal of suffering to many people—all in the name of self-preservation."
"But now I'm not sure that philosophy has worked out too well. I should have been trying to save every single human life—no matter what it cost."
"I'm tired of sacrificing others for the 'greater good,' " Dr. Halsey replied. "It never stops, Cortana ... and we're running out of people to sacrifice."
"Spartans never die?" she whispered. "If only that were true."
"There's no real threat from these ships," the Admiral said to himself. "They have to know we know that. So why bother with this show?"
"The only things left in the tubes are three Clarion spy drones."
"We might as well open an air lock and throw rocks at 'em."