Linda-058: Difference between revisions

Linda and the others proceeded to the grotto's access vestibule and entered its airlock, sealing the inner hatch. With that, they stepped out into the dense sublimation fog enshrouding the floor of the ice quarry. Visibility was so poor that each of them could barely see the end of their rifles, but the bright flashes of plasma bolts could be seen dancing through the clouds above. John accessed the command channel once more and requested a [[Navigation point|waypoint]] leading to the downed prowler. Crowther responded by asking what he thought he was doing. John stated that they were checking on the status of the ''Starry Night'' as they were the only unit that could so at the moment, carefully choosing his words so that Crowther could deflect blame onto the Spartan if need be. This would make it more likely for Crowther to not stand in the way of their self-assigned mission. While John waited for a response, he signaled Joshua and Kurt to spread out their teams in a hundred-meter-wide search line. Green Team spaced out on the left of the more tightly-gathered Blue Team, and Gold Team spaced out on the right. By doing this, the Spartans would be more likely to find any debris from the ''Starry Night'' that might have otherwise been missed in the fog. John also ordered them to advance at a trotting speed, leading them away from the dockyards where they had engaged insurgents the day before. When Crowther still had not responded, John added over the command channel that they would take a look at the crash site and report.{{Ref/Novel|Id=HSS14|HSS|Chapter=14}}

Finally, Crowther replied and acknowledged John's plan, but ordered him to not take action unless immediately warranted. He also informed him of Biko's naval response to the alien bombardment of Seoba and that Nyeto believed that the small Covenant flotilla would either be in full retreat or destroyed within the hour by the approaching overwhelming force. An inexact waypoint was placed on each of the Spartans' HUDs, and John had them adjust course to match. At this point, Linda and the rest of Blue Team were arrayed in a diamond formation with only five meters between then, but only their [[motion tracker]]s revealed the locations of their teammates. John ordered them all to advance at a full run while keeping their eyes on their feet, since that was all they could see anyway. As they ran, the ''Emmeline'' departed the grotto and flew over the Spartans, churning up the fog and allowing a brief moment of visibility. They could see five Covenant vessels fire towards the transport as it crested the horizon.{{Ref/Reuse|HSS14}}

Nearing the provided waypoint, the fog had lowered to shoulder-height, allowing the Spartans discovered that the ''Starry Night'' was largely intact, but sat atop a large avalanche about seven hundred meters up the quarry wall. Also, they spotted an intrusion corvette moving into position over the prowler, seemingly preparing to recover it for study. Realizing the danger, John declared to his teammates that the mission was no longer a rescue mission. Their primary objective was now to deny the Covenant from recovering the prowler and the data stored within. Then, John opened the command channel again and relayed this information to Crowther, who insisted that they could not let the Covenant take possession of the ''Starry Night''. The vessel's [[navigation computer]] and other onboard data devices could reveal the locations of UNSC outposts, entire force deployments, or worse. Crowther asked Nyeto if there was any way that the prowler's nuclear [[self-destruct]] [[Fury tactical nuclear weapon|system]] could be remotely activated, to which the lieutenant commander responded in the affirmative. However, there were only three positions that had access to that ability. The first two were the flight commander and wing commander, both of which were roles held by Captain Ascot, who was either dead or unable to be reached aboard the ''Starry Night''. The final person with the ability to remotely detonate the prowler was the captain of the ''Vanishing Point'', which was unfortunately holding station two planetary orbits out from Seoba. At that distance, it would take nearly an hour for the request to be sent to the cruiser and for the return signal to arrive. By then, the Covenant might already have retrieved sensitive data from the wrecked prowler. Crowther began to reluctantly order the Spartans to prevent the ''Starry Night''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s capture, but John cut him off, assuring him that they would not fail. The Spartan requested that Task Force Yama assist them by keeping the assaulting corvettes off their backs. Nyeto began to say that their prowlers were not designed for ship-to-ship combat when Crowther interrupted him, promising that they would find a way. Crowther started to tell John to standby for instructions on how to manually activate the prowler's self-destruct, but he reassured the colonel that his Spartans already knew how to activate a [[Nuclear weapon|nuke]].{{Ref/Reuse|HSS14}}

Just then, a [[Type-32 Ghost]] attacked John, but he handily dealt with its driver. Shortly after that was handled, more Ghosts entered the quarry, so John ordered Green and Gold Teams to deal with them as Blue Team followed him. At this point, the looming intrusion corvette had begun deploying EVA-equipped Sangheili, [[Jiralhanae]], and Kig-Yar warriors via gravity lift, with the first already looking for a way inside the ship. As the situation had become dire, John ordered Blue Team to simultaneously fire on the avalanche just below the ''Starry Night'' with their [[M301 grenade launcher|grenade launcher]]s to cause the vessel to fall to quarry floor and prevent the Covenant from gaining entrance. The volley of [[grenade]]s worked a bit too well, bringing the avalanche down on top of the Spartans, but successfully delaying the Covenant in their boarding attempt.{{Ref/Reuse|HSS14}}

Linda was then geared up and made ready for battle, but did not exhibit her exceptional skills until [[Operation: FIRST STRIKE]]. Linda was one of the Spartans who infiltrated ''[[Unyielding Hierophant]]'', in the [[Tau Ceti system]], in a [[Type-25 Spirit]], providing cover for John-117, Fred-104, [[William-043]], and [[Grace-093]] with an [[SRS99C-S2 AM sniper rifle]].<ref>'''Halo: First Strike''', ''page 299'' (2003 edition); ''page 360'' (2010 edition)</ref> She made sure the Spartans made it to the vessel's fusion reactors and allowed their overload by the team.<ref>'''Halo: First Strike''', ''page 379'' (2010 edition)</ref>