Halo: The Fall of Reach

“4 of us, and 2000 of them. Piss-poor odds. For them.”

“Honer and self sacrifice. Death does not diminish these qualities in a soldier. We shall remember.”

“A leader must be ready to send the soldiers under his command to their deaths”

“Kelly hesitated, then saluted. John turned and grabbed her arm. "Come on, Spartan. Don't look back." The truth was, it was John who didn't dare look back. If he had, he would have stayed with Sam. Better to die with a friend than leave him behind. But as much as he wanted to fight and die alongside his friend, he had to set an example for the rest of the Spartans -- and live to fight another day. John and Kelly pushed the pressure doors shut behind them. "Good-bye," he whispered.”

“Your destruction is the will of the Gods . . . and we are their instrument.”

“Sam’s death had shown them that the Covenant were not invincible. They could be beaten. At a high cost, however. John finally understood what the Chief had meant—the difference between a life wasted and a life spent.”

“when you were out of options, then you were using the wrong tactics? You had to bend the rules. Shift perspective—anything to find a way out of a hopeless situation.”

“Relax,” she said. “We’re supposed to be parents inspecting the school for our little girl.” She slipped her arm through his, and although she would have thought such a feat impossible, the Lieutenant stood even straighter.”

“Kelly hesitated, then saluted.John turned and grabbed her arm. "Come on, Spartan. Don't look back."The truth was, it was John who didn't dare look back. If he had, he would have stayed with Sam. Better to die with a friend than leave him behind. But as much as he wanted to fight and die alongside his friend, he had to set an example for the rest of the Spartans -- and live to fight another day.John and Kelly pushed the pressure doors shut behind them."Good-bye," he whispered.”

“I’ll tell you how to win, John,” she whispered. “You have to survive.”

“John only knew three ways to react to people. If they were his superior officers, he obeyed them. If they were part of his squad, he helped them. If they were a threat, he neutralized them.”

“Rest can be as deadly a weapon as a pistol or grenade.”

“How are you, Master Chief?” she asked. She stared pointedly at the hand pressed to his forehead in a tight salute. Slowly, he dropped his hand. She smiled. Unlike everyone else who greeted the Master Chief and stared at his uniform, medals, ribbons, or the Spartan insignia, Dr. Halsey stared into his eyes. And she never saluted. John had never gotten used to that.”

“approached the two guards, smiling. John knew her smile wasn’t friendly. She was smiling because she was finally getting a chance to put her training to the test. Kelly waved to the guard and pulled open the door. He asked her to stop and show her identification. She stepped inside, grabbed his rifle, twisted, and dragged him inside with her. The”

“Inbound Covenant air support,” Blue-Four reported over the COM link. “ETA is two minutes, Chief.”

“attacked the men I had assigned to guard it.”