Transcript
Speaker: I'm picturing now the Spartans as the Goonies and Robert Watts as One-Eyed Willie.
Speaker: Oh, well, I mean, obviously.
Speaker: But then we gotta find out who Chunk is.
Speaker: Who's Chunk and who are the Fratellis?
Speaker: I will figure out this metaphor by the end of the episode.
Speaker: Okay, good, good.
Speaker: Or, uh... Oh, forget about it.
Speaker: Or, but you know what?
Speaker: I think we can both agree it's definitely gonna be one or the other.
Speaker: It's gonna be one or the other.
Speaker: Hey there, everybody.
Speaker: Welcome back to Pixel It.
Speaker: My name is Kevin, and with me as always is Phil the Conquistadorc.
Speaker: How are you?
Speaker: Hello!
Speaker: I'm good.
Speaker: I'm good.
Speaker: I am here.
Speaker: I am haloed up.
Speaker: And actually, I'm ready to eat a little crow.
Speaker: We'll get to that in a minute.
Speaker: Because we haven't even released this episode.
Speaker: We haven't even released the episode before this one.
Speaker: And I already know that we're going to have to...
Speaker: have to hang our heads in shame shame shame we are gonna get the tall lady from Game of Thrones to ring that bell and just shout shame at us while we walk naked down the streets of King's Landing
Speaker: You said tall lady.
Speaker: And I immediately went to Lady Dimitres in my head and I was like, oh, that could be.
Speaker: And that head cannon could be okay.
Speaker: That could be arranged.
Speaker: Shame, shame.
Speaker: Lady Dimitres.
Speaker: I could roll with that.
Speaker: Because after all, there are no other tall ladies left.
Speaker: It is only her.
Speaker: It is only her.
Speaker: There is one.
Speaker: Just the one.
Speaker: There can only be one nine foot tall woman.
Speaker: She is the new Highlander.
Speaker: It's true.
Speaker: It's true.
Speaker: And I can, I mean, she wins.
Speaker: I'm just going to give it up to her.
Speaker: She's awesome.
Speaker: So we're going to start with, we're going to go through chapter eight and beyond tonight with Halo, the fall of Reach.
Speaker: And do you want to eat the crow now or do you want to wait a little bit?
Speaker: Let's just start off right off the bat.
Speaker: Let's humiliate ourselves immediately.
Speaker: Sure.
Speaker: Okay.
Speaker: We made a whole thing last episode.
Speaker: We brought up Mr. Keys.
Speaker: Jacob Keys.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: And I made I would like to point out, by the way, I made a whole point of saying that I was trying my best to look up wiki articles like the Halo Wiki, like any time a name came up just to see if they were significant.
Speaker: That is true.
Speaker: But it is awfully embarrassing to say that and then to admit that you have to believe that keys will never show up ever again.
Speaker: after his disappearance in the opening chapters of this book, because I did just finish.
Speaker: I played Halo a long time ago, like when I was in college and it was still a relatively new game.
Speaker: And I that was the last time I played it.
Speaker: I played it again recently just to get myself back into the zone.
Speaker: And who shows up with his pipe?
Speaker: The good old piece.
Speaker: The pipe that a big deal was made out of when he's introduced.
Speaker: Such an odd detail.
Speaker: Such an odd detail for a throwaway character, right?
Speaker: And now and now all I can think is any time the author brings up some random detail that might just be to flesh out the world, to make the character more interesting, just to add details that that, you know, make make the whole thing a little more real.
Speaker: I'm going to have to assume from here on out that it's fan service because I've been burned.
Speaker: I've burned myself.
Speaker: I have no one to blame but myself.
Speaker: But now I'm just a little embarrassed over having publicly stated that one of the main NPCs in the first game of this entire franchise probably is no one when you're introduced to them in the book.
Speaker: I fucked up.
Speaker: But I think we can all agree
Speaker: that nothing is going to come of this John one, one, seven character.
Speaker: Like I still stand by that opinion.
Speaker: Yeah, I agree.
Speaker: I don't think he's going anywhere.
Speaker: I don't, it's just boring.
Speaker: You know, it's just like, Oh, we get it.
Speaker: You're super strong.
Speaker: Like, I don't care.
Speaker: So noble and yeah, he's a leader.
Speaker: Yeah, I feel like we I feel like we're going to lose him in the next few chapters.
Speaker: And it's all about Kelly.
Speaker: That's my assumption.
Speaker: Kelly is the best.
Speaker: Kelly's the best.
Speaker: She's fast.
Speaker: Everyone likes that.
Speaker: I have to assume everyone likes the fastness, you know, and so that's that's that's what I'm putting.
Speaker: Uh, my money behind my ancient coin with a head on one side and an eagle on the other, uh, that goes directly towards John one, one, seven being a useless NPC, a minor blip.
Speaker: Minor blip on the road to the Kelly, the Kelly, the Kelly's supremacy.
Speaker: The Kelly's supremacy is what it is.
Speaker: The Kelly's supremacy.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: I think we all know this way this is going.
Speaker: So apologies for anyone whose nerd brains exploded out their ears over this.
Speaker: Clearly the greatest oversight that I have ever been.
Speaker: I can't think I can't speak for Kevin, but this is obviously the worst thing I've ever done.
Speaker: Yeah, and I don't care.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Well, I mean, that's because you're a rebel, and you're cool.
Speaker: You're very unrepentant.
Speaker: I'm wearing my Mr. Invincible t-shirt today.
Speaker: Very nice.
Speaker: So maybe that'll protect me from the internet.
Speaker: Who knows?
Speaker: Yeah, I hope so.
Speaker: If Mr. Invincible can't protect you from the internet, then you're just fucked.
Speaker: I don't think there's anything you can do after that.
Speaker: So chapter eight, chapter eight.
Speaker: That crow is good and thoroughly picked clean.
Speaker: That crow, that was, that's just bones left on that crow.
Speaker: There's no meat.
Speaker: Not a single drop of moisture left.
Speaker: All the cartilage and tendons.
Speaker: And that wasn't even a little crow.
Speaker: That was a Kenku.
Speaker: Big.
Speaker: Yeah, he was begging me to stop in his own weird, you know, imitative language.
Speaker: Is that a word?
Speaker: Imitative?
Speaker: Yeah, sure.
Speaker: Mimicking language.
Speaker: It's weird when you're consuming a creature that is using your own voice to beg you to stop.
Speaker: Oh.
Speaker: Renaissance fair was a weird time.
Speaker: It was a weird time.
Speaker: Oh, nine 30 hours, uh, September 11th, 25, 25 military calendar.
Speaker: Epsilon Eridani system reach UNSC.
Speaker: We're in chapter eight and we got, we got a Dr. Halsey chapter.
Speaker: These are always, these are always some of the most intriguing chapters, by the way, they really get into the dirt of, of what, what are we looking at here?
Speaker: She's got a heart.
Speaker: She's got emotions and everything like that.
Speaker: But she still is looking at them like insects at the same time.
Speaker: Yes.
Speaker: It's a very cold, stereotypical scientist kind of thing coming from her.
Speaker: So I always look forward to these chapters.
Speaker: They're always fun.
Speaker: So Halsey has arrived on Reach to meet with Mendez and the Spartans to see, you know, what's going on?
Speaker: What are we doing here?
Speaker: And finds that they have taken their training underground.
Speaker: And she is...
Speaker: At first, kind of worried because Mendez makes a mention about the exoskeletons.
Speaker: And now we're realizing that the exoskeletons aren't for the Spartans, these exoskeletons, but they're for the protection from the Spartans.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: That they'd had this project from way before that had been basically they called it quits on it.
Speaker: And it had basically been a development of these exoskeletons to to to do the whole super soldier thing in a less genetic DNA spitting in the face of God style.
Speaker: Yes.
Speaker: And they finally found a good use for them.
Speaker: And it is to protect the trainers.
Speaker: And Kevin, does it do a good job of protecting the trainers from the Spartans?
Speaker: You know, not really.
Speaker: No, no, it keeps the trainers.
Speaker: It keeps the trainers alive.
Speaker: But, you know, there's sometimes fates worth than death, worse than death.
Speaker: And doesn't he even say that they've killed some of their trainers?
Speaker: They have already accidentally killed a few of the trainers.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Like and he tells her all this.
Speaker: And by that, he tells her office.
Speaker: He's he's he's kind of I just this is how I imagine in my head or is like, you know, the the trainers, they got to use the exoskeletons to protect themselves from the Spartans.
Speaker: They've already killed several of their trainers.
Speaker: You want to watch?
Speaker: And she proceeds to watch.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: As the Spartans just kill the fuck out of their trainers.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: It's absolutely ridiculous.
Speaker: He's like, I got it on tape.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Now, this is this was my favorite part of it, by the way.
Speaker: They they she's watching this whole thing go down and the the Spartans appear like they use guerrilla tactics and they appear wearing like black
Speaker: clothes, like kind of kind of black ninja looking jumpsuits.
Speaker: And they use the stealth, you know, to their advantage and everything like that.
Speaker: And it's like it's so here's a quote from what she she's she's asking about how it all went down.
Speaker: And she says, any physiological or mental instabilities
Speaker: And he says, none.
Speaker: They work like no team I've ever seen before.
Speaker: Damn near telepathic, if you ask me.
Speaker: They were dropped in these caves yesterday, and I don't know where they got black suits or the rope for that maneuver, but I can guarantee you they haven't left this room.
Speaker: They improvise and improve and adapt.
Speaker: All right, now here's the thing.
Speaker: Here's the thing.
Speaker: Yes.
Speaker: Improvising.
Speaker: Improvising is one thing.
Speaker: You're literally talking about them making outfits out of nothing.
Speaker: We don't know where they got the black suits.
Speaker: We don't know what happened.
Speaker: They build a fat burger in the corner, too.
Speaker: It's fully staffed.
Speaker: They all get 15 bucks an hour full benefits.
Speaker: We don't know how they did that either.
Speaker: We don't know how they did that.
Speaker: We don't know where the staff came from.
Speaker: They're miracle workers, man.
Speaker: I have not seen anyone go in or out.
Speaker: It's a good burger too.
Speaker: It's fucked.
Speaker: Do you see any cows around here?
Speaker: Spartans are amazing.
Speaker: They are good.
Speaker: And basically I brought you here because I don't think that we should be investing our time in warfare and tactics anymore.
Speaker: We got to get into the fast food sector.
Speaker: We're going to be billionaires.
Speaker: The Spartans are good at killing, but you know what they're better at?
Speaker: Entrepreneurship.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: They just, we threw them in a cave and they made black jumpsuits.
Speaker: Here's the thing.
Speaker: That's incredibly impressive.
Speaker: Here's the thing.
Speaker: That's the most impressive thing that they've done down here.
Speaker: And they do some amazing shit.
Speaker: They like just kill the fuck out of their trainers with their bare hands.
Speaker: And then you're like, wait, you mean to tell me that they, they, they, they made jumpsuits out of like cobwebs and spit.
Speaker: Like, that's honestly, I'd rather, I'd rather get into that business.
Speaker: That, that seems lucrative.
Speaker: It's real Iron Man one vibes.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: With what's his name?
Speaker: Oh my god, that's exactly what it is.
Speaker: He built it in a cave!
Speaker: He built it in a cave!
Speaker: You're the best around!
Speaker: Like, cut to the montage, and they've built looms out of rat bones, and...
Speaker: And, you know, it's like, here's the thing.
Speaker: That's kind of a throwaway.
Speaker: They don't bring it up again.
Speaker: They certainly don't go into any detail.
Speaker: If I was Halsey, I would have stopped him right there.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: And said, wait a minute.
Speaker: Yeah, it's mind blowing.
Speaker: Like, it's this detail that he just kind of we don't know how they did it.
Speaker: And there's there's no way I would be able to be like, wait, wait, I would be able to avoid being like, no, hold on, back up.
Speaker: They make they just they conjured clothes out of the ether.
Speaker: Is that what you're saying to me?
Speaker: Shouldn't we expand on that?
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Unless it's a Easter egg from the first Halo game that I totally missed.
Speaker: And, you know, if they show you their magical suit making capabilities in the opening cut scene that apparently I didn't pay enough attention to, in which case I'll be eating crow in episode three.
Speaker: Perhaps.
Speaker: Perhaps, perhaps, which I'm, you know what, at this point, I'm not willing to say that that isn't what's going to happen.
Speaker: Anything, anything is possible.
Speaker: Anything is possible.
Speaker: I could, I could learn how to make my own stealth jumpsuits out of the sky.
Speaker: So basically they do this really creepy ass born identity bullshit.
Speaker: They neutralize their trainers.
Speaker: Halsey mentions to the chief that they have a, they have a mission now for Scoob and the gang.
Speaker: And she also mentions that there's no more harvest, that harvest is gone.
Speaker: And this is our first hint that things are starting to turn a little bit in the Halo universe based on the prologue chapter where the Covenant glasses the planet that they're trying to fight for.
Speaker: She says there is no more harvest, kind of harkens back to that.
Speaker: So she said, we have a mission for them.
Speaker: Chapter nine happens and they send them on a mission that has absolutely nothing to do.
Speaker: Harvest or the covenant.
Speaker: Nothing.
Speaker: Nothing.
Speaker: It's baby's first murder mission.
Speaker: They get all of the they get all the Spartans.
Speaker: What are they at this point?
Speaker: They've got like 30 Spartans, basically.
Speaker: Yeah, it's something like that.
Speaker: I can't.
Speaker: I lose track of the numbers.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: They're all there.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: And that doesn't matter because basically in this scene, they let you know, here are the Spartans that you need to give a shit about.
Speaker: Here's the ones with a dozen of them.
Speaker: Right, right.
Speaker: These ones have names and, you know, they, you know, John is still...
Speaker: squad leader there and so uh he's gonna lead them and so they say basically assemble your crew and he calls out immediately uh to the people that uh he he is going to work with uh it's it's kind of insulting i i would uh he's like you're not even gonna consider me okay fine you know if i were one of the spartans that's fine whatever
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: And he just goes, it's Sam, Kelly, Linda and Fred meet me in the weapons locker in 10 minutes.
Speaker: The other Spartan side and their gaze dropped to the deck.
Speaker: The rest of you fall out.
Speaker: You'll have the more difficult part of this mission.
Speaker: You'll have to wait here, which is a nice little fuck you to the rest of the crew.
Speaker: I can't believe that the plot line of this isn't like other Spartans just trying to murder John 117 in his sleep.
Speaker: They can fail, but I cannot believe that isn't a subplot.
Speaker: Yeah, there definitely could have been a C plot in this book.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: That the Spartans had developed their own culture of murdering each other to climb up the ranks.
Speaker: Absolutely.
Speaker: Absolutely.
Speaker: Because you can't tell me you're going to.
Speaker: I know they're doing a great job brainwashing and everything, but you can't tell me that someone given that level of power, there wouldn't be a single one of them that didn't have some level of Machiavellian sensibilities.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: You know, just like some thirst for power.
Speaker: I do not believe that for a split second, because right now, you know, we've got John as it's Captain America.
Speaker: That's what he is.
Speaker: He is.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: He's very much Captain America.
Speaker: You know, yeah, he's clean cut.
Speaker: He believes in what he's doing.
Speaker: He's brainwashed to shit.
Speaker: And don't get me wrong.
Speaker: That's going to fall off a cliff at some point soon.
Speaker: But, you know, he's going to have his nomad phase.
Speaker: But, you know, that's that's that's not that's that's for the that's that's for the aging geeks in the
Speaker: It's going to be Nomad and there's going to be a U.S. agent to his Captain America at some point.
Speaker: Absolutely.
Speaker: Absolutely.
Speaker: But but for now, that's where he is.
Speaker: But but they do indeed meet in the weapons locker.
Speaker: And this is this is the best part of the chapter.
Speaker: As far as I'm concerned, I don't know if there's anything else to be said for this chapter except for the weapon porn scene.
Speaker: You know exactly what I'm talking about.
Speaker: I do.
Speaker: They're just they're just the book goes full Tom Clancy.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: If we're a movie, there would be a close up on each weapon and then bat nipples.
Speaker: You know, it's that kind of scene.
Speaker: You know what I'm talking about?
Speaker: I think one of the best examples of this is when they talk about Linda, because by the way,
Speaker: You know, we've got two women in this group of six.
Speaker: I think it's six, which, you know what?
Speaker: Not bad.
Speaker: Not bad.
Speaker: One third of the crew.
Speaker: Did I get that right?
Speaker: No, probably not.
Speaker: Doesn't matter.
Speaker: Math.
Speaker: Yeah, math.
Speaker: Fuck it.
Speaker: No, that's one third.
Speaker: I got it.
Speaker: But but still, the women are doing kind of like the women's work role of your standard 90s commando unit.
Speaker: Like there's Kelly who we've met before.
Speaker: And Kelly's fast.
Speaker: She's the fast one.
Speaker: Yeah, she's super fast because girls are fast and that's cool.
Speaker: And then there's Linda, who's the sniper.
Speaker: So she's sneaky.
Speaker: And basically the implied.
Speaker: Now, don't get me wrong.
Speaker: Look, being a sniper is badass.
Speaker: Being fast is badass.
Speaker: That's all cool shit.
Speaker: But kind of the unspoken implication there is that neither of them could take a direct hit.
Speaker: So they've got to.
Speaker: They got to be faster.
Speaker: They got to do things from the shadows.
Speaker: You know, it's the very old fashioned way of writing about female combat characters where they are indirect.
Speaker: They're very indirectly involved in combat.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: Like Link's got a sword and shield.
Speaker: Zelda's got a bow.
Speaker: We like that's just that's how this kind of stuff.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: But but they do save the best piece of weapons porn for Linda.
Speaker: Linda gravitated toward a matte black long barreled rifle.
Speaker: The SRS nine nine C S two a.m.
Speaker: What the fuck?
Speaker: The sniper rifle system had modular sections, scopes, stocks, barrels.
Speaker: Even the firing mechanism could be swapped.
Speaker: She quickly stripped the rifle down and reconfigured it.
Speaker: She assembled a flash and sound suppression barrel.
Speaker: And then to compensate for the lower muzzle velocity, she increased the ammunition caliber to 450.
Speaker: She ditched all the sights and scopes and settled for an integrated link to her helmet's heads up display.
Speaker: She pocketed five extended ammunition clips and most of the men in the audience ejaculate.
Speaker: Like, it's just here's a it's and they do this for just everyone.
Speaker: Everyone gets their little everyone gets their moment.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: And it's just it's it's techno babble.
Speaker: It's the same.
Speaker: This is basically the sci fi military, the military sci fi version of what you get in a fantasy book or something where, you know, they say the
Speaker: you know, the end of the world where the teeth, like the mountains, like teeth and the dragons that we are.
Speaker: And you're like, Oh, I'm never going to, I'm never going to actually interact with these things, but it sure does put me in a mysterious place.
Speaker: And this, that's basically, this is like, you know, they're just like, we're going to, we're going to, you're going to get pumped boy.
Speaker: It's the gear scene.
Speaker: There's some, there's some heavy metal music playing while they, exactly.
Speaker: They strap these, these weapons to their body.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: And it's like, you're about to kill people.
Speaker: I just wish they, I just kind of wish they'd throw in like a sex toy in, in, in like about three quarters of the way through it.
Speaker: See if anyone notices like, you know, it's double ended silicone, hot pink, you know, and just throw that in.
Speaker: That would definitely be in like a hot fuzz version of the halo universe.
Speaker: Oh yeah.
Speaker: Halo fuzz.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: So, yeah, they do their they do their gear porn and they're on the mission now.
Speaker: The mission in case in case y'all missed it is to go and capture a rebel dude and bring him back live.
Speaker: It's it's really disappointing in terms of what the parameters are.
Speaker: Given all the stuff that they're all the stuff that is promised in the book, which is massive existential war against aliens.
Speaker: And right.
Speaker: Then we get to this sneaky black ops mission to capture a rebel leader.
Speaker: And who lives inside of an asteroid, if I recall who lives inside of an asteroid.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Colonel, Colonel Robert Watts, I believe his name is.
Speaker: And I'm just going to assume that he has something to do with the Halo universe from this point forward.
Speaker: As you said earlier, might as well, might as well.
Speaker: He's got something to do with something.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: He's, he's the main bad guy in one of the prequel games.
Speaker: I don't know.
Speaker: I'm looking it up.
Speaker: Fuck it.
Speaker: I'm looking it up.
Speaker: Look it up.
Speaker: I'm looking it up.
Speaker: Halo.
Speaker: Robert Watts.
Speaker: Known as that bastard by most UNSC personnel, once a highly regarded commander before becoming an insurrectionist.
Speaker: I think he is in one of the games.
Speaker: Holy shit.
Speaker: Hold on.
Speaker: Appearances.
Speaker: Oh, he's in the book.
Speaker: Fall of Reach.
Speaker: Yeah, yeah.
Speaker: Uh, halo first strike mentioned on Luna.
Speaker: Okay.
Speaker: Okay.
Speaker: Okay.
Speaker: He's only in the book.
Speaker: That's okay.
Speaker: He's just in the book.
Speaker: He's just in the book.
Speaker: We're good.
Speaker: He's mentioned a couple of times in some of the other books.
Speaker: Uh, but he is, he is not, uh, he is not in any of the games where I think unless they're fucking with me, we're safe.
Speaker: I think.
Speaker: I don't, but you know what?
Speaker: I don't trust anything anymore.
Speaker: So fuck it.
Speaker: Fuck it.
Speaker: He's in what he's in all the games.
Speaker: He's actually standing in all of the scenes in the game.
Speaker: You actually, you're not playing, you're not playing master chief.
Speaker: You're playing Robert Watts.
Speaker: Everyone knows agreed headcanon.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Done.
Speaker: I think, I think it was kind of disappointing the way they find him because they just couldn't resist because we talked about this last episode, the idea of,
Speaker: the rebels being the bad guy.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Which is still kind of weird.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: It still feels kind of weird.
Speaker: They just, and it's like such an easy, I, I, I like Eric Nylund's writing.
Speaker: This is, this is a great book.
Speaker: This has been a lot of fun to read so far, but it does feel kind of lazy here.
Speaker: It's like, he just couldn't resist like the bad guy, the leader of the rebellion, the way they find him is they see a crate, a shipment of, uh,
Speaker: champagne and fine cigars.
Speaker: The real rich stuff.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: And they're like, well, you know, that must be going to him because he's one of these fat cat bastards that while his rebel insurrectionists are dying in the mud, he's back there drinking the finest beta centaurian champagne grown in the vineyards of beta centaurian.
Speaker: They just couldn't help it.
Speaker: They were just like, he's just, just some fat cat like the rest of them.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: So, yeah, they, so they're, they're going to, but they are, they do need to bring him back alive, which I found interesting.
Speaker: They do need to bring them back alive because they need to interrogate this fat cat and find out where he keeps the rich stuff.
Speaker: And I'm just going to keep calling it rich stuff.
Speaker: You know, I'm going to channel, channel Goonies and it's, it's all, it's, it's the rich stuff.
Speaker: I like it.
Speaker: I like it.
Speaker: That's good.
Speaker: I'm picturing now the Spartans as the Goonies and Robert Watts as One-Eyed Willie.
Speaker: Well, I mean, obviously.
Speaker: But then we got to find out who Chunk is.
Speaker: Who's Chunk and who are the Fratellis?
Speaker: I will figure out this metaphor by the end of the episode.
Speaker: Okay, good.
Speaker: Or forget about it.
Speaker: Or but you know what?
Speaker: I think we can both agree it's definitely going to be one or the other.
Speaker: It's going to be one or the other.
Speaker: So now they do have to get him alive.
Speaker: But in the process, they kill a lot of people.
Speaker: They kill so many people.
Speaker: And like a lot of them are just people who didn't even see it coming.
Speaker: One person is just standing at the door or something like that.
Speaker: And Kelly just snaps his neck.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: And, and, and it's funny cause I, like I said, I just got done finishing the first Halo game and I,
Speaker: I'm just used to the I've played other third, third, first person shooters or violent video games where your enemy is other people, other human beings.
Speaker: But there's something funny about it that where Halo is this game about killing cartoonishly ridiculous aliens.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: And then you hear about this.
Speaker: They're just just murdering the shit out of other human beings.
Speaker: And you're like, oh, oh, I see.
Speaker: Yeah, it's basically like, oh, I got some splinter cell on my halo.
Speaker: Pretty much.
Speaker: Yeah, you got some halo on my splinter cell.
Speaker: Uh...
Speaker: Call us and vote for whatever splinter cell novelization we're going to do.
Speaker: Do we have a phone number?
Speaker: It doesn't matter.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: And they kill just they kill everybody and they take the crate and they just shove the rebel leader inside the crate and they just they keep an eye on his vitals and they just kill their way out of there.
Speaker: And they stay.
Speaker: They escape in like a stolen pelican.
Speaker: One of their one of the ships.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: And John stuck the chapter ends.
Speaker: John stuffed his doubts deep back in the back of his mind.
Speaker: Nothing's wrong, he said, and squeezed Kelly's shoulder.
Speaker: John smiled.
Speaker: What could be wrong?
Speaker: We won.
Speaker: Ah, so he learned the important lesson.
Speaker: Although I will give them credit.
Speaker: It does have a moment before that where he like kind of has some regrets.
Speaker: He thinks about all the dead dock workers and civilians that they killed.
Speaker: They killed the fuck out of them.
Speaker: Like they just just blew everybody away.
Speaker: Explosive decompression, just horrible ways to die.
Speaker: And he's just sitting there on the way back going, oh,
Speaker: maybe I shouldn't have done that.
Speaker: He has a moment.
Speaker: And then he goes, it's cool.
Speaker: We won.
Speaker: And, and so I, I, I feel pretty confident that he's setting us up here for him to have a, a human moment, I guess.
Speaker: A moral panic.
Speaker: I guess I just don't know how they're going to do it because, you know, we're going to go, we're going to go from here into aliens and, and he's not going to have to worry too much about it.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: I think the problem is going to go away on its own.
Speaker: Pretty much like most problems, like most problems, like, like that venereal disease I got.
Speaker: I just ignored it and eventually it went away.
Speaker: There you go.
Speaker: And I'll hear, and I'll hear no argument to the contrary.
Speaker: Once now that the Spartans have proven that they will just kill the fuck out of people without any concern.
Speaker: And they'll stuff the, any doubts that they have deep down, way down.
Speaker: Way down.
Speaker: Way, way down.
Speaker: Now they're being told about the harvest.
Speaker: Yes.
Speaker: And I guess that was, so my issue with the whole Black Ops chapters was like, why are we doing this?
Speaker: Unless this is going to, and it may pay off later.
Speaker: I don't know.
Speaker: I'm just about at the end of the book and I haven't seen a payoff, but maybe that happens in the last chapter, few chapters or so.
Speaker: Um, so yeah, maybe there's, there's some payoff to this almost human moment that master chief has.
Speaker: You're absolutely right.
Speaker: Why are we delaying the van damage?
Speaker: Right, right.
Speaker: Why, why?
Speaker: It's kind of, it feels like padding.
Speaker: It feels a little bit like padding.
Speaker: He's a great combat writer, I will say.
Speaker: Eric Nyland, he is a really good combat writer.
Speaker: He does great action scenes.
Speaker: It's a good combination of smart action and just good old-fashioned explodey explodey, which I dig, but I can't help but feel like this chapter is completely pointless.
Speaker: Yeah, I just...
Speaker: I guess.
Speaker: I guess like even even when they have a. Sorry, what?
Speaker: I said, I guess.
Speaker: I mean, they killed a lot of people and that's what happened.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: The closest thing, I think, to beyond him having a brief moment of humanity there at the end, they have a moment where John takes a bullet.
Speaker: He gets shot a couple of times and and then he's fine.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Like everyone's kind of like, oh, no, he's been shot.
Speaker: Then he gets up and he's like, no, I'm fine.
Speaker: Just patch me up.
Speaker: And they and they fill him full of foam.
Speaker: That's not even that's not even me making a euphemism.
Speaker: They literally fill up full of med foam or something.
Speaker: foam up and then he's good so it doesn't really like it doesn't show that he's human in the sense that he nearly died because they take care of that pretty quick and it doesn't show that he's human in the sense that he's having regrets because he kind of squelches that down pretty quick so unless unless the point is that
Speaker: low key master chief is a fucking psychopath.
Speaker: And we're going to spec ops the line this bitch.
Speaker: Unless that's like the quiet, subtle implication there.
Speaker: I don't get the point.
Speaker: I truly don't.
Speaker: Move right on to alien invasion of Harvests.
Speaker: Alien invasion and a rear admiral and a guy who a naval officer who appears to be Emperor Palpatine.
Speaker: Did you catch that?
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: The naval officer.
Speaker: Like, like, I like I like military sci fi and I like the over the top.
Speaker: uniforms and that kind of thing that you'll see in things like Warhammer 40K, for example.
Speaker: It's fun and it's over the top.
Speaker: It's very Starship Troopers.
Speaker: It's terrific.
Speaker: This guy, this naval officer, it's literally like this stooping figure in a hooded robe.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: It's the wizard sleeves.
Speaker: It's the AI, isn't it?
Speaker: Isn't it?
Speaker: Oh, it is the AI.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: So it's even less of a. It's the O and I's AI.
Speaker: And all the AIs have their own appearances named Beowulf.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: That's right.
Speaker: That's right.
Speaker: He stands for Stanford's AI.
Speaker: And yeah, just swirled on stage, collected into a robed figure, its face obscured within the shadows of its hood.
Speaker: John could discern no hands at the ends of its sleeves.
Speaker: That's it.
Speaker: That makes it worse.
Speaker: That makes it so much worse.
Speaker: He's an AI.
Speaker: He was designed.
Speaker: It wasn't like some here's the thing you know, I totally get it.
Speaker: If you've got a character who's like eccentric and dresses outside of the norm and the other characters like, man, we'd love for him to cut his hair, but he's just so damn good.
Speaker: We can't force him to do anything, you know, but it's like, well, this AI appears on stage and it's just like crush the rebels.
Speaker: Do it.
Speaker: Do it.
Speaker: Just it's just.
Speaker: I know exactly how that would go down in a real military situation.
Speaker: You'd get like the designer, some geek sitting there making the guy, the commanding officer comes over and looks at and goes, all right, Lopez, stop fucking around.
Speaker: That was like a last minute decision.
Speaker: They're like, we have to present this now.
Speaker: Fuck.
Speaker: He looks like a wizard.
Speaker: What am I going to do?
Speaker: Just do it, man.
Speaker: We just have to.
Speaker: just lean into it.
Speaker: I'm like, well, fine.
Speaker: We'll change it later.
Speaker: And they never did.
Speaker: And they never did.
Speaker: They just left Beowulf somewhere.
Speaker: A geeky AI guy is just like, yes, snuck him in.
Speaker: But so the admirable, the admirable, the admiral.
Speaker: Yeah, he might be admirable.
Speaker: I don't know.
Speaker: And Emperor Palpatine there.
Speaker: They tell them about covenant.
Speaker: Yep.
Speaker: This is our first, like, outside of the prologue, this is our first main storyline mentioned.
Speaker: And they talk about how Harvest is gone.
Speaker: They call themselves the Covenant.
Speaker: And there's a quote here as to what the Covenant broadcasts out to humanity.
Speaker: It was your destruction is the will of the gods and we are their instrument.
Speaker: So that kind of tells you a few things.
Speaker: One is that this is the name covenant and the statement they make.
Speaker: It's kind of a religious movement.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: And yeah, they're not here to mess, to mess around.
Speaker: They're just here to kill humans.
Speaker: They're not here to make friends.
Speaker: Not here to make friends.
Speaker: They're here to win.
Speaker: Organized religion.
Speaker: Am I right?
Speaker: Am I right?
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Boo.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: So they finally get their orders, basically, that this is we got a whole new fish to fry.
Speaker: Meanwhile, cut to a crate with some rebel leader in it going, can I come out?
Speaker: I'll help you kill the aliens, I swear.
Speaker: I know you don't have much time for me anymore, but please don't forget that I'm in this crate.
Speaker: Please don't forget, I can only eat so many of the rich stuff until I die.
Speaker: I'm living on champagne.
Speaker: I'm living on champagne galleries.
Speaker: Is there no Bordeaux for me?
Speaker: This is not the way a man was meant to live.
Speaker: At least pass me a Pinot Noir.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: I'll even drink the Rioja in one of the softer moments of the book.
Speaker: We find out that their long time leader, Mendez, they're sending him off.
Speaker: He's gone.
Speaker: And don't they say that he's like that?
Speaker: He's going to basically be training the next generation or something like that.
Speaker: Isn't that how they put it?
Speaker: Yeah, I believe that's something like that.
Speaker: They have a moment, you know, he and he and John 117 get to sit down and and have their tough guy talk where they discuss the different options of warfare when you're faced with an enemy who is stronger than you.
Speaker: What are your options?
Speaker: And John kind of rattles off the two main ones, you know, the two that he knows.
Speaker: And it's and it's, you know, either attack hard and fast before he's able to muster his strength or fall back and use guerrilla tactics.
Speaker: Take advantage there.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: And then Mendez says that there is a third option.
Speaker: And Kevin, what is that third option?
Speaker: My friend, that option is surrendering, but it's never an option for the likes of you and me.
Speaker: And I say that both as Mendez and as Kevin to fill, we have, there is no option to surrender.
Speaker: No, we can't.
Speaker: It's just it's just not in our blood because we're very manly.
Speaker: In fact, I'm going back and saying it right now.
Speaker: Jacob Keys never came back after that opening chapter.
Speaker: You know what?
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Fuck you.
Speaker: Jacob Keys is not a character outside of those few pages in the opening book.
Speaker: I was a different guy, and you can't prove that it wasn't.
Speaker: The pipe was a total coincidence.
Speaker: Everything else told me so.
Speaker: You're right.
Speaker: Thank you.
Speaker: You and Mendes inspired me, Kevin.
Speaker: Never surrender.
Speaker: I appreciate that.
Speaker: I needed that.
Speaker: They have a nice little moment.
Speaker: Basically, they're equivalent of the birds and the bees.
Speaker: Right, right.
Speaker: They chat and you swear Mendez walks away and they say that he never sees him again.
Speaker: And I swear you can very faintly in the distance hear John singing.
Speaker: I don't know how to love him under his breath.
Speaker: As he as he steps into the darkness.
Speaker: Yeah, it's a and then, yeah, and they say he never saw him again.
Speaker: So, yeah, that's a really bold proclamation.
Speaker: For this book to make.
Speaker: We're only getting started.
Speaker: John never saw him again.
Speaker: Nope.
Speaker: Not even in his dreams.
Speaker: I wish that.
Speaker: I mean, they could have Eric could have left that.
Speaker: up in the air at least, but instead he goes right into the future tense in that moment.
Speaker: And like, by the way, just forget about him.
Speaker: Now he's this character is gone.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Unbeknownst to us, cause you're right.
Speaker: As, as, as far as writing is concerned, it's not a great move, you know?
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Cause you never know when you're going to write yourself into a corner or have a problem and need something.
Speaker: You'll go, Oh fuck, I've got that one character.
Speaker: He could come in and save the day or some damn thing.
Speaker: And so for him to say that, unbeknownst to us, I'm just imagining Eric Nile and writing on his laptop, just fucking hating Mendez for whatever he just fucking meant.
Speaker: I hate this guy so much.
Speaker: They never saw him again.
Speaker: Like that child abuser.
Speaker: Like, well, you're the one who made him a child abuser.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Yes, I know, and he deserves it because he's an asshole.
Speaker: You made him an asshole.
Speaker: Fuck!
Speaker: I never saw you again.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: No, don't say that.
Speaker: Oh, no.
Speaker: And the eraser from that Daffy Duck cartoon comes down from the sky.
Speaker: It starts.
Speaker: He just writes us out of existence.
Speaker: And it reveals that Eric Nyland is actually Bugs Bunny.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: You heard it here first.
Speaker: Ladies and gentlemen, Eric Nyland is Bugs Bunny slash God.
Speaker: How I don't know how many people are actually going to get that reference.
Speaker: It's a tough one.
Speaker: You know, you and I have made a podcast where we talk about the novelizations of video games.
Speaker: We're just going to have to rely on the notion that 12 people just love our jokes.
Speaker: That's
Speaker: We just have to accept that and move on.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: I'm good with it.
Speaker: I've made peace with it.
Speaker: This is just, this is, this is what we do.
Speaker: God damn it.
Speaker: This is, this is our, this is our bread and butter, our fate, baby.
Speaker: This is it.
Speaker: And that brings us to chapter 12.
Speaker: This is when shit really heats up.
Speaker: We are cooking.
Speaker: Shit does truly heat up in chapter 12.
Speaker: What happens in chapter 12?
Speaker: Oh, yeah, they...
Speaker: It's truly, truly.
Speaker: So they're off on, they're, they're basically off in space and they're flying to another planet because obviously they couldn't have just done the Mjolnir stuff on Reach.
Speaker: It was somewhere else.
Speaker: So they have to leave Reach and they're going to Chai Seti 4, which is where, which is where the Mjolnir armor is being developed.
Speaker: Yes.
Speaker: And at this point, they just know it as like the Mjolnir project.
Speaker: Yeah, we don't even know it's armored yet.
Speaker: Right, right.
Speaker: And Jon, at some point, like, he looked it up and found out that Mjolnir was like Thor's hammer.
Speaker: So he was like, oh, it's a super weapon.
Speaker: Oh, yeah, sure.
Speaker: Oh, yeah, Mjolnir, cool.
Speaker: And so while they're on their way, they're trying to jump over to that area.
Speaker: And while they're on their way there, they are attacked by Covenant.
Speaker: Yes, the Covenant happens to basically intercept them on their way to get the one thing that they need to fight the Covenant.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: It's just, it's just too lucky.
Speaker: Really?
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Just fancy.
Speaker: They're just, the covenant is there.
Speaker: God must be real.
Speaker: He, he, he truly shows them the way.
Speaker: It really shows them his or her blessings.
Speaker: Yes, it's true.
Speaker: Or there.
Speaker: I don't know.
Speaker: Or there.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: There's whatever you are, God, I'm down.
Speaker: As long as you show me the path to my enemies.
Speaker: Exactly.
Speaker: That's, that's what the covenant does is they they're on their way to their enemies and it is a bit harrowing there for a moment.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Because the covenant just how tough they are.
Speaker: The covenant is outgunning them basically with every aspect of their technology.
Speaker: They've got energy shields, which protect them from basically everything.
Speaker: You know, their energy shields just keep them covered.
Speaker: And it takes basically to make any impact at all.
Speaker: They have like a giant heavy.
Speaker: I was just imagining a cartoonish to bring up Looney Tunes again, like just some cannonball the way they were describing it.
Speaker: Like it's not a guided weapon.
Speaker: Yeah, the Mac gun.
Speaker: That's right.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: And it just kind of shoots out into space and you hope for the best.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: It's basically a rail cannon.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: That, you know, I believe the Navy has been working on rail cannons forever.
Speaker: It's like, yeah, it's using magnetic electromagnetic.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: to shoot a projectile.
Speaker: I was just reading an article about that shit.
Speaker: That stuff's so cool.
Speaker: It's basically that, but massive and in space.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: So they do manage to make a dent kind of literally in the shields and the ship, but it, it, it's really unwieldy and clearly not something that they can just keep doing.
Speaker: They, they're just flinging the, they're, they, they just have to, to fling it.
Speaker: They, they get a, a firing solution and hope for the best basically with this gun.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah, it's a real spray and pray kind of situation.
Speaker: Yeah, it's spraying.
Speaker: You're firing a single.
Speaker: Yeah, it's it's like a it's like a torpedo.
Speaker: And that's the thing.
Speaker: That's the kind of the cool thing I like about this space combat is that it is very much reminds me of submarine combat.
Speaker: Yeah, because they're talking about firing solutions, which is what submarines need in order to actually fire their torpedoes.
Speaker: It's it's really cool.
Speaker: I like it.
Speaker: And honestly, you know,
Speaker: You're in a, this three dimensional space that is really hard to maneuver in.
Speaker: It's hard to, it's hard to like get a, get a good estimation as to where anything is at any given time.
Speaker: You don't have a terrific grasp on your enemy.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: You're right.
Speaker: That is, that's a really cool way of thinking about it actually.
Speaker: So, yeah, they're they're just firing at where they they're charging up this Mac cannon and firing it where they think the Covenant ship will be at a certain point in time.
Speaker: It's kind of like in a less elegant metaphor, it makes me think a little bit of the hard man cannon in Mega Man three.
Speaker: Yes.
Speaker: Shoot.
Speaker: And it builds up speed and it goes.
Speaker: And maybe you timed it right.
Speaker: Maybe you timed it right.
Speaker: Or maybe it just flies right off the screen and does nothing.
Speaker: I mean, that's why you have to use it against top man, because he only moves in a straight line.
Speaker: top man.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: So they they they're they're trying to get a second shot off.
Speaker: They do get another shot in, but not before the covenant fires an insane energy weapon that almost destroys them entirely.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Like just absolutely blows the crap out of them.
Speaker: Like they, they lose their, they're losing a lot of sections of the ship powers being, you know, just it's a lot of people are dead just from that one shot.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: And then they lose the, they lose the Mac cannon basically.
Speaker: And it's the only one weapon that is that damages the covenant ship.
Speaker: And they lose that.
Speaker: And it's pretty much,
Speaker: It seems like it's getting getting close to over.
Speaker: It seems like it's going to be a lot.
Speaker: And this is just a one on one fight with not even a big covenant ship.
Speaker: Yeah, exactly.
Speaker: It's just it's just the standard.
Speaker: They did a good job of just making it making you go, wow, they really are fucked.
Speaker: Like this is not going to work out.
Speaker: This is not going to go the way that they expect it to go.
Speaker: And it's at this point, smaller craft from their the naval vessel are, you know, circling the huge covenant craft and trying to distract it or blow it up or something.
Speaker: And the only way that they're able to get away is they the the the reactors melting down, essentially, and they shunt plasma from the meltdown.
Speaker: Basically, that prevents the entire thing going up.
Speaker: But it also and it and it does hit the covenant, but it also kills just like basically every little vessel that was out there.
Speaker: So they just they they kill a ton of their own people.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: In an effort to get away.
Speaker: Uh, so it's a really, you know, so that chapter ends on a pretty grim note where they're, they're getting away on a certain level.
Speaker: They're, they, they bought themselves some time.
Speaker: Uh, yeah.
Speaker: Lost a ton of people.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: The covenant ship mostly retreats to tend its own wounds after, after that, but it's still flying.
Speaker: It's still fine for the most part.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Um, and John and his crew hop on a drop ship and go to go down to the planet and, you know, the,
Speaker: yeah let's go look at mjolnir well let's go look at mjolnir we're gonna and the captain's like we're gonna be up here we might be alive when you get back yeah yeah hope everything works out you don't need me to walk you down there do you no no okay have fun with your cool marine weapons bye
Speaker: So that brings us to chapter 13, where long story short, the Spartans have the classic Master Chief style armor.
Speaker: It's shown for the first time, that classic green and gold Mjolnir style armor.
Speaker: It's our first time seeing.
Speaker: It's our first time seeing it.
Speaker: It's the original version of the armor armor.
Speaker: It looks it looks pretty much the same as it does in the games.
Speaker: But the one in the first Halo game is apparently it's that's like Mark two or whatever it is.
Speaker: And this is the this is the OG version of it.
Speaker: And yeah, it's it's it's fast.
Speaker: And it basically like reads their mind at this point.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah, it's crazy reactive.
Speaker: I thought this was some clever writing where it's basically any normal human being who's ever tried it on like dies essentially because, you know, it reacts so strongly to your every movement that it just snaps every bone in your body.
Speaker: And so basically, yeah, like you said, they kind of they have to kind of think
Speaker: their way.
Speaker: They literally tell John when he puts it on for the first time, they said, I just want you to think about moving your arm.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: And that does it.
Speaker: So, yeah, it's it's pretty it's crazy, responsive, super strong.
Speaker: And they're all kind of enjoying their armor.
Speaker: I think someone at some point goes, hey, when are we going to get to test this out?
Speaker: Also, he's like, have you been paying right now?
Speaker: Like, what are you talking about?
Speaker: He was like, right now, like, we're all going to die if we don't hurry up.
Speaker: So get your armor on.
Speaker: Please put that the fuck on.
Speaker: And sure enough, at that point, Covenant shows up again and started pursuing them again.
Speaker: Like, it didn't take them long.
Speaker: They were like, okay, we're good.
Speaker: We're ready for the next.
Speaker: uh, the next fight.
Speaker: That was fun though.
Speaker: When you fired that one thing at us, do that again.
Speaker: Uh, yeah, we're going to, yeah, we're going to fuck you up this time is basically the covenants pretty much.
Speaker: They're like, that was cute.
Speaker: When you, when you killed a ton of your people, uh, to wound us a little bit.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Let's see how often you can do that.
Speaker: Uh, I bet you can't do it again.
Speaker: I'm going to go ahead and bet that that's not something that you can do.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: It brings us to chapter 14, where the Spartans are going to board the ship and just they're going to blow it up with a goddamn warhead.
Speaker: Yes.
Speaker: So they they decide how do they actually get onto the ship?
Speaker: Do they they fire themselves?
Speaker: They jump.
Speaker: OK, right.
Speaker: Yeah, they just they just fire themselves because they're, you know, they're fully sealed in the suit in the Mjolnir armor.
Speaker: Right, right.
Speaker: And so it can resist the vacuum of space, and they fire themselves into the one kind of essentially broken area that they, the one little bit of damage that they did earlier.
Speaker: With the Mac round, yeah.
Speaker: Exactly.
Speaker: It's left, it's left, uh, an opening.
Speaker: And so, yeah, they basically just fire these, this half dozen group of soldiers in this new armor, uh, with, uh, with a suitcase warhead essentially.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: And it's pretty cool.
Speaker: I mean, it's, it's, yeah, it's real cool.
Speaker: It actually kind of reminds me of something that happened in, um, have you played, you've played, have you played doom eternal?
Speaker: Yes.
Speaker: Yes, I have.
Speaker: So there's a part at which Doomguy loads himself onto into a railgun and fires himself into Mars, I want to say.
Speaker: Yeah, because because Doom at that point and bless them for this just said, fuck it.
Speaker: Let's just fucking go for it.
Speaker: He just gets inside of a giant gun and shoots himself into a planet.
Speaker: Little did we know that Halo, the fall of reach had them beat by a couple of decades.
Speaker: Yep.
Speaker: Yeah, and they just, yeah, they drop ship, essentially, into that part of the Covenant ship, except they are the drop ships.
Speaker: Yeah, so they get in there, and there's a lot of nice action here.
Speaker: They kind of, you know, they're fighting their way through.
Speaker: But we finally have our first, I guess, I want to say casualty of the entire episode.
Speaker: Spartan, well, post augmentation Spartan group, because I don't think anybody find out, we find out that they're not quite so invincible.
Speaker: They're not so invincible.
Speaker: So Sam, who is John's BFF, one of John's two BFFs from childhood, they've known each other since they were six years old.
Speaker: Sam takes a, takes a shot and part of his armor gets broken away.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: And it's funny because they at first, like, he's just been shot and everyone's like, you know, he's it's kind of a I ain't got time to bleed moment.
Speaker: You know, it's this energy blast and he seems fine.
Speaker: And then basically, John tells him his fate by just saying, you stay here and and basically hold them off.
Speaker: And they're like, wait, what the fuck are you saying?
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: And they point out that, you know, because of the shot that Sam took, he can't get back because his suit is no longer pressurized and he would, he would, uh, he would die in space.
Speaker: Yep.
Speaker: He says, you'll have to stay and hold them off.
Speaker: That's an order.
Speaker: What are you talking about?
Speaker: Kelly said, Sam knows Sam nodded.
Speaker: I think I can hold them off that long.
Speaker: He looked at John and then Kelly, he turned and showed them the burn in the side of his suit.
Speaker: There was a hole the size of his fist and beneath that, the skin was blackened and cracked.
Speaker: He smiled, but his teeth were gritted in pain.
Speaker: That's nothing, Kelly said.
Speaker: We'll get you patched up in no time.
Speaker: Once we get back, her mouth slowly dropped open and Kelly basically has the, oh, right.
Speaker: Oh, shit.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Kelly.
Speaker: Thank you for paying attention.
Speaker: Thank you for paying attention in class, Kelly.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: And it's it's that's it's good writing.
Speaker: Like, I think that's great.
Speaker: You know, I think a lesser author, if they wanted to show the mortality of the Spartans, they would have just had a guy go down under a hail of gunfire or some damn thing, you know, maybe in a gruesome way.
Speaker: But, you know, it shows how strong these guys are.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: Because as Kelly points out, like, no, that's nothing.
Speaker: You'll be fine.
Speaker: But he's fucked because no one can.
Speaker: No one doesn't matter how many super soldier procedures you've had done on you.
Speaker: You can't survive the vacuum of space.
Speaker: Only xenomorphs can do that.
Speaker: Only xenomorphs can do that.
Speaker: And they are not xenomorphs.
Speaker: No, they are not.
Speaker: And as the last time I checked.
Speaker: I have met xenomorphs and you are no xenomorphs.
Speaker: Let's just keep rolling in those highly accessible generation Z references for the kids.
Speaker: They're loving this.
Speaker: They love this.
Speaker: We're doing good, Kevin.
Speaker: We're doing great.
Speaker: Good.
Speaker: And so finally we get your, your standard ticking bomb, you know, down 33 seconds, down 12 seconds, down nothing.
Speaker: And as they are, it turns into the Metroid moment.
Speaker: Exactly.
Speaker: Exactly.
Speaker: And, and it works.
Speaker: The warhead goes and the ship explodes.
Speaker: The covenant ship just absolutely explodes.
Speaker: And we end this chapter on, on John's true.
Speaker: I think I get it moment.
Speaker: where he writes, John finally understood what the chief had meant, the difference between a life wasted and a life spent.
Speaker: John also knew that humanity had a fighting chance, and he was ready to go to war.
Speaker: Boom.
Speaker: Dun-dun-dun.
Speaker: Dun-dun-dun.
Speaker: And dun-dun-dun.
Speaker: And we'll pick up on section three next time.
Speaker: Section three.
Speaker: Oh, so, Kevin, how are you feeling about this book so far?
Speaker: You know, for all the little jokes I make about it, I love it.
Speaker: Oh, me too.
Speaker: Me too.
Speaker: I think it's definitely as far as the second book we've read for this podcast, I can see why.
Speaker: I did reach out to people and say, you know, what kind of.
Speaker: video game books stand out as the ones to you that are ones you really enjoyed.
Speaker: And people brought up Halo all the time.
Speaker: And I'm absolutely seeing why.
Speaker: This is good.
Speaker: And it's funny because, like I said, I just beat Halo 1.
Speaker: And it's fun.
Speaker: I had a really good time.
Speaker: But it is not this complex.
Speaker: The stark contrast between the silly aliens in Halo.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: This book is really hilarious.
Speaker: It is.
Speaker: It really is.
Speaker: But yeah, so far, so good.
Speaker: I'm looking forward to seeing what we get in section three.
Speaker: Me too.
Speaker: And I think that'll do it for today's episode.
Speaker: Ladies and gentlemen, ladies and gentle thems, have a good evening, day, afternoon, whatever time it is.
Speaker: Take care.
Speaker: Bye bye.
Speaker: Thank you.
