and are preparing an invasion fleet. For additional power, Cortana salvages the derelict UNSC frigate Gettysburg, in effect creating a hybrid vessel referred to throughout the book as Gettysburg-Ascendant Justice. Seeking the Forerunner shard, the Covenant attack, severely damaging Ascendant Justice, but are temporarily defeated. In order to make repairs, the UNSC forge an alliance with human separatists hidden in an asteroid field whose help also allows them to partially repair the crippled Gettysburg. Halsey, after saving the clinically-dead Spartan Linda-058, abducts Spartan Kelly-087 and flees in a stolen ship, leaving Corporal Locklear with instructions to stop the crystal from falling into Covenant hands. Locklear decides to destroy the crystal, inadvertently killing himself, but stopping the Covenant from tracking the crystal's radioactive emissions and by extension the Ascendant Justice. However, the Covenant attack the asteroid base in overwhelming force, forcing the UNSC forces to flee into slipspace and abandon the separatists to destruction. With the knowledge that the Covenant are en route to Earth, the Master Chief and his fellow Spartans decide to disrupt the invasion force at their rendezvous point. The Spartans successfully infiltrate the Covenant space station, Unyielding Hierophant, set it to self-destruct and escape in a drop-ship. On board the Ascendant Justice, Whitcomb tricks the Covenant fleet into following the ship closer to the Unyielding Hierophant; when the station explodes the entire Covenant armada is destroyed or damaged. Master Chief and the surviving Spartans take the partially repaired Gettysburg, which has been equipped with Ascendant Justice's slipspace drive, back to Earth with Sgt. Johnson and Cortana to warn of the approaching invasion. Meanwhile, the Covenant leadership discuss the fate of the "incompetent one," an Elite who allowed Halo to be destroyed and Ascendant Justice to be captured; setting the stage for Halo 2. Reception Upon release, First Strike was a critical and commercial success, being the first Halo novel to make The New York Times bestsellers list. IGN stated that the writing was "terse and exciting" and that players waiting for the release of Halo 2 could pick up interesting hints about what was to come in the game and in the ilovebees viral marketing campaign. About.com's Eric Qualls stated that First Strike and the other Halo novels "make you appreciate Halo and Halo 2 a hundred times more", and strongly recommended that fans of the game pick up the novel. Shawn of Digital Monkey Box criticized