Carefully, he set his cup down and paged for an aide to come mop the mess up. Then, he returned to the datapad, scrutinizing each word with his full faculties. With stellar cartography now a possibility, ONI was certainly not thinking small.
They wanted a Phoenix-class for its original purpose—colonization, not invasion. Initial surveys of the few systems near the Artifacts indicated that the race—or races, for the jury was still out after so short a time—which used the Artifacts relied on them heavily. They obviously used some other sort of FTL, but current estimates showed it to be slower—possibly significantly slower—than current-gen S-F drives. Nearby systems not connected to the Artifact web were colonized, but only in systems with what appeared to be pre-existing terrestrial worlds or containing extremely valuable resources. Barren systems had no presence at all, and indeed seemed to be ignored entirely.
ONI's plan was based on this premise, that the xenos lacked good terraforming technology and were thus restricted to worlds that were already life-supporting or close to it. They proposed that a resource-rich system, with a world amenable to terraforming but lacking a native garden world, be found and that the Phoenix-class be dispatched to terraform and colonize it, accompanied by a suitable fleet to ensure security. Then, a forward base for operations within Artifact space would be established, covertly out-of-sight. The report was extremely well-written, extolling the virtues of using old, obsolescent ship classes for the purpose and conserving resources.
But this was far too soon. Far, far too soon. For heaven's sakes, Red Cobra had only begun three months ago! Stellar placement had occurred yesterday. Yesterday! And already, the spooks had a report written up!? How long had they been planning this, Hood wondered. Knowing them, probably since day one.
The report concluded artfully, followed by some more specs for specialists to verify. Hood had once been a specialist in his day, though, and while he was a bit behind, the shorthand language they typed in was still the same.
He let out a sigh of relief, seeing the proposed timeline. Although the Phoenix was to be refitted and equipped immediately, and a security fleet was to be formed in a month, the most optimistic timeline called for earliest deployal in a year, with worst-case outlines at five years. So, they wouldn't be rushing into this one.
It also called for a doubling of the density of the stealth shaped-warhead charges surrounding the mass relay in the Shanxi system, as well as a permanent stationing of two prowlers and the UNSC Point of No Return—another artful use of resources, as the blasted thing was certainly not going back to ONI. Their upper echelons would now stay firmly on Earth, right where he could see them. As of now, it was the only stealthed ship manned not by ONI personnel, but UNSC naval crewmen.
The whole thing still felt too hasty for him, but the built-in delays in the operation schedule were greatly reassuring. Still, if it was up to him alone, he would've deferred the proposal another six months before even considering it. Unfortunately, something this big went to the Security Council, not him alone, and he was sure that the ONI head would vote for it.
And the General, too, sheep that he was. Two out of six, already.
All in all, if it came down to his vote, he conceded that he wouldn't be averse to the proposal. There were quite a few benefits to the proposal, after all, and even if the risky nature in regards to the new xenos turned his stomach, it would also be secure from any threats in this neck of the woods.
He stood with a sigh as his aged bones creaked in protest. It would do no good to put the vote off; it could wreck his schedule now, or it could wreck it later, and Hood had never been a procrastinator.
He hit the comms button on his desk, and his personal AI, Ares, popped into holographic being, his spear and armored form glowing olive-green. "I take it this has to do with the Hideaway proposal?" he queried.
"Yes," Hood nodded. "Please call for a meeting of the Security Council, ASAP, for a vote on it."
"Done," Ares replied. "Also, Lord Hood, the proposal has been given the codename Crimson Ostrich."
Hood made a face. "That's a terrible codename. Can't it be changed?"
"Talk about it at the meeting, sir," Ares said. "Large-scale operation alteration isn't allowed by AI's."
"Even for the name?" Hood pleaded, as he put on his jacket.
"Even for the name, sir."
"Remind me to discuss that, too," the admiral said as he opened his door. "I need to be able to tell you to change codewords to something that's not god-awful whenever I feel like it. There's a new ONI, and it needs a new way of naming operations besides 'what's the strangest, wordiest, and least appealing way to name important things.'" He walked down the hall, nodding to his guards as they fell in alongside him.
He stepped into the elevator at the hall, pressed his thumb into the scanner, and stated once more, "Terrence Hood." There were only three buttons on the elevator's panel: one led to the ground floor, where he entered and exited every day. Another led to this floor, securely located six floors below the roof (it wasn't on the top floor because it was all too easy to grapple on top of buildings or to land a small craft on the roof, and the six floors between his floor and the roof, which just happened to be an ODST urban warfare training ground which was always occupied with soldiers using live ammunition, provided that extra cushion).
Today, he pressed the third. "Down we go," he muttered.
The Bunker, as the High-Security VIP Glassing Shelter in the basement of the tower was known, was a stark concrete room, far below the surface. Its only entrance was a ten-foot Titanium-A door, guarded by no less then a full platoon of ODST's and 3 AI's. Inside was a full strategic setup, intended for Lord Hood or his successors to coordinate the defense of Earth, while remaining hidden and secure from enemy forces.
The holoprojector sputtered to life as he entered, and Ares appeared in its glow. "Three are already linked in, sir," he reported. "ETA on the other two is less than 5."
"Good, good," Hood approved, sitting down into his armchair, the only comfort allowed in the room. "Link me in." Idly, he pricked his finger and placed it on the scanner.
"DNA confirmed, sir. Linking you now."
The six-seated table was suddenly filled with three other holographic forms. Within a few seconds, a fourth fizzled in.
"Good morning," Hood said, nodding to the others. "We'll begin as soon as the President logs in."
As if summoned, the President of the UEG logged in that very moment. "Good morning, ladies and gentlemen!" he beamed. "Let's get this over with quickly, shall we?"
The others nodded, as did Hood. None of them liked screwing up their schedule for Security Council meetings, but it was necessary.
He looked at the five other people which wielded the most power out of any beings in the galaxy, other than the Arbiter of Sangheilos. There was the commanding officer of all UNSC colonial ground forces and the Army, General Abraham Peyton. Next was the head logistics man and economic advisor, Doctor Adam Vey. Thirdly, there was the head of ONI, the newly-instated Admiral Ina Janson, replacement for the treasonous Parangosky and her protégé Osman.
Then there was him. Together, they were the military side of the Security Council. The fifth member was the head diplomat for the UEG, Doctor Elise Phelps, in charge of all contact with the former Covenant races. Finally, there was the nominal head of the council, the President of the UEG, Nick Sanchez. They made up the civilian oversight side of the Security Council.
Sanchez looked down at his datapad. "I'm assuming that you called this meeting because of the Crimson Ostrich proposal, Admiral Hood?"
"Yes, Mr. President." Hood cleared his throat. "Given its timeline, I thought that it should be voted on as soon as possible." He leaned back, preparing himself for the inevitable debate. "Any suggestions?"
Phelps was the first one to take the plunge. "I still insist that we should attempt to make peaceful contact before making such a potentially-provocative move," she said. "I've been getting stonewalled for three months, but this proposal is just a step too far."
Jansen immediately replied, "It's obvious already that this race takes warfare seriously, based on initial scans of ships classes. Admittedly, they are very small ships, but there are a lot of the things. If first contact doesn't go well, we could very well have another Covenant War on our hands. In that case, we need a well-established forward base for offensive operations."
The general butted in, "If we are going to make contact, we have to be in a position of power first. If we don't have some way of taking the fight to them, we'll be in a similar position to the entire Covenant War, able only to react rather than act."
Doctor Vey nodded in agreement. "Initial scans of the Artifact, before we were forced to discontinue active investigations, indicated that it works using some unknown compound with interesting properties, and it certainly appears that the systems Red Cobra has infiltrated ha the same compound in abundance. If we could find a similar system with sufficient quantities to experiment on, I'm confident that we'll be able to find some good uses for it. In addition, the proposal gives a better way to utilize aging ships and resources then melting them down for scrap. I vote for the proposal."
His two backers quickly agreed with him, and Hood leaned back. So Logistics was in on the plan too—indeed, it looked like he was spearheading the effort. Whatever this compound was, they wanted it bad. He typed a note on his pad to have Ares mark all future reports on said compound as high-priority.
Sanchez closed his eyes for a moment. "While I see where you are coming from, don't we have a full grid set up around the Artifact of SHIVA's? Surely that's enough security to cork that bottleneck and allay your fears."
"We know that the xenos use at least one other form of FTL, which doesn't appear to be slipspace," Jansen rebutted. "Until we know how fast that method is, we can't risk assuming that the Artifact is the only assault vector."
His brows furrowed in thought. "True." With a sigh, he put his face in his hands. "I'm not going to rule out diplomatic contact, pending further developments in Red Cobra, but there's too much riding on this to keep ourselves limited to one option. I'm voting for it, as well."
Hood's eyebrows rose in surprise. The President was breaking with the diplomat; a rare occurrence if there was one. His vote wouldn't even be needed; the majority decision had been made already.
"Fine," Elise said curtly, before cutting the channel without so much as a goodbye. Sanchez looked at her empty spot for a moment, and frowned. "Now that that's decided, I've got to go patch things up with Mrs. Phelps," he said, standing. "I'll see you next week." He, too, disconnected.
As the two civilians left, Hood looked to Jansen. "I'll go along with this, but I want two things."
"What?" she asked warily.
"First, I want a NOVA in the nuke field," Hood said brusquely. "If something big, something we didn't see coming, pops out of that artifact, I want to be sure we can kill it."
"Done," she replied instantly. "Second?"
"There was no mention of ground force composition in ONI's report," he said. "What force levels did you have in mind? Are there any unique assets you wanted deployed?"
"Oh, that," Vey said with a smile. "Rest assured, I've got enough leeway to send a company of S-IV's with Crimson Ostrich. I was thinking that we send X-Ray, right out of Basic, along with a few veterans to keep them in line."
"And who did you have in mind?" Hood asked. He had a feeling he knew where this was going.
"Why, who else then the best?" Vey replied, with a smile. "Don't worry, our force levels are finally high enough that we can afford to deploy some high-level assets on long-term missions."
The Fleet Admiral's face creased into a smile. "You've got a deal," he said warmly. "If they can't keep this thing afloat, nothing can." With a motion, he cut the connection and leaned back. "Ares, remind me to find some time to talk to Tom. He might not be happy to get his asset stolen next year."
"Yes, sir."
A/N: So, I was fed up with the usual "Haloverse finds artifact, sends a very small fleet to survey it next to their new colony, and First Contact War ensues" Mass Effect-Halo xovers, and the formulaic way EACH and EVERY one unfolds, (with the exception of two or three, which are the ones I actually followed/faved) the exact same way. There's no way the UNSC would be that stupid. After the Covenant War, their only response would be overwhelming force whenever possible. And extreme caution. So I'm taking this crossover a different way. Also, there will be very little Council-bashing nor Eezo-power bashing- Both sides have significant advantages, so it will not be a curbstomp for either side, unless it's through tactical or strategic surprise. No tech-stomping here.