Chapter Thirteen- Whispers in the Dark

January 30, 2553

0912 Hours

ONI Beta-7 Facility, Los Angeles, California, Earth

"So, what you are trying to tell me Amos is what exactly? That you have intentionally ordered our brand new Special Detachment Group into a goose chase after what appears to be an unlawful use of Naval Intelligence resources? For God-sakes General pretty close to half of ONI's existing programs would be classified as an illicit use of funds."

Brigadier General Amos Castle grunted with the same tone one would expect to hear from a mother scolding her children. Castle attempted to look the man in the eye across the roundtable, though the room was so dark that it made it impossible to actually see the person. Of course he knew who he was, along with the other two individuals seated around the table. Castle peered into the voice's general direction and stated, "that's quite convenient coming from you Singh. Now that ONI's backtracking and removing the dirt off itself via Section Zero, you're complaining. Got something you need to tell us here Rear Admiral?"

Castle had never been a fan of Navy-types in the military to begin with, but working in the Office of Naval Intelligence exposed him to spook Navy-types. And that was much worse. Lower Half Rear Admiral Jerrod Singh was one of the worst spooks, if one was to go by Castle's list. The man had been at the front and center of many of ONI's most notorious, and sometimes messy black operations in the last decade. For whatever reason, the rest of ONI turned a blind eye when he requisitioned hefty sums of credits and vast amounts of resources, all in the name of fighting the Covenant's encroaching presence. However, now that the war was over, Castle knew the man would be trying his hardest to cover up some of his more, discreet ops. And he knew ONI's refocus on Section Zero made him nervous. Before the agitated Singh could respond, a much older and wizened voice lofted in the still air of the meeting room. An icy-cold voice that could only belong to Margaret Parangosky. "Now let's not go off-course here gentlemen and stay on task. And that would be the matter at the forefront of our meeting today. Tundra, one of a handful of former UEG colonies that have proclaimed their independence. General," the chilling tone focused towards Castle, "it was MIL AI 1901 Wallace, attached to your SDG unit that confirmed the artifacts present on that world? The ones referred to in our database as "Xenoarcheology?"

Castle gulped nervously at the sound of the woman's voice, akin to the tone of Death itself. Admiral Margaret Parangosky was the commander-in-chief of the Office of Naval Intelligence. Some have said the sheer power she held surpassed that of Fleet Admiral Terrence Hood within the UNSC. The woman has been known to make uncooperative subjects disappear permanently, without a trace and that only a single person had ever crossed her and lived to speak about it. Rumor was, that the ONI chief had chosen a successor to her her "throne", though if she had Castle hadn't met the person in question himself. The General anxiously tapped his fingers on the metal table and said, "yes ma'am Wallace traced the unauthorized tap into an area not too far from the planet's capitol, Lincoln. As to the presence of Forerunner artifacts, Wallace could not say with certainty which is why I didn't inform our team. However, Wallace was able to pinpoint this person or persons as being affiliated with Section One. Needless to say, this party has drawn a considerable amount of assets and classified information from us, which is within Section Zero's operational parameters."

Another female voice came from Castle's left but it was much smoother and gentle than Parangosky with a strong Slavic accent. "So Section Zero's own little witch-hunt as finally commenced. My my this is getting very interesting General. I wonder what your SDG team will find on Tundra?"

Castle did not have to see the woman's visage to know who she was, as the two have previously met on multiple occasions. Marine Corps Colonel Nikita Aristov was imbedded neck-deep in some of ONI Section Three's more quiet ops. He knew the woman served with Naval Special Warfare, though he was unsure in what capacity. What he did know is that the Colonel had been on the front lines during the Covenant War's more devastating losses to the aliens, and had a permanent prosthetic left leg to show for it. Aristov had been sidelined from NavSpecWep and into more of a logistics role within Section Three. Castle smirked, "yeah it will be interesting won't it Nikita?"

Parangosky's icy words then permeated the situation, "on a different note Brigadier General, your chosen members of Special Detachment Group Zeta, please go over each member in detail."

Castle cleared with throat with a hearty exhalation and began, "well I will begin with Lieutenant Commander Anthony Fields-"

Singh blurted, "yes please tell us why you removed one of the more promising officers in the Prowler Corps for your little ragtag band of witch hunters."

"Rear Admiral, the next time you interrupt the General I will personally see to it that you are so far down into the darkest depths of shit that you will not be able to see the light of day. Am I clear?"

Parangosky was in no mood for childish antics, and Singh simply muttered silently to himself and groaned, "yes ma'am, I apologize ma'am."

"Please continue General."

Castle felt a bead of sweat drip from his forehead as he proceeded, "yes, Lieutenant Commander Anthony Fields was removed from his duty aboard the Trojan Horse in order to command the new VOS-Class Corvette Valley of Shadows prototype. This ship is to be SDG Zeta's base of operations while carrying out the missions that Section Zero assigns to them. He was selected because of his will to proceed forward with the mission despite the odds and difficulty; you may open the file on the February Incident of 2552 for my reasoning behind this decision. The Lieutenant Commander is the ranking officer of Zeta Team and has tactical and strategical command of the objectives required."

"I see," Parangosky let a long sigh escape her lips, "continue."

"MIL AI 1901 Wallace is a fifth-generation smart Artificial Intelligence created and programmed exclusively for Section Zero. Besides the now missing Cortana, Wallace is probably the most advanced AI available for ONI use. He had been encoded with the latest in cryptanalysis advances and hacking protocols, as well as the most recent database of the former Covenant languages and speech patterns. Wallace is also the only intelligence that has complete knowledge of the Valley of Shadows' schematics and capabilities. And he is also quite... spirited."

"Go on."

"Certainly ma'am. First Lieutenant Julia Vavilov of the 105th Shock Troops Division is a distinguished and decorated veteran of the Covenant War. She is one of the few ODST's to survive both the victory at Sigma Octanus IV, as well as the Fall of Reach, and not to mention the defense of Earth. Even though she only fought the Covenant for six years, she managed to acquire almost every decoration and medal available within the UNSCDF, including the Legion of Honor. I thought Section Zero could be greatly benefited with her skills and experience."

"Continue General."

"Yes ma'am. Field Major Kiel 'Antan of the Sanghelian Armed Forces was chosen because of a few reasons. One: our team may need a sangheili in order to get their message across clearly to any of the former species of the Covenant. If analysis indicated anything, it was that the sangheili language was the de facto language of the Covenant, and most of its members understand and speak it. And while Wallace can speak in any of the aliens' tongues, it is useful to have someone who has in-depth knowledge of sangheili culture and traditions on hand, just in case. Two: as you all know ONI was confronted by the Arbiter himself about certain... consequences of the war. Having one of their kind helping us may ease tensions between Earth and Sanghelios. Finally, well... the Field Major's presence was requested by an interested party on Sanghelios. I'll speak more of this later."

Parangosky let out a long whistle, "okay General we'll discuss the alien's involvement in greater detail at a later time. If I'm correct, there is another on your team?"

Castle scratched his buzzed scalp, "yes ma'am, that would be Spartan-081. Having a Spartan on hand is obviously extremely beneficial to our cause, and I am entirely confident a soldier of her caliber will greatly increase Zeta Team's odds of success. However, the means of which Spartan-081 returned to active duty is very restricted ma'am, would you like to speak of this at a later time?"

The ONI chief's silently protested as she relaxed in her chair. "Yes General I would be intrigued as to what you have to say about that matter as well. However," Parangosky leaned so close to Castle he could see the ancient crags of her face, "you must realize that the Valley of Shadows and its... unique complement of crew will be reallocated to the Infinity project. As long as you are aware that at some date, in the near future, your SDG unit and it's prototype ship will be transferred to this monumental undertaking. Is that clear?"

Castle ran a hand through his shorn hair, "I fully understand ma'am."

One by one, without a single word spoken, each shadowy person seated at the table strode out of the room, and as they opened the door behind Amos Castle, crisscrossing patterns of light shone into the black room. Before he could, an elderly hand gripped his shoulder with such force that it could belong to a man in his twenties. The sharp and piercing eyes of Admiral Parangosky stared into his very soul and said, "I hope you know what you're doing Amos, because you're treading on some very thin ice and if you manage so slip up," the intimidating woman pulled him closer, "I don't even think I'll be able to pull you out."

With that, humanity's most feared and powerful individual promptly swung open the adjacent door, and then with a subtle click the light faded, and Amos Castle became enveloped by shadows once more.