1100 hours, August 18th, 2542 (UNSC military calendar)

UNSC Security Council chambers HIGHCOM

General Hogan of the Marine Corps stood next to a large holographic screen and began pointing at statistics. "-the resettlement initiatives of refugees from the outer colonies continues. Thanks to the humanitarian aid supplies by the hanar we're finally able to process these refugees in a more timely fashion. We are working on sorting these refugees into groups depending on their training and education. First off: Anyone experienced with commanding any form of heavy equipment is being conscripted into the navy and put through a comprehensive series of training courses to fill out the ranks of the new fleets that Admiral Hood will elaborate on in a minute. " Hogan nodded at hood, and pointed at a large pie chart on the holographic screen, marking the part of the refugee population he was referring to.

Hood could see a revitalized spirit in General Hogan. The general had been losing weight, shaving better, and moved with a purpose he hadn't seen in the man for years. The renewed UNSC successes had lit a fire in the general, one that was shared even by Hood. They were pushing the Covenant back reliably. Fleets were returning victoriously to naval dockyards. Navy officers got leave for the first time in almost a decade. There was a true revival of the spirit of humanity, one that could be seen in every part of society.

"Next up. With the current state of the UNSC military being the way it is, especially our officer corps, we have begun a program of reorganization to expand our armed forces. New NCO's and officers are being selected to fill vacant positions, as well as to lead the new conscripts. The current goal is to use the UNSC Marines and UNSC Army as a core around which to expand our armed forces, as new equipment is produced, and new officers are trained. We believe that doubling our armed forces will be possible within the decade."

"Those unable to function in the Navy, or the ground forces, are instead put to work in other fields. Teachers and medical professionals are being given new positions in rebuilding cities. We believe that within a year, most of the refugees will no longer be refugees, but part of a revitalized war economy. Those lacking in vital skills are instead being given roles in agriculture. The potato harvest will be quite good this year." Hogan chuckled, and even Parangosky grinned. Hood did so as well, only to stop and think when he'd last laughed inside these chambers. He couldn't for the life of him remember the last time Parangosky had cracked a smile.

Hogan activated his Omni-tool, set to a calm blue color, and swiped across the screen. Everyone in the Security Council had been given one, the first human-produced Omni-tools ever made. Although they were just copies of Asari ones so far, they were a promising start. The screen changed to show a UNSC Marine in standard armor, with several glowing blue nodules in strategic locations.

"At the request of the Citadel, we've moved the researchers onboard the Trafalgar into Citadel Space on the planet of Telvanis. There they've set up a large Joint Research Initiative, alongside the Coalition Naval, and Infantry academies. So far they're making excellent progress on combining our technologies, as well as examining salvaged Covenant technology. ONI has expanded the Materials Group, with a new section called Eezonic Materials Group, made up of ONI employees, as well as representatives from most major Military-Industrial corporations. Their role is to coordinate the introduction of Citadel weapons and armor technologies into the UNSC, as well as serve as mediators between UEG Corporations, and Citadel ones. This collaboration is quickly bearing fruit, as I'll explain today."

"We are also working on our first field deployments of Citadel-provided equipment. As of right now, we are deploying "Kinetic Barrier upgrade kits" to our men in the field. They allow a soldier to remove the ceramic plates in their armor, and replace them with ones with built-in emitters. Early testing has indicated the chances of a UNSC soldier to survive a plasma bolt has almost doubled. Although the shielding cannot block the heat of Covenant plasma, it is capable of protecting them from glancing hits that would otherwise cause debilitating thermal injuries. ONI Materials Groups is currently examining the devices in more intricate detail. They claim it should be feasible for us to produce our own before the end of the year. We are looking for a contractor to take up this task. In the meanwhile, we have placed an order with the Elkoss Combine for enough emitters to upgrade another million armor sets."

Hood took notes. The UNSC was spending damn near every last credit it had to spare on importing from Citadel Space. The line of credit the Citadel had offered in exchange for the initial technological trades was already gone, used to pay for large scale civilian reconstruction initiatives. And the UNSC had started racking up debt with the Citadel.

"The newest shipments of Hardsuits and Mass Accelerator rifles are being given to our forces in order of seniority and skill. So far, we are equipping the Spartans first, then the ODST's, and finally the Marine Corps and Army. which brings us to the next subject. Firstly. Armor."

The screen changed to show a human wearing a sleek suit of alien armor, next to an Asari in the same armor. "Asari and Salarian morphology is close enough to ours, that we are capable of modifying their armor to be worn by our soldiers. Although these will only fit female soldiers reliably, requiring extensive refitting for males. The Batarian Hegemony representatives in New Ghent have offered to start selling us their military equipment. Not surplus, but the same as their military forces. These suits can be worn by human males without retrofitting being required. Eezonic Materials Group has analyzed the proposals and recommended that asari armor be given to female soldiers, and batarian Hardsuits to male ones. As a stopgap while we get our production facilities online. Any objections?"

There was murmuring in the Security Council, then Parangosky spoke up. "I don't trust the Batarians from what I've learned about them. But bad armor is better than none. I agree, but only so long their armor matches our standards. Major General Strauss?"

The aging general of the Army nodded. He looked overworked from managing the many army redeployments since the Turians took over many garrison postings. But the man looked healthier if a bit hollow-eyed. Hood sometimes suspected Strauss had PTSD, but no test had proven it. In any case, Strauss had the loyalty of his men, and a keen sense of logistics. "Same price as the ones we way for Asari suits. Not a credit more. Things are getting expensive enough as is."

There were nods of agreement in the security council.

"Then onto our first designs of Hardsuits." General Hogan deftly waved his hand, and changed the screen to a line of marines in what looked like some type of ODST armor, but with noticeable changes. Namely, a complete absence of any kind of fabric, and the addition of glowing blue nodules. Each marine had a different color scheme, from jungle war to arctic.

"Eezonic Materials Group was ordered to design the first generation of UNSC hardsuits and has made excellent progress. It will be made completely with UNSC materials, except for its power supply. We will be using an asari-designed hydrogen fuel cell, which while not as powerful our miniature fusion reactors (see the Mjolnir program), is cheap enough to finally make the full deployment of powered armor for all infantry economical. The armor itself will have a frame partially based upon SPI, but also Asari design principles. We are improving thermal resistance by incorporating UNSC Hellbringer armor."

"Eezonic Materials Group was also asked to design a new suit for the ODST's and came up with an ingenious solution. They took the design schematics for SPI armor, and completely rebuilt it from the ground up with the lightweight compressed ceramics and alloys used by the Citadel.".

Another wave of the Omni-tool and the armor got replaced with a suit of Semi-Powered Infiltration armor. It was bulkier and had its iconic helmet replaced with an ODST one. "The armoring itself is largely made up of the same Titanium A components used for normal ODST armor, but with improvements in almost every way. From an expanded internal exoskeleton that compensates for the weight, to integrated dual-arm Omni-tools. The photoreactive armor can be added or removed depending on the mission profile. So far we have designed an aquatic, mountain warfare, deep space, and CQC version of each suit."

Parangosky spoke up. "What about Spartans. Any technological improvements we can apply to them?"

"Citadel Hardsuits do not have the sheer protection or power enhancements of Mjolnir armor, but we are working on adding Kinetic barriers to each suit of Mjolnir armor. Integrating Omni-Tools. And making some minor changes to certain parts of Mjolnir plating. Doctor Halsey has suggested the addition of a thin layer of Citadel Ceramics atop each Mjolnir's titanium plate, beneath the refractive coating. Experiments will start tonight."

Nobody raised any objections.

"The Spartan III program has requested a modified hardsuit incorporating SPI technology, and this is also being worked on as we speak. There are trials to see if Citadel active camouflage technology can be combined with either SPI or scavenged Covenant cloaking technology, although no progress has been made on this front. For now, we're working on getting the Salarians to share with us their cloaking technology. They have shown interest in a trade of some kind. They're requesting that in exchange for their active camo technology, we trade them our Anti-Vehicle Model 6 Grindell/Galilean Nonlinear Rifle or the "Spartan Laser". Are there any objections to this trade?"

Strauss raised a hand. "Would this not be covered by our joint research initiatives?"

"I'm afraid not." General Hogan mutter conspiratorially. "The joint research and development initiatives only covers the technologies discovered and created -by- said initiative. It doesn't apply to any existing technology that isn't open source or public domain. So while we can not just demand any of their technology be shared for free with us, neither are we expected to share our own."

"I see. That is a reasonable request. Have a trade agreement drafted stating that any improved version of active camo, or the Spartan Laser, must be shared if it sees general deployment on the battlefield. Any objections?"

There were none.

Hogan nodded. "I'll send the word to Special Materials. Now. Weaponry."

The image on the screen changed to show a single MA5 pattern rifle, next to a turian Phaeston rifle.

"I'll be blunt. The ability of Mass Accelerators to last indefinitely in the field without a logistical footprint makes them a superior weapon for general use. You merely need an Omni-tool with the ability to recycle raw material into Omni-gel and then convert this into replacement parts for your rifle, or into feedstock. We'll begin designing our versions as soon as we can, to alleviate our supply lines going forward. We believe we can reduce ammunition shipments by up to ninety percent if we go through with a full conversion."

Hogan straightened his collar. It no longer fit as snugly around his neck like before the General started losing weight. "Eezonic Materials started a design competition for the new rifle, and we've received a few interesting concepts. But we have no ETA on when this will be complete. In the meantime, the Turian Hierarchy will continue providing us with their surplus Phaeston rifles. Although their continuing mobilization is putting pressure on supply. Other citadel conglomerates, charities, and even the Batarians are offering to supply us with Mass Accelerator rifles. Not Phaestons. But they'll be good enough for garrison duties."

"This brings me to the next subject. Integrating our new imports. Our logistics system is being swamped in surplus weapons and armor. Thankfully each rifle is logistics neutral. We're categorizing each weapon we receive in New Ghent and distributing them as appropriate. Either for frontline deployments, garrison duty or handed out to civilian militias. But as we move towards producing UNSC hardsuits and mass accelerators, I feel it's important we decide beforehand how to deal with the surplus we'll create. I propose we accept all contributions until we've equipped our armed forces with a homegrown version of Mass Accelerators and Hardsuits. At which point, anything we've received that does not match our standards will be relegated to mothballing or recycling."

There were murmurs of assent, then a series of nods from all assembled. "Excellent. On to heavy weaponry."

"We're negotiating with the Hierarchy for their Singularity Projectors, and they've agreed to trade Spartan Lasers for Singularity Projectors. As the Element Zero technology involved in these weapons is complicated, it will be a weapon reserved for ODST's and Spartans. The Coalition Joint Research Institute is making excellent progress on teaching our scientists and engineers the abilities of Eezo, and we should be able to create Singularity Projectors within five years."

Parangosky quickly scribbled something down. Hood had always found it peculiar she kept a notepad on her at all times. Then again, he surmised it was safer for her to keep small notes in a way that couldn't be hacked remotely. He kept all ONI politics at an arm's length. He just nodded at General Hogan

General Hogan beamed as he began the next part. "Now. I have excellent news about UNSC armored forces. I'll start with our armored vehicles."

General Hogan took a step back from the projector and swiped his Omni-tool to move to an image of a UNSC Grizzly. "The Grizzly was intended to replace the Scorpion as our standard MBT, but the loss of vital manufacturing hubs and stockpiles of rare earth elements has left our production of these materials anemic, to say the least. I am glad to say this is no longer the case. Thanks to Volus mining conglomerates opening their markets to us, we'll finally be able to produce enough Grizzly tanks to replenish our armored regiments to pre-war levels. In essence. We are looking at the revitalization of our tank forces into once again being able to seriously contest Covenant advances."

Major General Nicolas Strauss spoke up. "And about time. When this war started, just a handful of Grizzly tanks could completely disrupt a Covenant landing. It will be great for morale when these beauties return to duty."

General Hogan smiled contentedly. "Onto other vehicles. Ushuaia Armory has recently informed Eezonic Materials Group that they've found a partner in Armax Arsenal to produce components for the AC-220 gunship. Promising they'll be able to restart production to pre-war levels if we authorize their deal. They intend to collaborate on an eezo enhanced version of the Vulture for both our nations. In light of the complete absence of Vultures in 90% of Marine Corps deployments, I am inclined to agree. Any objections?"

Parangosky took another note, then stood up straight. "It would seem to me, that our corporate sector is ready and eager for any kind of cooperation with the Citadel's substantial corporate sectors. Having to greenlight any trade or exchange will just see us drown in red tape. I have a proposal for a set of guidelines for these kinds of deals, I will explain at the end of the meeting. But for now, I see no reason to refuse this cooperation."

Danford Whitcomb spoke up for the first time in the meeting. "I must agree. Being able to launch precision gunships from orbit will open up many tactical options. And also on what Parangosky has said. Basic rules on cooperation and outsourcing between Human and Alien corporations should be hammered out quickly. But back on schedule."

Hogan turned off his Omni-tool, and the screen went back to a flat blue display. "Then I believe it's time for Admiral Danford to talk about naval matters on the front, after which Hood can explain our planned naval buildup."

Vice Admiral Whitcomb got up from his chair and walked up to the large screen, he activated his Omni-tool and took over control, navigate to the presentation he'd prepared.

Danford spoke in a plain, but authoritative voice. "First off. With the Citadel pushing back against the Covenant for the first time in this godforsaken war, we will finally have the breathing room needed to restore our fleets. For this purpose. The Citadel is establishing a new defensive doctrine, proposed by Admiral Cole to the Coalition High Command."

Hood nodded. He still needed to get used to the existence of a military body, not under direct Security Council command, which was in charge of thousands of ships, and millions upon millions of troops spread throughout UNSC space. However, Cole's quick thinking had given the UNSC an equal position in the Coalition High Command, and the ability to veto fleet maneuvers that would endanger the human core worlds. So far, however, cooperation had been without major disagreements.

Victory did that. Hood noted smugly.

Danford pressed a few buttons on his Omni-tool and after some fumbling, the holographic emitter at the center of the room lit up to show a full map of the front. "Let me begin with a summary of our strategic position as of today's messages."

The holographic map changed to show a large collection of green stars, representing UNSC worlds, surrounded by an ocean of purple, with a large bulge heading directly into the core of the UNSC worlds, narrowing the further it punched into UNSC space. "The invasion corridor. Now, observe the Citadel disposition." The border regions between UNSC and Covenant space changed to a yellow, roughly five light-years wide across its duration. It looked like a protective layer across UNSC space, which it was, from a certain point of view. "The Citadel has taken up our former border positions and are probing for weaknesses in the Covenant lines. Taking all undefended systems, while massing a fleet of thousands of ships to take out Covenant strongpoints. Inspired by this, the Coalition High Command has reorganized our combined forces in a triple-layered disposition."

Whitcomb changed the image to a five by five square, each representing a sector of the front.

Yellow circles appeared in the top five squares. "Firstly. The forward line consists of Salarian Union, and Turian Hierarchy fast attack ships, around a core of cruisers. These garrisons serve to delay small scale covenant incursions and to warn us of large offensives. While largely defensive, these fleets have standing orders to probe the systems around them and take undefended ones. Meaning our frontline is simultaneously defensive, and capable of offensives at short notice. We call these FEF's. Forward Expansion Forces. As they expand, they will tow our Slipspace Listening Posts further forward, or guard our construction ships as they expand the network. Thanks to Comm Buoys, we are capable of complete 24/7 coverage of the entire front. Nothing slips past. Pardon the pun. So far, this system has allowed us to detect forty Covenant fleets trying to break past our lines, most of whom turned engines and left when faced with the next part of the line. In the event an FEF is faced with overwhelming force, they are to break off and hide in a gas giant's atmosphere, then move to engage Covenant supply convoys."

Hood nodded in approval. The Citadel's ships while individually weaker, were incredibly numerous, making it possible to cover almost the entire front. He carefully observed the next part.

Whitcomb pressed another button, and the third row of squared had a larger yellow dot appear in the first, third, and fifth square."Next up is the QRF's. The Quick Reaction Forces consist of up to five hundred Citadel ships, mostly the Asari Republic and Turian Hierarchy, strategically positioned to blunt smaller Covenant fleets that punch through the FEF's. " A purple arrow appeared on top of the grid and punched through the second fleet on the first row of squares. It moved two rows down and was immediately blocked by the first and second QRF fleets, with the two FEF's it had punched through, moving to attack its rear. "Depending on the size of the fleet, other nearby QRF's will move to reinforce the defense, or aid the FEF's in cutting off the Covenant retreat."

"Finally." Whitcomb waved his hand, and a green dot in the bottom middle square popped up. "The REA's, or Rear Echelon Anvils are UNSC fleets made up of all the forces that would normally be used to guard the strategic worlds of these sectors, concentrated into a single heavy battlefleet. Their role is to be the rear line of defense and the anvil atop which we'll break the heaviest Covenant offensives. They are slower, and will, therefore, take up position in the system most likely for the Covenant to target."

A new animation played. This time the Covenant fleet went right through the FEF's, was held back by the QRF's for a few seconds, then headed directly for the world guarded by the REA. "The REA will fight from a position of strength, and seek to defeat the Covenant with overwhelming force. It will fight a delaying action at first, however, to let the QRF's move to engage the Covenant from behind."

The animation now zoomed in, showing a representation of a Covenant fleet attacking a similarly sized UNSC fleet, with the UNSC slowly being pushed back. Only for the markers resembling Citadel ships to emerge in their rear and flanks. "Surrounded, the Covenant will be forced to either scatter and diminish their collective firepower. Or even better, they will be forced to bunch up when pressed from all sides. An excellent target for massed nuclear ordinance."

With a wave of his hand, the demonstration stopped, and Whitcomb put his hands in his lower back, continuing. "This defensive doctrine is not set in stone, and local commanders are at liberty to take what options they see will lead to victory. However, we believe that this system should be able to stop any small scale incursions."

Hood spoke up. "And if the REA cannot defeat the Covenant? I assume there is another strategic reserve at Reach?"

Danford responded immediately. "There will be. The Salarian Union will keep the majority of its most advanced fleets as a Strategic Reserve, alongside the collective Dreadnought fleets of the Citadel, and several smaller Turian and Asari fleets. As well as the Eridanus and Sol defense fleets. If those aren't enough, the war is lost."

Silence descended upon the Security Council. Hood thought over the increased reports from the front, the millions of soldiers the Citadel threw into the grinder so the UNSC could recover and regroup. At times, it was enough to push even him to the brink. The war was bigger than just over five months ago. Mostly on the side of the UNSC and its newfound allies. In truth, the greatest concern he had was if the Covenant could even escalate the war. The people of the UEG thought the dark times had passed, but he knew better. He'd seen the information discovered at Zhiost. The sheer scale of Covenant industry.

"Admiral Hood," Danford stated. "If you could explain the naval buildup."

Hood nodded and stood up, walking towards the holoprojector, activating his Omni-tool, and changing the image to the rosters of the UNSC's active fleets. The green lists were those of active fleets, of which there were only three. The fleet guarding Earth, the one guarding Reach, and the one under command of Admiral Cole. The other fleets were either yellow, with red swipes through those ships that had yet to be replaced, or complete red, for the "ghost fleets" fleets wiped out completely by the Covenant.

Over half the lists were red. Hood had marked most of those as destroyed himself. But he felt a fire burn in his chest. Those lists weren't going to remain red for long.

"I'll be brief. Our fleets are in tatters and we are no longer capable of waging counter-offensives against the Covenant. At the advice of Cole, and the Coalition High Command, I have pulled every fleet except Cole's Battlegroup X-ray out of frontline duty, and ordered them to regroup. The Citadel has agreed to take over most of the front to buy us the time needed to regroup. And by god, we're going to make the most of every second. To do this, we will begin the largest naval buildup in UNSC history, one which we can only finance with the economic assistance of the Citadel races. I have been working with the diplomatic service on New Ghent and sent out feelers on what the Citadel races would want in exchange for this.

The Citadel Council has offered to finance our fleet expansion, but in exchange, we got a list of demands

"

"What do they want?" Parangosky asked.

"They want a trade deal. One that's supposed to stop all this underhanded negotiating between UEG and Citadel corporations, as well inter-government squabbles."

Hood began reading the terms out loud, not missing a beat as he did so.

"1: The UNSC will allow Citadel corporations to negotiate with UEG corporations for the trade and export of FTL capable technologies, either in intellectual or material form.

2: The UNSC willf allow Citadel governments to negotiate with UEG corporations for trade and export of industrial processes and/or materials produced by UEG industrial processes.

3: The Citadel will allow the UNSC to prospect for mineral wealth inside Citadel territory, so long this does not go in the face of Citadel Law, as well as negotiate with private mineral contractors in Citadel space.

4: The Citadel will allow UEG corporations to export medical technologies into Citadel space, provided these technologies do not break laws on illegal biotech. In exchange, the UNSC will allow Citadel corporations to engage in trade and negotiations with UEG biotech firms.

5: The Citadel and UEG will agree on any tax levied on trade between the two nations, with no tax upon war materials, but a fifteen percent tax on non-essentials being the baseline upon signing of this contract. Both sides reserve the right to tax any sort of licensing fees or exchange of intellectual property.

6: The Citadel and the UEG will expand the orbital trading stations of New Ghent to facilitate the large scale import of materials by the UNSC, and the export of UEG exotic goods for Citadel markets.

7: The UEG and Citadel will set up a tax collection and customs agency responsible for all trade heading through Telvanis and New Ghent.

8: To keep oversight over all private sector trade, the UNSC and UEG agree to set up an isolated orbital habitat, capable of slipspace or FTL travel, on which the representatives on both sides can negotiate and arrange deals. Any deal not made here will be seen as null and void.

9: The Citadel will acknowledge the sovereign right of the UNSC to control the movement of people, goods, and information from Citadel Space into UNSC space. Goods can be halted for up to a week without warning, but after a week, an explanation has to be provided to Citadel customs.

10: Both sides agree to ban the fusion of any corporations of both parties, until further notice."

There was silence, then Parangosky spoke up, her passive demeanor cracked and replaced with sheer stupendous surprise. "What the hell are they offering in exchange for that?"

"Enough credits to finance the construction of ten Punic-class supercarriers, twenty Valiant-class heavy cruisers, a hundred Marathon-class heavy cruisers, as well as nearly two hundred and fifty destroyers and frigates. This includes constructing the yard space, enough transport ships to move this cargo from New Ghent to our shipyards, and expanding the factories and foundries needed to produce these ships. Which we can use after this fleet has been constructed to double our current rate of ship production."

Absolute silence descended upon the security council.

"So. A super capital fleet, but in exchange, we have to essentially open full intellectual trade" Danford mused. "I notice that we have the right to control all goods, information, and people who -leave- UNSC space, as well as strictly regulated customs control. That is good. But less control over what enters."

Parangosky interjected. "The damn Citadel Council got there before I did. I wanted to propose nailing out a trade agreement, but evidently, they beat us to it. The terms though… they look heavily oriented towards enabling us to import goods from them, with an expectation that our chief export will be exotic technologies, cultural items, and other such frivolities. "

President Charet spoke up. She'd been silent the entire discussion. As the "president" of what remained of the civilian bureaucracy, this was in her field of expertise. "If I could speak for a moment. I noticed that all the legislation seems to be devoted to allowing ideas and knowledge to be traded to Citadel Space while allowing for the large scale importation of both war materials, and consumer goods by UEG corporations. In essence, this is the cycle of our trade. Licenses, cultural items, and exotic goods and services would flow into the Citadel, which their corporations would, in turn, transform into taxable revenue for their governments. In return, we would use the credits we make exporting our goods, to import war materials and necessities, but also luxury goods. Both sides will profit in the end, but they will do so more."

Parangosky finished. "So, in essence, this will turn us into an extremely attractive market for Citadel corporations, and at the same time allow both the Citadel Government and us to tax galactic-level corporations. I noticed that whether we tax imports or exports is not defined yet. They want us to propose before we iron this deal out. I'll have it ran by my analysts, and we'll negotiate this deal further." She went silent then asked Hood. "How many ships could we construct without this deal? Surely we don't need to indebt ourselves to the Citadel to afford a fleet."

"One Punic, perhaps three or four Valiants, and maybe enough Marathons to replenish our forces. But we'd be stretching our titanium supplies thin."

Hood began speaking with all the conviction he could muster. "The matter of fact is this. We -are- pushing back against the Covenant. But we will need to re-establish our capabilities for large scale continued interstellar war." Hood pointed at the representation of a punic carrier with his Omni-tooled hand. "Give me frigates and destroyers, and I can defend human space. But if we are to cast the Covenant out of the Outer Colonies and chase them to whatever pit they crawled out of, we will need cruisers and carriers. We will need an Army and Marine corps with the best equipment and training we can provide, not the scraps we have left after a decade of losing."

Danford slammed his fist on the table. "We've made decisions in this chamber that have led to the deaths of billions, either intentionally or not. Are we going to raise qualms about -debt-? I made peace with the doom of humanity for years when I took this position, and now we have -hope-! This isn't a slaughter, this is a war. And by every means at my disposal, I will fight the Covenant until my dying breath. So to hell with being concerned about a future we didn't even know we had. I agree with this. Full trade. Full access to the galactic industry. I want every last ingot of titanium in this galaxy to flow into our war effort. If that's what it takes to get to the Covenant homeworld and raze it from orbit, so be it!"

There was silence in the room, then Parangosky nodded. And that was all Hood needed to know.

1600 hours, August 28th, 2542 (UNSC military calendar)
Observation deck, Anchor Nine, Reach Orbit.

Admiral Hood took a sip from his glass of cognac as he watched the first construction ship unload its cargo of Titanium A. He was alone on the deck, observing the start of what would likely be the highpoint of his career. The creation of the largest fleet in human history.

The cognac was good. A gift from a friend before the war. A friend whose name he had trouble remembering. He'd lost many good friends, to time, or the Covenant. The names all blended in his head. He just watched in silence, completing the construction in his mind's eye. One day, he promised himself, those ships would be invading the Covenant.