1200 hours, May 9th, 2542
Spires of Plenty, High Charity
Vado 'Mavamee, alone with his thoughts, looked out across the docks at the ship that was being constructed for his assignment.
His crew was as good as he could get on the incredibly small budget he and the Ministry were working with. Less than thirty souls would be aboard the storm cutter, even if he counted the Rangers and support personnel. And he'd take them right into the heart of an unknown empire. Still, it was the Minister's will that they investigate this "Citadel", and it was to the benefit of the Covenant; no one in the crew refused.
Deep in contemplation, Vado passed the dockworkers making final pre-launch preparations, entered the airlock and, once it cycled, headed for the engineering. There he found the Minister of Discovery, his gravity chair bobbing up and down as the San'Shyuum made some adjustments inside a large spherical device situated in the center of the engine room, just next to the slipspace borer. Once he was done, the San'Shyuum closed the access panel in the side of the orb; as the device activated and turned white, an ominous hum could be heard.
"Shipmaster, the hard light disguise matrix is enabled. The San'Shyuum I'd sent don't know a plasma pistol from a shipborne plasma lance, so I had to install it myself!" The Minister scoffed, giving the San'Shyuum that Vado now saw skulking around on the other side of the room. "I ought to petition for them to be placed on the Roll of Celibates, lest they pass on their idiocy!" The lesser San'Shyuum flinched at the prospect.
"Minister, I did not know you were an artisan-armorer." Vado admitted.
"I was, once. Before I became Minister I was the Keeper of the Vault in the Ministry, and, therefore, the custodian of our many discoveries. This disguise matrix is the result of a project I had worked on before my ascension to the rank of Minister. It's been gathering dust in our vaults ever since."
"You mean... It is unsanctioned? Such a thing is profane!" Vado said, cursing under his breath. Then he remembered who he was talking to, and hastily added, "Forgive me, your grace. I spoke out of turn."
"Shipmaster, if I had this device properly sanctified and prepared for full deployment, it would take the bureaucracy a decade, if not a generation, just to agree on the color of the wiring. Let alone my… unorthodox use of hard light technology. It would also be passed around the entire Covenant, and I would have never been able to keep sole ownership of it, or, perhaps, the right to work with the technology. It is an… unspoken agreement among the San'Shyuum to not interfere with each other in these matters."
Vado nodded in silent agreement; hard light was one of the most sacred technologies of the gods. It was something only the greatest artisans of the Covenant could work with, and only fewer actually did.
"Minister. I did not know the Prophets had this much… infighting."
"Mmhm?" The Prophet looked at the shipmaster intently "Ah. It must seem out of place for you, Shipmaster. The Sangheili have always had a far more… direct approach to politics. However, intrigue has always been the way of the San'Shyuum. It weeds out those of lesser ability. Walk with me." "
Vado followed the Prophet as he floated out of the engine room and towards the cargo bay. They passed the Ultra who'd captured the interlopers' "omni-tool" back in the human space. The Ultra nodded and saluted both of them. Vado still had no clue as to who the Ultra truly was, and would have to try and pry the information from him, at a later date.
"Your crew will be equipped with a standard long-range exploration loadout," the Minister continued as they entered the cargo bay, "as well as an automated hydroponic garden and enough provisions to extend your deployment to up to a year without resupply. "
"And the fuel?" the shipmaster asked.
"You'll be able to harvest your fuel from gas giants, and process it for use. But yes, it will be the limiting factor. Do not travel at maximum speeds unless you want to end up stranded without fuel."
Vado nodded. The war against the humans had shown that the greatest weakness of the Covenant navy lay in the sheer amount of fuel their ships consumed, as well as the carrier gas for their plasma weapons. Being able to travel hundreds of light years a day meant little if you were out of plasma after one battle. It had been the greatest limiting factor of the Covenant throughout the entire war, although plans were being developed to construct a massive refinery on the human world of Pegasi Delta to alleviate this.
"I see. Forgive me for intruding, Minister, but I noticed there were sleeper capsules installed. I take it we're expected to sleep through the first leg of the journey?"
"You'll rotate crew in and out to minimize life support usage while you cross the void between the galactic arms, there are no true maps of this expanse of space, so your speed will be greatly reduced." the Prophet explained.
"Understood, your grace, but I have concerns. I have fought many campaigns against the humans, and I've been thinking about the distance we will likely have to cover. A campaign against the Citadel would be extremely difficult. It might be best for the ministry if it… refrained from getting too involved." He muttered the last part. He didn't like to say it, but he didn't want to risk the standing of his bloodline until the Ministry of Discovery was restored to its old glory.
The Prophet stopped his gravity chair and turned around. "That is very good to know. How long would it take before we could dispatch an invasion force to the other galactic arm? Assuming your findings provide the capital needed to finance such a thing, or we sell it to another ministry."
Vado stopped, grinding his mandibles as he thought it over. "The main issue we have is the need of our Slipspace Borer's to properly chart slipspace routes before we can use them. We have no reference points or destination in mind, and we'll need to travel through areas no Covenant ship has been to before. Finding the optimal slipspace routes will take time. And that would be just explorers. A proper fleet would also require robust supply lines as well as local logistical support in the form of agricultural ships, fuel harvesters, factory ships, bulk freighters... and then we'd have the troop transports. We'd need whole tithe fleets just to keep the army clothed, fed and combat ready."
"We would need supply lines even with the support ships?" the Minister asked, evidently not versed in the field of naval logistics.
"Yes, your grace. Logistical support ships allow us to last longer before resupply is needed, but they are not going to fully replace a proper supply depot unless you bring a support fleet that's too big to be guarded safely. Anything more than a quick raid would see the fleet quickly run out of fuel and carrier gas. We'd need constant resupply runs to the Covenant core territories, supplemented by increased tithes from the tributary worlds of the northern fringe, and that would necessitate larger garrisons. A supply line hundreds of light years long isn't feasible when our forces in human space already run into delays operating a hundred light years away. A campaign this far coreward would require years of preparations. We'd need multiple Hierophant-class support stations to support the fleets as they move, garrisons to cover these stations and systems within twenty light years from them, and substantial resource gathering operations at each waystation."
"You are quite knowledgeable in the art of logistics, Shipmaster. Were you planning to become a true fleetmaster soon?" The Minister asked tonelessly, as if stating a fact, although the remark had a barb to it.
"My father fell in battle when the humans raided Zhoist. I've taken it upon myself to study that battle and the events that led to it. The Covenant fleet is the mightiest armada in the known galaxy, but it is one built for operating within the borders of our space or close to them and supporting our continued growth in all directions."
'Then, we can only take the appearance of this "Citadel Council" as a blessing, Shipmaster," the San'Shyuum grinned. "A real war is exactly what is needed to shake the ministries out of their complacency, to wake the Covenant and force it to adapt instead of merely sending in the anti-piracy fleets when our colonists or explorers stumble upon a human world. Finally allow the usage of improved computer intelligences for astrogation."
Vado nodded in agreement as he stepped into the hangar bay and looked around, noting the stasis capsules that were awaiting their new occupants.
"I know the Sangheili councillors have been chafing at the monopoly the Ministry of Resolution has on military operations beyond the frontier. There is a war against the enemies of the faith waiting outside our borders, but in most cases only this ministry is allowed to send its fleets beyond. It's infuriating," admitted the Sangheili.
"Quite so," the Minister of Discovery agreed, before lowering his voice and adding in a conspiratorial tone, "Just sending explorers into the former human territories is a bureaucratic nightmare. Personally, I think the Ministry of Resolution is trying to hide how difficult the humans are actually to remove and is thus unwilling to ask for assistance for risk of losing face."
Vado nodded along, deciding not to comment in the face of his superior on the latter's blatant disregard for a ministry run by the Prophet of Truth himself.
"What will the ship be called, Minister?" he asked, changing the topic.
"Herald of Abundance."