Haunted Memories
Prologue
The Office of Naval Intelligence; or simply ONI. It is comprised of three sections; Section III and NavSpecWar is responsible for all covert and black operations, intelligence gathering, special weapons research and development, mission planning and consultation. Section II is mainly a propaganda machine and also uses data manipulation to keep morale and hopes high. However, nothing is known about Section I……
2525: The Battle of Harvest
Contact with the outer colony of Harvest was lost on the 20th of April and a small vessel was sent to investigate, and contact with the ship was lost. The UNSC sent a task force to investigate lead by Captain Preston Cole. Cole's war fleet engaged the alien warship responsible for the decimation of the colony, scoring a victory (though the battle cost Cole two-thirds of his battle group). Only a last minute tactical inspiration turned the tide of battle.
After returning to Earth, Cole—promoted to Admiral—learned that a number of outlying colonies had been destroyed, leaving behind no survivors. Cole began to rearrange his fleet in an attempt to intercept the invaders. Ground and ship-to-ship battles began in earnest, raging throughout the Outer Colonies. During one ground engagement, human forces captured one of the aliens. Before he succumbed to his wounds, interrogators learned that the aliens referred to themselves as "the Covenant."
2524, 19th October ONI HQ, Reach
Colonel James Ackerson was behind his desk, reading an intriguing report of a gigantic unknown object floating in space. It was approximately 20 days from Reach and had a unique ring like shape about 10,000km in diameter and 22.3km thick. It appeared to be artificial and had a sustainable atmosphere similar to earth. On his screen was a request for funds and materials to explore and examine the ring, nicknamed, Halo. The estimated funds needed was $10 billion but Ackerson knew that it would probably be about $50 billion. The next meeting was tomorrow at 2:00 and he knew that this must be brought to the attention of his colleagues. Saving the file, he sent it to his AI, Araqiel to process.
"Araqiel, how are my toys coming along?" Ackerson asked. The purple holographic being appeared and answered curtly, "Your NavSpecWep team has increased their success rating by 4.2 bringing the average success rate to 74.6. However, 10 of our funding for the armor has been transferred to the SPARTAN-II project."
"Damn Hasley, always wrecking my plans, and to do what? Create a group of freaks that are useless!" Ackerson fumed before he slammed his fist on the table.
2524, 23rd November Headquarters, Halo
Sergeant Cheffington hated his platoon's mission. They had been ordered to escort a group of ONI intelligence officers and scientists to some place on the ring. Of course, he and his platoon had no idea of what was there, thanks to the ONI spooks and only were given the order, 'be alert'. They would move out in an hour time, with a convoy of modified transport Warthogs and the marines in the military standard Warthog. The place they were headed was supposedly 34.6 kilometres from HQ. The reason they weren't using the Pelican drop ships was that they were still ferrying the various equipment needed for whatever black operation ONI was doing. The convoy moved out with Cheffington's Warthog taking point and the other armed Warthogs in a spearhead formation.
They had arrived some time later at a huge structure seemingly made out of marble or some metal alloy. Cheffington organized a perimeter around the site as the ONI personnel scurried around excitedly. Harry, Cheffington's second-in-command joked quietly at the absurdity of the situation.
"I mean, here we are on some toilet seat shaped thing ferrying around scientists and intelligence officers. We could be blowing up some space pirate's but, but here we are, on some deserted piece of rock."
"You know how ONI spooks are like. They're everywhere! You put one toe over the line and you'll be interrogated and court marshaled before you can say your name. If you ask me, ONI creeps me out," Cheffington answered.
"How long do you think they're going to take looking at that building?" Harry asked, motioning towards the massive building.
"A couple of hours, not too long though."
However, over six hours later, the scientists had not returned and Cheffington was getting worried. Something is his gut was telling him that something was wrong.
"Jefferson and Haverson, check out the building. They're late and I'm getting hungry. Beverly, you radio HQ to inform them of our situation. The rest of us, keep alert for any danger," he ordered and his platoon set to work.
Privates, Jefferson and Haverson had completed Basic Training, Marksmanship Training, Advanced Marksmanship Training, Close Combat Training and Advanced Close Combat Training. Jefferson had been awarded the Highly Distinguished Marksmanship award and Haverson the Highly Distinguished Close Combat award. The two had taken part in various missions during the establishment of the Outer Colonies dealing with small revolts. Now, they cautiously moved down the corridors which were barely lit by small fluorescent lights. Luckily, the pair had been equipped with the modified MA5BF which had a small flashlight attached to the bottom. They whipped around a corner to find the group of scientists and intelligence officers crowded around an object.
"What's this?" Jefferson asked before he saw some sort of hologram switch. However, the officers and scientists were too busy to notice him. Haverson watched intently at the switch before an intelligence officer decided to press it.
"Stop!" Jefferson yelled, "we have no idea what it does!"
"Hmph. You marines know nothing. You're just a group of school drop outs," the officer snidely remarked before he pressed the switch. A sudden rumbling rocked the earth before a straight beam of blue energy shot up into the sky and into space sending a beacon that could be seen throughout the whole galaxy. Every energy sensor would detect it and a certain group of races would pick it up. The Covenant War had begun...
I know its short but stay with me. This is the sample of a post on a forum that led to this story. So, I did not have the idea for this story so congratulations to the person who was able to work this out.
The last date given on the Fall of Reach just as the POA was leaving Reach was August 30. Then the ship arrived at Halo on September 19. That's only about 20 days from the heart of the Human Empire! To use another date reference, it took John and the other Spartans from November 2 until November 27 to get to Chi Cheti 4. That is 25 days! So, assuming that the Human borders are the same all the way around, Halo was INSIDE the Human borders, and I don't know about you guys, but I think it would be pretty hard to overlook such a significant installation. Now, perhaps the human border is shorter at parts than others and maybe the Spartans waited a few days before leaving for Chi Cheti 4, but still that would still place Halo VERY close to the Human border close enough to be explored by a ship or at the very least seen with a telescope. It just doesn't make sense.
That leads me to my other theory. Maybe ONI did know about Halo but kept it a secret from the public. Maybe they knew that aliens existed long before 2525. However I've exhausted my theorying for the day, and I cannot speculate as to why they would know about it and not investigate it.