My goodness. It's been two months since I updated. I'm so sorry. Here's what happened. For most of May, I was busy studying for some major exams and then in June, I was doing the exams for most of June. And then, I continued to write, and then I started playing Halo 5 again. I'd forgotten why I loved Halo. Watched E3 too. Halo Wars 2 looks good. But now I remember. Good times. But now, I'm back in business.
17: Court Martial
/ LOG:
/THEYEN (GALACTIC ALLIANCE COUNCIL WORLD)/
GALACTIC ALLIANCE FORCES HAVE DISCOVERED HALO INSTALLATION 06. MONITOR DESTROYED FOLLOWING ENGAGEMENT. MINOR CASUALTIES TO GALACTIC ALLIANCE FORCES (1 CCS CLASS BATTLECRUISER: "HERETICAL BEGINNINGS" AND 1 SDV CLASS CORVETTE: "LIGHT OF URS" AND 1 PARIS CLASS HEAVY FRIGATE: "UNSC UNBRIDLED RAGE" DESTROYED, 1 [REDACTED] CLASS HEAVY FRIGATE: "UNSC SPEARHEAD OF DAWN" HEAVILY DAMAGED. OTHER SHIPS RECEIVED MINOR DAMAGE)
INSTALLATION 06 IS NOW UNDER THE CONTROL OF THE GALACTIC ALLIANCE (FLEET SIZE: 12). LARGE PORTIONS OF FLOOD INFECTION PRESENT ACROSS THE SURFACE OF THE HALO. FLEET IS BOMBARDING HEAVILY INFECTED AREAS. FLOOD APPEARS TO BE AT PRIMITIVE STATE; NO GRAVEMIND OR EARLY GRAVEMIND FORMS HAVE BEEN FOUND (ALTHOUGH SEVERAL MISSION REPORTS DIRECTLY MENTION A GRAVEMIND)
TWO OPTIONS FACE THIS COUNCIL. THERE ARE NOW LARGE QUANTITIES OF FORERUNNER WEAPONS AND SHIP PARTS ARE NOW IN ORBIT IN THE IMMEDIATE AREA OF THE HALO. THEIR RECOVERY MAY GREATLY ACCELERATE GALACTIC ALLIANCE SCIENTIFIC PROGRESS.
OPTIONS ARE TO BE DELIBERATED AMONGST THIS COUNCIL.
1. DESTROY THE HALO USING A (Nova) CLASS NUCLEAR WEAPON TO DESTABILISE THE HALO'S ROTATION. THIS WILL (100 Sims predicted a 86% destruction rate of the Forerunner technology in orbit)
DESTROY A LARGE AMOUNT OF THE FORERUNNER TECHNOLOGY.
2. BOMBARD THE HALO TO DESTROY THE FLOOD INFECTION. THERE ARE 50 (Approximately) GLASSING CAPABLE SHIPS CURRENTLY AVAILABLE FOR TRANSFER TO THE HALO. BOMBARDMENT TIME ESTIMATED AT 5-120 DAYS (Based per ship number).
ADDITIONAL NOTES:
THIS REPORT WAS TRANSLATED IN GALACTIC ALLIANCE MEMBER LANGUAGES BY THE AIS STERBUM AND SEERSHA.
THIS REPORT WAS COMPILED BY THE UNSC AI FTN-1528 (FINTAN) ON THE ORDER OF ADMRL. SIR TERRENCE HOOD AND ADMRL MARGARET PARANGOSKY FOR PRESENTATION TO THE GALACTIC ALLIANCE COUNCIL.
/END/
I+-+-+I
Earth orbit, On board "Grace" Station, 1st of March, 2553.
The Infinity personally took the Spearhead to the UNSCs last largest "Cradle" repair station. The Spearhead had been in refit for several days at this point, so her crew had been housed in the station's temporary quarters.
Thel held his crystal in hand. This... Thing had effect him in such a way that intrigued the monitor to the point in which he was willing to leave the Sangheili alive to examine him.
The grey crystal was cold and darkened. Thel had assumed that it had been a Forerunner energy source, but the monitor's fascinating reaction had made him feel that it was not Foreunner. Something greater. He didn't know what to think of that.
Could he control this power? He wasn't sure. It seemed to respond to his thoughts and his emotions, but that time when the Spearhead had been in that black space, what he wanted was exactly what the crystal to do.
He decided that it needed to be kept safe. Sure, it had some side effects such as faster slipspace travel, but for what had happened as a result of their journey to Installation 06, he wanted to keep it within his grasp, but not use it to his advantage.
He was pulled out of his thoughts by a knocking on his door.
"Hello? Mr. Vadam?"
Human then. Thel found the human Mr and Mrs acronym strange.
"Yes?" He asked.
"Admiral Walker has requested you and your first mate's presence on deck A6." Came the reply.
"Very well. I will meet him there."
"Um, well, okay, I'll tell him that..."
He heard footsteps receding. He put the crystal into a pouch on the right thigh of his uniform. He turned and stood up. He took a last look across the room before turning towards the door.
He opened the door and stepped out into the hallway. The corridor was dimly lit by a few lights along the corridor. He turned and knocked on John's door.
"Yes?" He heard the human say.
"Admiral Walker has requested our presence on deck A6." Thel muttered.
"Very well."
The door slid open revealing the Spartan, but within naval blues. It was almost funny to the Sangheili to see John without his armor.
The two headed back up the corridor to the lift. Thel stepped in and pressed the button for deck A6. John followed him in.
The doors closed and the lift hummed as it ascended. The trip pasted less than a minute before stopping and opening the door. John and Thel both stepped out into the huge Atrium of the station. Thel quickly spotted Walker staring out the main window into space, his hands clasped behind his back.
The window revealed the two front pads of the station. The pads were occupied by one ship each; A small covenant cruiser and half of a destroyer, obviously being scrapped for parts.
Thel and John stepped up behind the admiral. He took no notice of them, continuing to watch the repairs continue.
"Admiral, s-" John began, but Walker raised a hand to stop him.
"I always found these stations fascinating. They're the largest UNSC ships ever built, you know?" The Admiral spoke. "Thirteen point two kilometers stem to stern. And even slipspace capable. I remember back when I was merely an ONI captain back in the 2530s watching ships being repaired over Reach."
He turned towards the two.
"Of course, that's unimportant now. Do you know why you've been called up here?"
John spoke first, as Thel was relatively unfamiliar with the human protocols regarding missions.
"We've submitted our reports, you debriefed us three days ago, so unless there was a discrepancy in the reports, I can't think of any reason, sir." John replied in a steady voice.
Walker's mouth twitched slightly, but his face remained impassive.
"Gentlemen, The GA officially came into being during December of last year. Section 4 came into existence on the same day, making us 4 months old now. We're still low on senior officers and such. You two are our fourth and fifth highest ranking members at the moment." He told them.
Thel and John merely nodded, not quite sure what the meaning of this talk was going to end up being.
"I would have been at Halo zero six if I could, but something came up on the nineteenth last month, and I've been stuck dealing with that. Luckily enough, a Halo was important enough that Margaret and Terrence would be able to go there and the GA wouldn't end up asking me awkward questions."
Walker chuckled slightly, readjusted his navy cap, and resumed his talk.
"Anyway, disregarding the Halo, I've been stuck dealing with a mess in the Agency for the last two weeks. Two of our agents just completely blew a several years worth of cover in an insurrectionist cell, devised even before Section 4 came into existence. The circumstances regarding this are very questionable." Walker sighed. "They're in section 4, therefore, It's my responsibility to deal with. We're going to Court-Martial them. You two will be sitting the prosecution with me and General Shalin and Vice Admiral Tudra."
"Very well, sir." John replied.
Thel merely nodded. The admiral, however seemed satisfied with their responses, and took a piece of paper out of a front pouch of his suit.
"When you get back to your cabins, ask an AI to get you the records for the event mentioned on the paper. The Court Martial will take place tomorrow." He told them.
Thel took the small sheet of paper. Walker nodded and turned back to the main window, watching the ships on the two pads below.
"Can I ask you a question, admiral?" Thel asked as John headed for the elevator.
"Yes, 'Vadam?" He asked.
"Do you have any insight into the duration that the repairs on our ship should take?"
Walker shrugged.
"It's not just a simple repair she's going through; Margaret's been keeping secrets on her stridents, Now I have to catch her out with my new spearhead class. The Spearhead of Dawn will be the first. Initially, she was built out of the hull materials of the scrapped ships Forward unto Dawn and the Spear, but now She's under a full refit now. As to how long it will take, I cannot say."
"I was under the impression that the Spearhead was already refitted, and that she was just getting repairs." Thel replied.
Walker shook his head and sighed.
"She was initially a very refitted frigate. As there is now a new class, the frigate's systems need to be brought up to date, a couple of now spearhead class standards have to be added, etc."
Thel nodded and turned away. He heard Walker turn around to continue his observations. John was standing beside the elevator door, watching the Sangheili approach.
The two entered the rift in silence. The doors slid closed and John hit the button for their floor.
"What exactly is a court-martial?" Thel asked.
John turned slowly and exhaled.
"A court-marital is essentially a trial for soldiers. The two that we're about to court-martial must have done something that directly violated orders from the upper brass and made something worse." He shrugged. "I suppose that we can get more info off Cortana."
Thel considered what he'd just heard. The Covenant had nothing like that, but then again, Sangheili were always so inflexible, so unquestioning, that the only thing close was a direct telling off by the prophets. But if you got there anyway, you were probably done for anyway.
His mark of shame was his last remnant of his servitude of the Covenant. But it would always be his last anyway, up to the day he died, he would never be free of it. He raised his arm and placed over his imprinted breast.
The lift doors slid open. John took the lead and led the Sangheili to his room. As he reached the door, Thel took out the note Walker had given him.
John pulled out a chair from under a desk in his cabin. He extended his hand towards the bed, offering it as a seat to the Sangheili.
Thel grunted and took a seat. John turned pulled a slot out of his wall, which caused a platform to fold out from the wall, revealing an AI holopad.
"Cortana?" He asked.
There was silence.
He repeated the question, and was answered this time.
"Hi, Cortana is not here slash is probably ignoring you, so please leave a message."
The two of them glanced at each other. Obviously, Cortana would have had to have acknowledged their presence to send that message, so that debunked what she claimed.
Unless...
"Vala?" Thel asked.
She responded almost immediately, her hologram forming upon the pad. She had changed her colour again, being unable to settle on one. Today she had take on an orange palette, while yesterday she had been green.
"Yes?" She asked.
"Where's Cortana?" John asked.
Vala looked across the room at him. Her top two jaws tightened in a sign of resignation.
"Out." She muttered simply.
"How can an Artifical Intelligence be 'Out'?" Thel asked, somewhat impatient.
Vala's jaws twitched somewhat nervously.
"I don't know, It's what she is. She's not here." Vala replied.
"Where is she?" John asked, leaning back against his chair.
"I don't know." Vala said slowly. "I think she went down to Sidney."
John covered his face with a hand and muttered something under his breath.
"The admiral never said that we needed Cortana to view the files." Thel said, taking out the piece of paper that Walker had given him. "Perhaps Vala can do it."
John scratched his shaven chin slightly. "Maybe."
Thel read the sheet of paper.
"The incident at Gabriel Prime, February 19th, 2553."
Vala nodded her head upon hearing the date.
"I'll have a look." She said, and her holograph disappeared.
She was gone for about thirty seconds, and then she reappeared on the holographic pad. She seemed much happier upon her reappearance.
"I found some files on the incident. Do you want them printed out? I found a networked printer imbedded in this holopad." She asked.
John nodded. "Do it."
As the printer began to produce a page, Thel caught a glance at the squiggles and characters that made up the human langauge. This was too important to trust his, in all actuality dubious grasp of human written language. There was, in his opinion, way too many human written dialects.
There were three Sangheili written dialects and one spoken dialect that had survived the Covenant period of the Sangheili. Kharian, (The most common and generally used form of Sangheili) Wretpon, (Very much based on Forerunner dialect, which was greatly used by the prophets) and the final one, Paretu. (A nearly dead one used exclusively by the Northern Keeps on Sangheilios)
"Can I have one written in Sangheili Kharian?" He asked.
"Very well. I'll have one done in about twenty seconds." Vala responded.
Thel nodded his head and relaxed back on John's bed.
I+-+-+I
Unknown MRS Class Stealth Cruiser, Bridge, Unknown system, 1st of March, 2553.
"Our strength is gone." The prophet swallowed nervously.
Weak. Kursnow snorted internally.
He stood in the communications station, facing a blue holograph of the prophet before him. He was alone with only his chieftain's garments to keep him company.
"Our fleet consists of less than thirty ships, and we've lost our main station. It disappeared mid-battle. Most undoubtedly dissenters. May they be left behind to rot on the Great Journey." He sighed, leaning against his throne. "I want you back here."
This new prophet had been forced to replace the now dead Minister of Clarity.
"I no longer believe your like... Duck hunt is no longer in our best of interests. I need every available ship."
Kursnow stood to his full height and face the prophet. He growled.
"I will not abandon my prize. I serve whom I respect. You do not command my respect. I will not follow you." He announced, ending with a lingering snarl.
The prophet retreated slightly, and then attempted to gather himself.
"I... I command you! If not, you shall be left behind on the Gr-" The Prophet shouted shrilly.
Kursnow finally uttered the words that he always wanted to say.
"Shut it with that claptrap. It's over. We have no power. There is no denying it, but the age of union is over. The Covenant is gone. It's time to adapt. Fair well."
The prophet swallowed again and backed up slowly. The Communication ended suddenly, rapidly darkening the room.
Kursnow turned and gave a growl of satisfaction. The door opened as the Jiralhanae approached. There was a single guard waiting, watching something on a screen on his wrist. The chieftain could sympathise; What was there to guard against on this ship?
But, tradition had to be maintained. Actually, he realised, no, it did not, any more. He was free to do as he wished.
"Having fun?" He asked.
The guard snorted and stood to attention roughly.
"I apologise, chieftain, It shall not happen again."
Kursnow nodded briskly, and then proceeded to the bridge. Their ship was nearly fully repaired, and Kursnow wanted to get back on the hunt.
But first, he had to make an announcement to his pack. He walked down the long purple corridors leading to the bridge. He saw no one else along the way. He reached the door, noticing little sound coming from the bridge. The double doors leading to the bridge opened as he approached.
The bridge was dark; Only a few station lights lit up the room. There was only a skeleton crew present.
"Greetings, Chieftain."
Kursnow glanced over to his second-in-command, now rising from the command chair.
"Greetings." He replied, taking his seat.
"Our repairs are nearly complete, but the main reactor still needs a shakedown. We can't go anywhere yet." The SIC told him.
The Chieftain raised a hand to ward him off.
"We do not need to go anywhere, yet." He grunted. "But I do need a internal broadcast, right now."
"As you command." One operator said, and tapped at a few holographic screens.
A faint beep was heard.
"You are on, Chieftain."
"Many thanks. Attention, All personnel. Attention." He called.
He took a deep breath and began his speech.
"I have just finished talking with the Covenant, and It fares gravely. A recent human attack has cost them everything; All their ships, stations and weapons." He paused to allow emphasis.
Time to weave my web of lies. He thought grimly.
He shifted in his chair and exhaled slowly.
"The Humans and Sangheili surround them. They will perish before long. And we are too late to help them. The time in which it would take to get there is too much. So we have one last objective." He stood up, allowing himself to shout; Nothing filled Jiralhanae with resolution more than angry shouting. "We shall continue the hunt we have started! We shall find that ship we have traced for so long, and we shall avenge our fallen brothers! The blood of Sangheili and Humans will grant them their deserved peace!"
He settled back into his chair, closing his eyes to present the image of gathering himself to the Brutes present on the bridge.
"And then..." He trailed off again, blinked, and then resumed. Manipulating his pack mates through emotion and expression proved more tiring then he would have thought. "Our destiny shall be our own."
He slammed his arm on the armrest of his chair, signifying to the operator to end the message.
I+-+-+I
Earth orbit, On board "Grace" Station, 1st of March, 2553.
The Spartan reread the report for the final time. He wanted to ensure that there were no gaps in his memory for this Court Martial. He had to prove that Spartans were capable of doing paperwork too.
It was not to convince Walker that he was capable of the role more so as it was to convince himself that he was capable of doing paperwork. While on the Infinity during the ride back to earth, he'd noticed that there were a new generation of Spartans on board. It had struck him then; Now that the human-covenant war was over, the use of the Spartan IIs was no longer as required; The new Spartans, while not as effective as the IIs, could be produced in much greater numbers.
John was around 43 now; he probably didn't have much longer active service left by now, and he knew he couldn't simply go back to civilian life; something he'd never experienced before, and he wanted to show he could go from fighting the battles to directing the people who did.
He turned his wandering thoughts back to the papers at hand. It went like this: Two former section 3 operatives were undercover in the Brave New Star insurrectionist group. They were of opposite genders, one named Karl Puril and the other Ester Resior.
During their time undercover, Karl had developed a gambling addiction and had gotten into debt with a brute chieftain. When the chieftain wanted his money back, the BNS group had abducted him to present to the chieftain for a fee in return. Ester had then ignored orders to sit tight and wait for backup to intercept, and had went after Karl almost immediately.
In her haste she had neglected several protocols, and as a result had blown her cover, despite rescuing Karl in the process. The Spartan gave a grim smile.
Satisfied, he got up and headed for the door, pausing at said for to check his uniform to ensure it was in suitable condition for a Court Martial.
He stepped out into the main corridor outside his quarters. Almost immediately he became aware of Thel coming down the corridor towards him. He nodded his head slightly in greeting.
The uniform that Thel had been given a very odd uniform in his eyes.
"It is time. We should hurry." Thel grunted simply.
John gave a brief nod of acknowledgment. The two headed towards the elevator at the end of the corridor. It was silent as the they ascended into the foyer where they'd met the admiral earlier.
He was waiting for them, along with a Jackal and a woman that John had never seen before. She wore a tightly fitted uniform that looked as though it was too small for her, and a line of straight cut brown hair, along with a rather plump build.
The Kig-yar on the other hand, was more interesting. He had a pair of scars visible across his neck, and he wore a uniform that had clearly been tailored for him. The most interesting part was that he was missing most of his right arm, along with most of the hair (I think that's what it is) on the back of his neck.
The three noticed the two approaching. Walker stood from his chair.
"Good!" He announced, clapping once. "That's everyone."
The Jackal nodded slightly. The woman gave a smile of greeting.
Walker pointed at the Kig-yar.
"This is General Shalin," he told them, then turned to the woman, "and this is Vice Admiral Tudra."
Tudra gave a light-hearted wave at the mention of her name.
"Now." Walker called. "I suppose you all know why you're here?"
Everyone gave a grunt of affirmative.
"Good." He said, and clapped his hands. "We're transferring over to Station BlackHawk, which is where the Court Martial will take place. Follow me, there's a ship waiting at hangar bay 4A-12."
He headed towards a door on the right side, and the four followed him. All were silent as they went through a dimly lit hallway, down two sets of stairs and through another two corridors to the right.
Finally, they arrived in said hangar. Personally, John had been expecting a pelican with a few escorts to be waiting for them. Instead, there was an entire luxury corvette waiting for them.
Tudra whistled.
"A luxury corvette? How much did you spend on hiring that." Tudra laughed.
"You know, only the best, for the best. This cost me way to much for the one trip. Which is why I'm going to 'donate' it to Margaret after this whole thing is over." Walker replied with a grin.
The comment made the Spartan think back to the other members of his squad. What were they doing right now? He hadn't heard anything about them since they had arrived at the station. He resolved to ask Thel about them if they got a chance during the trip on the corvette.
They all boarded the corvette through a ramp located on the left side of the ship. Walker led them to the bridge of the corvette, where an entire crew was standing by.
They stood to attention as they entered. John was surprised at the composition of the corvette's crew. Around half was human, and the other half consisted mostly of Sangheili and Jackals, although, he saw an Unggoy or two inside the crew as well. The group of officers took the five empty seats at the rear of the bridge, at the rest of the crew went back to their stations. Corvettes were not big ships, and at least half the crew actually stayed in the bridge.
There was silence in the bridge, then the ship's captain, a young man who only just seemed to have graduated stood up.
"All personnel are aboard, present and accounted for. Sent to control, Whirlwind is ready to depart." He ordered cooly.
"Request made and acknowledged." A Sangheili on the COMs announced. "Door control in thirty seconds."
"Very good." The captain said. "Preliminary checks."
"Engines standing by, zero to forty percent at your command." A Kig-yar croaked.
"Moorings, ready for clearance." Someone, a human, announced.
"Slipspace ready, if at all needed." Another human said.
The captain nodded briefly, seemed to mutter something to himself, and then stood to his full height.
"Full power to underside thrusters for get off. One meter hover once cleared. Detach moorings." He ordered cleanly.
There was a faint rumble from te underside of the ship, and the Whirlwind rose into the air. A faint clang was heard as the moorings fell away.
"Doors are ours." A jackal announced.
"Very well." The captain said. His face still remained as impassive as it had been this entire trip. The Spartan had to admit that he was impressed with the captains performance, especially if this was his first or second time in command.
"Reverse engines, seventy percent." Came the next order.
A muted grumble was heard as the rear engines came on and began to reverse the ship out of the hangar. The Chief watched as the wall slowly shrunk through the front viewscreen of the bridge.
It took about three minutes for the corvette to pull backwards out of the hangar. The corvette continued to reverse, however, in order to give itself some turning room, it continued to reverse for another thirty seconds or so. Then the main engines came to life with a rumble, and Whirlwind pulled itself over the hangar and began a slow circle around the top of Grace station.
At the rear back end of the station, there lay two frigates. Both of them had the configuration of the Spearhead, but one was substantially more complete.
One of them was obviously the Spearhead herself. She had the more flat Paris class designed upper and under carriages, while the rear leaned towards a more flat Charon class design.
The only work being done on her seemed to be on her undercarriage. They seemed to have made use of the empty space there, and were attaching something into the internals of it.
The other frigate there was mostly barebones, having had barely anything done to it as far as externals went. Her internals were all laid and in position, but the outer plating still had to be applied.
The corvette finally turned away to face deep space. The earth hung below the ship, just visible at the bottom of the viewscreen.
"ETA ten minutes to BlackHawk. Full engines, Nark." The captain ordered briskly.
"Yes, captain." The kig-yar croaked, and the rumbling increased in volume.
Several ODPs could be seen from here. The tri-clusters drifted by, and John even noticed some newer looking ODPs that seemed to be built from reddish covenant plating.
The Whirlwind cruised on for several minutes, until a large, back spot came into view. It was the BlackHawk station, made of three main sections joined together by relatively small tunnels. Little light came from the station. She seemed to hide using only the darkness of space. The Spartan guessed that it had some kind of cloaking system to hide from good spectrometers.
"Station BlackHawk, this is SFS Whirlwind. Requesting docking permission, we have command on board." The captain said, pressing a button for the ship's COM.
"Whirlwind, this is BlackHawk station. Can we have confirmation of command?" The station manager replied.
Walker stood up. The captain turned and nodded at the admiral.
"I can confirm. Command is aboard." Walker announced.
"Rodger. Reading Bio and voice confirm." The manger replied. "Whirlwind, you are clear for docking at port 16-A."
The corvette came around and slowed, presenting its side and preparing to dock. From the forward hull, occasional bursts of monopropellant could be seen as the Whirlwind lined herself up.
Finally, a little clang could be heard.
"We are docked." Someone announced.
Immediately, Walker stood.
"Same port as entry?" He asked.
The captain nodded. Walker gestured for the others to follow. They got up and did so. As they headed back down the way they had come, the size of the corvette really struck John. It was tiny. The two corridors they had walked was only twenty five or so meters, and they were connected by tiny bulkheads.
When they reached the airlock, the spartan's observation became apparent. The exterior of the station, even the airlock, was covered in Titaniun S, the variant of Titanium modified to be hard to detect, even without a cloaking system. He'd never seen so much of it in one place.
Walker led them through in a hurry. Surprisingly, the whole installation seemed not be guarded very heavily. Throughout their whole trip, which was around a kilometer of walking throughout the whole station, he saw less than fifteen guards.
"I would have expected more guards here." Tudra muttered.
"I would, except that it's proven difficult to find marines willing to work alongside aliens. It was the marines that went groundside during the war. They were the ones who did the fighting. They saw what the covenant did close up and personal. It's difficult to find those who will put that behind them. And that's what's necessary in Section Four. Willingness." Walker replied.
The walls of the station had progressively become worse looking as they continued on. In some places, whole plates were missing from the walls and wires hung forlornly.
"I haven't had time to do this place up. Margaret only had to give me a near two hundred year old station in disrepair." He sighed.
Finally, they entered a large chamber through a pair a automatic double doors. This chamber had at least twenty guards waiting inside. A large skywalk couldbe seen above the chamber. There was a large window, pointing directly at earth.
"Here we are." Walker grunted.
One guard walked over to them and saluted.
"Sirs and Madams," He said, somewhat stumbling over his words. "Follow me to the conference room."
He turned and led them to another room, which in turn led to a hallway. From this hallway, they ended up outside the door for the conference room.
"That's your side, I have to go now." The marine finished quickly.
"We done walking yet, Walker?" Tudra asked. "My legs are killing me."
"We're here." Walker confirmed, checking his uniform for any creases. "Sorry about the long walk. I'll have an internal elevator installed next time."
They all went into the room. What immediately stuck John was the layout of the room. There was a single long, curved table with five chairs at the ready. Each chair had the names of those intended to sit at it attached to be the back.
In front of the table, there was a large lowered chamber. Spotlights were placed at strategic pointed so that the prosecutors faces were obscured, while the accused were not.
They took their seats. Interestingly, there was a tablet built into each table, so the prosecutors could review facts during the court martial.
That rendered his careful study unnecessary. He could help but feel a bit annoyed by that. But looking back, be realised that the higher ups in ONI had better things to do than learn their cases off by heart.
Thel was sitting to his right, Walker on his left, in the middle of the group. The other two sat on the other side of Walker.
"Everyone ready?" Walker asked.
Everyone gave grunts of affirmative.
"Alright," Walker tapped his tablet a couple of times, then straightened himself. "Here we go."
On the other side of the room, a pair of double doors slid open, revealing two people being escorted into the room by a group of four marines.
They were brought to the centre of the room. The marines then turned and dispersed to the edge of the lights, waiting just out of sight in the event they were needed.
John could clearly see the two before them. One of them was a tall, dark-haired man clearly of Russian decent. The looked rather strongly built, except for his casted left leg.
The woman was tall and stiff, and had short hair that was dyed with a mixture of dark hair and blonde. Her face was pronounced in the places that confirmed that she was a heavy makeup user. Yet, there was still a certain hardness in her eyes that would have made many unease.
Ester Resior swept her eyes across the prosecutors before them, looking her gaze on each individually. The Spartan met her gaze and returned his own. She quickly turned away to face Walker.
John looked down at the tablet that was part of his section of the table. It was sitting blanking at a start screen. He told it to find files relating to these two and put it on a folder on the desktop for him.
It complied and gave him a five minute wait time for his command. He looked back up at the two.
"This Court Martial is now in session. Karl Puril and Ester Resior. Is that correct?" Admiral Walker asked.
The two gave a nod of affirmative.
"You were stationed on Gabriel Prime during the month of February of 2553. Is that correct?" Walker continued.
"Yes." Karl said, but Ester was silent.
"Miss Resior?"
"Yes. That is correct." She snarled.
"You were monitoring the Brave New Star insurrectionist group, is that correct?"
"What are you after?" Ester growled. "You already know all this. You have it on file."
"For the record, Miss Resior. Answer the question." Walker replied.
"We both were." Karl answered.
"On Feburary 22nd, 2553 Military calendar, you were, Mr. Puril, captured by a covenant splinter faction interacting with the Brave New Star insurrectionist group, the leader of which you racked up a debt with."
Karl nodded slightly at that, but Walker didn't stop because of that.
"Do you believe that your cover was intact when he presented you to the BNS group?" He concluded.
Karl swallowed and put on a fake smile.
"Yes, I do. I was treated no differently from the other human prisoners of the Covenant. The BNS group was allowed to punish their own species, and in return they presented all other beings that they captured on the run from said splinter faction to the faction." Karl explained.
"Why were you in debt in the first place?" Tudra snapped. "ONI provided you with 75,000 credits to start off. The estimated cost of your mission up until that point should have been 20,000 credits. Why were you broke at that point?"
"Well, I-" Karl stammered, but Thel cut him off.
"According to Resior's log, she expressed concern at you gambling away most of the allocated fund. She mentions how you have "expended" 45,000 credits at that point. This log was made a week before the incident." He informed them.
Karl shifted nervously, turning towards Ester with a expression of Horror.
The Spartan navigated the files before him and loaded up Karl's own logs.
"You also failed to mention how you spend this fund in your own sitreps and logs." He explained as he speed-read through a collection of Karl's logs. "Which falls against regulation Seventeen point Eleven Twelve."
"Can we have a confirmation, for the record, of regulation Seventeen point Eleven Twelve?" The Jackal asked.
"Certainly." Walker said briskly. "Regulation Seventeen point Eleven Twelve. All, if any, large transactions regarding the provided fund totalling more than two thousand five hundred credits (Or total combined expenditures on the same product over the course of a week) must be sanctioned by the commanding officer of the agent/agents in participation of the mission."
Karl seemed to step back, shrinking as he did so. He was caught now, and he knew it.
Ester turned her head towards him sadly, and then turned back. The silence painted the clear picture that he had violated the regulation.
"Miss Resior, you reported that Mr. Puril had been captured by a covenant splinter faction. Your transmission was received by the orbiting support ship; the UNSC Thunderclap. They replied with code Eleven A." Walker continued.
"Once again, sorry." The Kig-yar began, "Can we have a confirmation of code Eleven A?"
"Code Eleven A is the code for ONI agents to hold position and wait, as reinforcements are on the way." John replied.
Code Eleven A was one he had heard several times during the war. Often times, he and his team of Spartans had been those reinforcements.
"Many thanks." Walker said, And searched quickly through his documents on his tablet.
"You did not wait, however." Thel said quietly. "Reading from you weapons tags, you were on the move towards a point you knew they would they would meet up."
"Another violation of regulation;" Walker sighed quietly. "Carry on."
The Sangheili turned and considered, and then continued.
"And still, you managed to retrieve your comrade." Thel growled.
Ester looked up at him silently.
"You were discovered, though. You left several pieces of evidence behind. The Brave New Star group is now aware of our... Involvement." The Sangheili continued.
"What proof of there is that?" Karl asked, taking a step forward and standing upright.
"Several intercepted COMs from the BNS and their local splinter faction." Walker answered, face hard. "I will play one now, while the rest will be added to the file on this case."
A low murmur of affirmative swept across the prosecutors.
"Open your ears, and pay attention." Walker growled, and started the message.
"Recording fifty-three of the UNSC Thunderclap, Brave New Star insurrectionist group to local Covenant Splinter faction. Unknown sender and recipient." The UNSC logger stated in a bored voice.
Loggers were required to denote these things at the start of anything recorded by ONI for compartmentalising. Of course, during the war, there had been little need for things like that.
"I am busy. Why do you contact me?" A deep voice, presumably a Sangheili or Jiralhanae, growled.
"You haven't heard anything of our runner since yesterday?" Someone questioned, probably human.
"I have seen evidence, but no actual flesh. I believe the theories that these two were spies." The Brute/Elite muttered.
"The whole thing reeks of the Galactic Alliance, no?" The human replied.
"Yes. It is most fortunate that this turn of events conspired for us. I only fear how much they now know." The Brute/Elite sighed.
"If you find them, my commanders have given me the all-clear to tell you that if you find these traitors- or spies in whatever case, you are clear to execute them as you wish. In fact, my commanders would like this done as quickly as possible." The human said plainly.
A growl of pleasure from the Brute/Elite.
"It shall be done."
"Good."
The message ended with a pop.
There was silence. Ester and Karl stared at each other briefly. They were both screwed, and they knew it. The interrogation was over; the verdict came next.
"Can everyone please submit the evidence that they personally reviewed to the case folder, please?" Walker suddenly asked. "I will then give you all five minutes of deliberation, and then the verdict will be declared."
The group complied. John saw everyone tapping away at the tablets embedded in the tables, while the two below watched helplessly.
The Spartan had a lot to put into this file; a pure consequence of his will to succeed. Fortunately, or unfortunately, he hadn't needed half of it.
He was unsure how to feel about that. Perhaps he wasn't ready for a paperwork job yet. He swallowed and finished packing the files he'd used for research into his given folder.
The others finished at roughly the same time. As the files were packed away and proceedings finished up, a new prompt appeared on the screen;
Verdict?
There were three options;
Guilty, Not guilty and unable to decide at this moment.
The Chief thought about it. The choice was simple; the Spartan knew what the answer was. He pressed Guilty. A running toll from all five of them showed up; four guiltys to one cannot decide.
"Verdict delivered. This session finds Karl Puril and Ester Resior Guilty of breaking several regulations and destroying the six years in the making setup infiltrating the Brave New Star Insurrectionist group. Do you have anything to say for yourselves?" Walker announced.
The two were silent.
"As the highest ranking officer here, I reserve the ability to decide punisement. You will both be given a one rank demotion." Walker's face was hard now. "And I also sentence you to six months... In Midnight facility."
Karl and Ester paled. Even as their escorts moved in to bring them out, they looked visibly shaken by the sentence. Out of the corner of his eye, John spotted Thel casting him a glance, curiousity of what Midnight Facility was written on his face.
John hadn't realised how much he'd grown to understand the Sangheili's facial expressions. He watched as the two were escorted wordlessly from the room. Walker stood up.
"Session closed." He announced. "Thank you, ladies and gentlemen."
The rest got up as well. The Court Martial was over. It was certainly an experience, the Chief mused.
"Chief, Shipmaster," Walker called over to the two.
They turned.
"What is it, sir?" John asked.
"I just received word from Grace." He said. "Your ship will be ready to set said for tomorrow."
Thel bowed his head. "Many thanks." The Sangheili said.
"I have a new mission for the Squad." He continued.
John and Thel glanced at each other briefly.
"What is it?" The Spartan asked.
"I will have files sent to you directly on your ship, but in layman's terms," Walker said slowly. "But here it is; You're going to destroy the BNS group and the splinter cell with them."
I+-+-+I
I don't know much about how Court Martials in real life: But anyway, It's a SECRET agency five hundred years in the future. Doesn't have to be accurate: Times change, eh?