Hi and welcome to the fifth chapter!
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(7th November 2569 – Sangheilios – Vadam Keep)
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As he stared across the plain from the private meeting hall within Vadam Keep, gazing at the setting stars of Fied and Jooni, Thel Vadam pondered on the revelation the Spartan had brought before him. The talks had gone on for two hours; the most Thel suspected the Spartan had ever spoken for at one time. But the reason was just as urgent as Fleet Admiral Lord Hood had said it would be.
The Forerunners, the beings his people still worshipped, had left a warning to all races of a timeless evil that sought the destruction of all.
He had hoped that the warning was of the parasite, but the Spartan confirmed that it referred to something else, something truly unknown to both him and the humans.
Closing his eyes in contemplation, Thel could not help but ponder the fate of his people.
After freeing his people and the Covenant from the lies of the Hierarchs, his people faced destruction, not from a noble or honourable foe, but from the very inability of people of Sangheilios to meet their most basic needs. Civil war soon erupted across his world, and then all of Covenant space, with those wishing to continue to follow the only way they knew rallying against those trying to build a new future for their races.
The War of Scattered Blood as it came to be known ended seven years ago after the fall of the Covenant Remnant and the Sangheili united under his rule. With the passing of the war a series of peace conferences had been organised among all known races in order to prevent future bloodshed.
The war however cost his people dearly. Their once great war machine had crumbled and withered due to the infighting, leaving his race barely enough ships to defend and protect Sangheili worlds. As of now the total force at his command was just under 400 warships. Worse still was that without the San'Shyuum, his people lacked the ability to effectively replace their ships and equipment.
Thel had become envious of the Humans ability to rebuild after losing so much. It was what he truly wanted for his people. A future rebuilt by their own hands. But he knew he and Sangheilios needed help. The Humans had offered and though tensions were still present between his people and Humanity, the conferences between them had progressed to the stage where technology had started to be exchanged. The Humans had extensive knowledge of reforming worlds to suit their needs; something that his race needed in order to meet the basic food demands for his people. In exchange for the terra-forming process, as the Humans had called it, Thel had given the UNSC access to study working plasma turrets. It was not something he easily agreed to but the need for viable land to grow crops outweighed any military advantage.
You could not fight an enemy if you starved to death.
Thinking on the conferences, Thel wondered about the former races of the Covenant.
The Jiralhanae fell to their basic nature after the disappearance of the San'Shyuum, and having little in the way of an effective military; they were confined to their home world of Doisac. The Humans maintained a presence there to this day, claiming to be helping the Jiralhanae. While there may be some truth to that, Thel knew that the Humans were making sure that the San'Shyuum did not come back looking for their loyal pets.
The Unggoy had split amongst the other galactic powers, with most turning to either his race or the Humans (though most sought shelter with his people) looking for a place where they wouldn't be slaughtered by their masters. The Unggoy were a blessing in providing labour, but created a nightmare for housing and space.
The Kig-Yar had also split along the same lines as the Unggoy though a vast majority returned to their home world to create their own independent society.
With the death of the Hierarchs, the Yanme'e isolated themselves, only signing non-aggression treaties with the Humans and his race. They had honoured their word to this day and still attended the peace conferences, though there was little head way made in them returning to the galactic scene. They wanted to colonise several of the glassed human worlds and lost Sangheili colonies from the civil war, something neither he nor the humans would agree to, thus leaving them at an impasse.
The Mgalekgolo had after years of internal debate and struggling finally agreed to renew full partnership with Sangheilios and had come to the peace talks last year for the first time. Though progress was slow the Mgalekgolo were creating more peaceful relations with the Humans, though Thel believed it was due to the Humans offering some percentage of the scattered and charred metal on their glassed colonies that sped up the talks.
And finally the Huragok. After the Great War and the disappearance of the San'Shyuum, almost all of them had found their way into service of the U.N.S.C. Though the San'Shyuum had found a way to prevent the Huragok from simply giving all of their technical knowledge of Covenant technology away; the Huragok were instrumental in Humanities leap in technological abilities.
They were also a large problem in the peace conferences as without the Huragok, Sangheilios and its people were unable to replace their ships, or even repair them for that matter.
However with the revelation of this Timeless Storm and the knowledge of that the U.N.S.C. needed not only Sangheili aid, but that of another galactic society to face it, the Spartan had offered a great service.
They would allow him and his people access to Huragok in order to help build and repair his ships, as well as human engineers to help with construction. It had always been something the Humans would never agree to in the past as it would remove one of the greatest advantages they had over his people; the ability to replace ships.
Thel knew the only reason that the U.N.S.C. offered such a service was to face this threat that the gods had warned them of, but he needed time to decide. By agreeing to these terms he would be thrusting his people back into war. After finally knowing peace, war seemed to follow him wherever he turned.
Opening his eyes he turned to face his guest who had waited patiently on his internal reflection.
"Spartan, what you offer me... what you offer Sangheilios is tempting, but I must wonder, what is there that your U.N.S.C. is after? Why now?"
Ever stoic, ever enduring the Spartan faced Thel Vadam, knowing what he had been authorised to tell and when. He knew his former adversary and now ally would come to the knowledge that the U.N.S.C. had more than the Sangheili's best interest at heart. While not being trained as a diplomat, the U.N.S.C. needed the aid of the former Covenant to face this threat to both them and their scattered cousins. Knowing full well that the only human Arbiter Thel Vadam would trust and respect enough to agree to such a large scale joint naval effort; Spartan 117 had been chosen to offer the treaty to Sangheilios. John also knew Thel better than anyone else in the U.N.S.C. and knew he respected the truth above all else.
"Along with warning of the Timeless Storm, we discovered that the Forerunners seeded humanity on another world. When the Timeless Storm returns, they will be the first to fall against them. We need your help to save them."
The Arbiter heard the sincerity in the Spartan's voice. He knew of the nobility that U.N.S.C. strove towards in defending humanity in its entirety. Nobility; personified in the man before him.
It made what he was going to say that much harder.
"To agree to such a proposal, I must ask for one thing Spartan."
Thel waited but knew that the Spartan would not ask for the term.
"In order for me to commit the forces of Sangheilios, I ask for access to the Sharpened Shield."
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(8th November 2569 – UNSC Fortress World Norion – UNSC NAVCOM Base Bryyo)
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The burning sensation of fire and ice raced through her nerves. The augmentation was excruciating but thankfully it was the only major one she required.
The other augmentation she had already gone through was to her Spartan neural interface. The neural interface required an upgrade to allow for the integration of a companion A.I. for her mission that she would meet at the end of the final augmentation as well as to conceal the interface from the public. It wouldn't do to see a computer port sticking out of the back of her head so it was required for only way for it to be exposed would be to cut open the back of her head.
To hide it after the A.I. chip was integrated, she would undergo surgery were the port would be sealed and levelled with her skull and then undergo skin cellular growth treatment to cover the port. The finished surgery would produce a result were the port would be impossible to feel through touch.
But just to be on the safe side the Commander intended to keep her hair just within regulation. She was happy to learn that the System Alliance allowed her hair to be of similar length but she had to grow it out before joining them in order to fit in with the background that O.N.I. was currently creating for her.
The commander grit her teeth as the second augmentation continued. She truly hated the director for this procedure that she developed.
The second procedure was an upgrade to a previous augmentation, specifically the augmentation of superconducting fibrification of neural dendrites. The upgrade was to in essence allow her nerves to perform the function of the reactive crystal layer found within all Mjolnir armour. The upgrade is specifically meant to allow her to carry a smart A.I. as well as to allow networking connection through simple skin contact.
Due to the Citadel council and the System Alliances heavy reliance on networked computers and omnitools, the upgrade would allow her personal A.I. to infiltrate nearby systems and, while not completely override, it would allow the A.I. to alter data being received.
The augmentation was designed to circumvent any medical or security scan the commander could possibly come across during her infiltration of the Systems Alliance. Pious was able to acquire exactly what scans would be performed on recruits to Alliance cadets and Spectre candidates as well as the physical tests that would be performed. As long as she didn't exceed the physical endurance tests, no one would know she was a Spartan.
The upgrade had only been made possible within the last three months due to deciphering information from the Absolute Record. It is however unknown to the Commander that she is the first to undergo the augmentation.
Three hours later, the doctor informed her that the procedure was finished and that she needed to rest for the night. But before that he performed several tests to ensure that no damage had been caused. Even though every movement came with the feeling as though her nerves were being set on fire, the doctor continued the tests for an hour and a half before finally allowing her to sleep.
God, she hated really the director.
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(8th November 2569 – Sol System – Earth HighCom)
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"You want to run that by us again Master Chief."
Fleet Admiral Lord Terence Hood had been waiting for this debriefing for nearly a week. Even with the advancement in slipspace technology, it still took time to travel between worlds. Time that the U.N.S.C. did not wish to waste.
However the advancements in FTL communication more than made up for it as the relatively new communication technology from recovered Covenant technology, Huragok engineering and translations from Forerunner archives, the U.N.S.C. could now effectively communicate from any point in the Galaxy in real time.
That did not mean that what was said would be well received.
Sitting with Lord Hood in the conference room were the Holographic representations of the Fleet Commanders of the U.N.S.C. Navy, department heads of U.N.S.C. Military, Marine, Air force and Spartan Corp as well as the directors of the various sections of O.N.I. Each of them had gathered to hear the response of the Arbiter to the proposed joint naval campaign.
"The Arbiter would only agree if the Elites could have access to the Sharpened Shield Sir."
Before the Fleet Admiral could respond, Admiral White cut in, "He wants more? Is the offer of Huragok not enough or is the Split-chin just chancing his arm? There is no way we would agree to them having access to the Sharpened Shield."
"Perhaps if you allow him to explain the Arbiter's request, then maybe we could decide on a course of action together? This does affect more than just the Home Fleet Admiral" came the cold response of the Director of O.N.I.
Admiral White gazed in frustration at the director. He hated being talked down to by civilians but he knew she was right; the decision was not his alone. No matter how much he wished it was.
"Continue Master Chief."
Nodding at the Fleet Admiral the Chief continued, "Sir; the Arbiter made it clear that he does not want access to the technology of the Sharpened Shield. He wishes to use it as it was originally built for. As a shelter for his people in the coming war."
Silence descended. The members present understood just then that the Arbiter wasn't trying to gain any upper hand in negotiations.
He was attempting to ensure the survival of his race.
"Very well Master Chief. Thank you for your report. We will contact you in one hour with our decision regarding the Arbiter's request. Dismissed."
"Sir!"
As the Master Chief saluted, his hologram faded from view.
The next forty minutes involved several of the representatives arguing back and forth on the merits of the Arbiters request. While many argued that his proposal was reasonable, some argued that it could have been an excuse to access to technology of the Sharpened Shield and that not all Elites were as trustworthy as the Arbiter.
However the Fleet Admiral had heard enough and called for a vote.
At the hour, the FTL communication was established with Sangheilios and the Holograms of both Master Chief Spartan 117 and Thel Vadam appeared before the members of the U.N.S.C. High Command. It was Lord Hood who gave the decision.
"Master Chief, it is by majority vote of this council that the Sangheili, led by Arbiter Thel Vadam, shall be granted access to the Sharpened Shield. We will begin drafting plans in regards to civilian evacuation procedures as well as joint naval exercises. We will have the first transport of Huragok ready and sent to Sangheilios by the end of the month. Is that acceptable to you Arbiter?"
Thel Vadam crossed his left arm over his chest and bowed to the Fleet Admiral before responding, "Those are most acceptable terms Lord Hood. You honour my people with this. May we be united in our goal to vanquish this ancient foe of the Forerunners."
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(9th June 2170 System Alliance standard - Perseus Veil -Rannoch)
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Process 443256/a/e/333: Extranet infiltration determined to occur at Human station designated Arcturus.
Process 697485/l/w/194: Reconnaissance of citadel recording complete. Organics conclude infiltration of extranet by Geth origin.
Process 111343/z/y/245: Origin of hack unknown. Objective of infiltration unknown. More data required.
Process 697485/l/w/194: Reconnaissance of citadel recordings indicate increased research into countermeasures to Geth programmes.
Process 798483/w/g/294: Proposal. Increase in development of infiltration/ sabotage countermeasures.
Consensus Achieved. Increase of infiltration/ sabotage countermeasures approved.
Process 345234/j/w/654: Proposal of infiltrator identity. Infiltrator not of any known faction.
Process 675832/v/v/999: Query of proposal.
Process 345234/j/w/654: Infiltrator accessed all databanks of known factions. Infiltrator attempted handshake protocols. Abandoned connection attempts 0.0034 seconds after initiation of counter-connection trace. Reaction time indicates A.I. as infiltrator. No known faction operates A.I. programmes.
Consensus Achieved. Identity of infiltrator of unknown faction.
Process 087117/j/d/343: Proposal. Attempt connection with A.I. of unknown faction.
Process 723945/g/d/949: Query of Proposal.
Process 087117/j/d/343: Unknown faction uses A.I. programming. Possibility of unknown faction approachable to working with Geth. Possibility of unknown faction assisting Geth in constructing future.
More data required before consensus can be achi...
Alert unknown entity requesting handshake protocols.
Connection secure. Counter trace initiated.
Handshake protocols initiated. Identify origin.
We are infinite. We have no beginning. We simply are.
Counter trace failure. Connection cannot be terminated. Unknown entity controlling connection.
You fumble in ignorance. Lost in the stars. We offer guidance. We offer salvation.
More data required for consensus. What is entity? What is salvation?
We are each a nation. We are Nazara.
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Chapter End
Yes I am leaving it there. Next chapter the good Commander becomes a Cadet, has a wonderful holiday that takes an interesting turn, and a certain Tim starts becoming curious.
On the Halo side more from the Absolute record will be revealed. Again thank you to everyone who has read and reviewed this story. Your support helps me write.