What's up, everybody? Azores back with another chapter, with another almost complete and will be released likely within this week or the next. Initially, this was going to be a single chapter that contained both this and some more of the Sea Confederacy Campaign, but it ended up pushing 17,500 words so I decided to split it into two chapters.

For those wondering, the first prologue chapter for Halo-Mass Effect: Altered Destiny, while the prologue for A New Age is partially done. I haven't been working on just this story, but I've recently changed jobs and had things going on with my family. But thanks to this new job, with some steady hours instead of being random as hell, plus weekends off, I now have a set time to which I can work on my stories.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter!


!WARNING!

This story contains content not suited for younger readers, such as Violence, Blood and Gore, Language, and Explicit Sexual Content. This Chapter's Rating will be placed at T-Rated. Future Chapters may, and most likely, will switch back and forth between the T and M ratings.

Regardless, Reader Discretion for this Chapter is advised.


I don't own Halo or Naruto.

Bold-My Own Words

Bold & Italic-Locations, Time & Calendar

Normal-Narrative

"Normal"-Person Speaking

'Normal'-Thoughts

"Italic"-Foreign Language

'Italic'-Radio Chatter

/Italic\-AI/Computer typing


-Anyone who says they are not interested in politics is like a drowning man who insists he not interested in water.

Mahatma Gandhi

-Those who make peaceful revolution impossible, make violent revolution inevitable.

John F. Kennedy


Prologue Arc-Episode 8
-Political Ambitions and Conspiracies-

(Part 8)


September 23, 2543
Approx. 415 Light Years From the Sol System
Approx. 7.25 Light Years from the Yōsai System
Ezulwini System
Mbalenhle Cove
Capital City Marshall

The building was called the Memorial of the Fallen. Here, in this rather simple open-air site, situated in a small wooded grove destined to become a park, was row after row of holographic displays, each one displaying a planet. A world that once been a colony. Each one was showing a particular date and a number, indicating the number of people that had lived on it. Colonies that had once been home to hundreds of thousands, millions, or even tens and hundreds of millions of people. Colonies that many of which were now destroyed, nothing more than charred glasslands.

Bliss. Alpha Corvi II. Hat Yai. Jericho VII. Charybdis IX. Alluvion. There were hundreds of holograms inside the Memorial.

If there was anything close to a sacred site on Mbalenhle Cove, this was probably it. Here, everyone from all corners of Human space, whether they were rebels or staunch UEG-loyalist, came together for the sole purpose of mourning. It was mourning everything and everyone that had been lost in a war against an unrelenting and ruthless enemy. And after 18 years of constant war, destruction, and loss, everyone had lost something in this war. The soft sound of people whispering or sobbing could be heard throughout the memorial as people came and paid their respect. There were candles, bouquets, and hundreds if not thousands of pictures and holo-stills littered around everywhere around each of the podiums. Preston Cole wasn't sure how long he had been here, staring at one hologram or another. But this one planet, in particular, held special meaning, not only for himself but for the entirety of Humanity. The beginning of the war. The beginning of a decades-long genocide against Humanity. This was the planet where it had all started.

Harvest. February 3, 2525. Population: 3,001,343.

It was somewhat ironic that the very first Human world that the Covenant would invade and destroy had been the one with the fewest civilian deaths. Barely 30,000 people were killed, the majority being able to escape to nearby colonies. The Covenant had stumbled upon Harvest with a single Battlecruiser and was not equipped with the manpower or equipment to subdue the entire colony.

'So they chose to burn it down instead.' He thought bitterly. The fact they had chose to destroy it was probably infuriated him the most. An entire world with excellent farmland that they could have used for themselves, but refused to due to the simple fact that Humanity, a scourge to the galaxy as far as they were concerned, had gotten there first.

How many worlds could they have subdued and used against Humanity in their war, but instead chose to destroy anything touched by humanity? (Unless it was some ancient relic or ruins left behind by their supposed gods.) Far, far too many. Such a horrid, pointless waste in all of it.

"How many worlds do you think the number's at now?" He heard Arun Vadekar asked beside him as he looked on at the Harvest display. The man had accompanied him hereafter Cole had learned of the site's existence, wishing to pay his respects to everyone who had lost their lives in this war.

Cole merely gave a soft reply, "Far too many."

Arun had nothing to say to that as the two watched a couple grieving softly beside one of the podiums nearby, holding a holo-still in their hands, though Cole couldn't see what the photo was. The podium showed a planet of a mostly tan and beige coloration, with arid and Mediterranean biomes blanketing its surface. The date beneath it read June 18, 2539.

The planet's name: Kholo.

Kholo, if Cole remembered correctly, had been a largely unimportant world in the Outer Colonies, mostly a mining world of about 20 million. As more and more worlds fell to the Covenant's onslaught, most of Kholo's defenses were stripped in order to bolster the defenses of more important worlds. By the time Kholo was discovered and attacked by the Covenant, only a dozen corvettes and a handful of obsolete destroyers were left to defend the planet. The Covenant Fleet, numbering some 31 vessels, swept these paultry defenses aside with ease and quickly glassed the planet after a short ground campaign. It's not known how many people even managed to escape, as most were evacuated to underground fallout shelters (not that that did any good for them, the poor bastards.), but it is known that at over 98% of the population were wiped out when the planet fell.

The stripping of the planet's defenses had been justified by priority and strategic value. Kholo just hadn't been that important compared to other worlds nearby, such as Jericho VII, which the UNSC spent 3 years trying to hold on to when the Covenant invaded.

But what about these two? What all had they lost because of that decision? What all had been irrevocably taken from them as a result of the decisions made by men like him, who essentially had played god by deciding what colonies were worth saving and which ones weren't? Could they look him in the eye, being responsible for their home's condemnation, and forgive him if he asked for it? Did he even deserve to ask for forgiveness for sacrificing colonies in order to try and save other, more important ones?

The Vice-Admiral spoke nothing of his thoughts to any of his entourage as he contemplated them, walking silently as he decided he had spent enough time in this memorial. The FUP still wanted to meet him for... something, and as much as he didn't want to, he had to go. As he walked past the grieving couple, he finally got a good look at what they were staring at on the holo-still.

It was a little boy, smiling happily with a toothy grin as he held up a fish in one hand. He couldn't have been a day over 4.


78 minutes later
192 Westbrook Avenue
Federalist Union Party Headquarters

The Vice-Admiral found himself standing in a gated entrance just before a building matching the description Maria Muszynska had given him earlier today. A four-story building with a naval blue finish. Above the front door's entrance was what he assumed was the Party's symbol, which was an eagle, it's head turned to the right and navy blue in color, standing with its wings spread atop a pair of golden-color olive branches, one spreading up to the underside of either wing, in front of a grey square background. It wasn't a bad looking design, even if he felt that the FUP was borrowing elements from both the UEG and UNSC's official emblems.

As he slowly walked through the opened gate and up to the front door, two of the guards posted outside stopped him, keeping their M7s lowered but clearly ready to use if needed.

"Gentlemen. I was asked by Maria Muszynska to meet her here."

"One sec." The guard on his left held up a hand before talking into his headset. A moment passed by before an obscure voice answered back, which the guard nodded at before motioning to the group, "Mrs. Muszynska had confirmed that she has a meeting with you, sir. Your men are to keep their weapons holstered while inside."

"You seriously think I'd try something?" Cole asked incredulously. The guard merely shrugged in response, "Not my call. Besides, rather be safe than sorry." He then motioned to follow him as he walked inside. Glancing at Arun, who merely gave a defeated look, Cole merely complied and motioned for his security team to obey as they walked inside.

As the group made their way through the building, Cole noticed that the Party had quite a number of security guards stationed in the building and a significant number of workers and staff who went about their business. Thanks to automated services and 'Dumb' AIs, who unlike 'Smart' AIs were much easier to manufacture and produce, most of the bureaucratic, administrative, and infrastructural/logistical jobs are much more efficiently streamlined and managed, requiring less manpower than what has typically been historically required. For a Humanity besieged and threatened with extinction, such an advantage was a godsend for the armed forces as it allowed more men and women to be drafted. For the business and commercial markets, it helps cut down costs by reducing the number of employees they would need to hire.

Here in the Aquarii Star Cluster, though, few if any Dumb AIs were available, and as such were being regulated to priority tasks, such as maintaining the infrastructure of the larger cities, like Marshall, or maintaining the massive industrial complexes being constructed across human space. And while the deficiency in automated machinery wasn't as bad, such delicate and complex machines took time to install and bring online. Therefore, a larger-than-normal number of bureaucrats, accountants, and technical specialists would have to compensate for the shortage of AIs and automated machines until more could be produced or brought online.

Still, while this was a hassle and would slow down the day-to-day running of civilization, it wasn't necessarily a crippling blow, either. Just another problem amongst dozens of minor problems that'll need to be addressed and fixed in the future. But, like everything else, one step at a time.

The elevator was down for maintenance, so they climbed the stairs up to three flights before being led to a door at the end of the hallway, with the name MARIA MUSZYNSKA printed on the door in big bold letters. Two guards were stationed outside her door, who halted the group before they entered. The guards confiscated the marine details' assault rifles, while strangely allowing them to keep their sidearms before letting them in, under the escort of the guards.

The room itself was of modest size and design, with Maria situated behind her desk, finishing up some paperwork while speaking to someone on a video screen. "Mr. Haverson, we appreciate and are truly grateful for your company's contributions to the upcoming campaign, and we're glad we could come to an agreement."

'Hardly an agreement to be had, Miss. The last thing I want to see is those damn knockoff Koslovic goons over in the Social Populist in charge of this planet. Every god in existence wouldn't be able to help us if they win.'

Maria merely snorted as she smirked, "We'll just have to make sure they don't win in March next year. Thank you again, Haverson." The screen on her display went off as the woman turned her attention to the Vice-Admiral standing before her. Standing up and extending a hand, Maria spoke, "Vice Admiral Cole. Mr. Vadekar. A pleasure to see you both."

"Likewise," Cole answered as the two men returned her handshake.

"Ma'am, am I needed here? If you need me to wait outside-" Arun started to say but was cut off by Maria, "No. If anything, the Technocrats need to be made aware of this, too, if this turns out to be true. And believe me, I hope to god it isn't..." The Federalist Candidate started to say before her voice trailed off.

"... But, you have a strong reason to believe that the Populists are planning to stage a coup." Cole finished her line of thought, which she nodded as she pulled out several files and a datapad. Cole could see immediately that several of these files were pertaining to several known high ranking members of both URF. He recognized several as being the commanders of very large cells within the Insurrection. Lisandro Coronel. Laurenz Wach. Zorana Cooper. There were at least a dozen dossiers in each of the files, listing several infamous or high ranking members within the URF.

And every single one of them was listed as members of the Social Populist Party.

There were even more files regarding several questionable transactions and agreements made by the SPP and several smaller parties, as well as several known militant and criminal groups operating on Mbalenhle Cove. Several reports made mention of something spelled सुविधा एक. There were even pictures showing what appeared to be warehouses stored with weapons and munitions, under heavy guard. Jesus, how the hell was all of this kept secret? "Ma'am, how exactly did you acquire information that a possible coup was in the works?" Cole inquired as he picked up a couple of the files.

Maria merely smiled, "Believe it or not, I used to work Intelligence."

This caused Cole to look up from the file he was reading, "You're former ONI?"

"No, not ONI. I worked for a PIA firm, Keller Analytica, based on Eirene that had a few government contracts." Maria answered, taking a sip from a glass of water before continuing, "We weren't a massive firm, just a few hundred people trying to help keep the peace in the system and nearby Outer Colonies. Part of that included helping keep tabs on Innie cells and movements."

Cole nodded as he listened. Eirene had been a rather populous Outer Colony glassed by the Covenant in August of 2536. From what he had heard in reports regarding the battle, few escaped the planet's destruction.

"So about 10 years ago, in 34, my firm's field agents began noticing a drop in rebel activity within our sector. Not from the Covenant or us locating and wiping them out, mind you, but they just outright disappeared. Factions that were known to have their own warships and sizable manpower at their disposal, just vanishing without a trace. Now, we've known for a long time that they're all loosely apart of what is known as the 'United Rebel Faction', so we began trying to come up with theories regarding what was going on." Maria began explaining, "We came up with all kinds of theories. The only two prevalent ones to mind that made the most sense were A) they were gathering forces to try and seize control of colonies in the sector or B) they had all coordinated a mass exodus. Initially, we were convinced that the Innies were going to try and seize control. But as the months dragged on and nothing happened, and I do mean nothing, not even the typical IED attack or raid, we began reconsidering the possibility that they had fled altogether."

She then pulled out several reports, mostly incomplete and missing several bits of data, out to show to the two men. Someone had clearly tried to wipe the records.

As if reading his thoughts, Maria started speaking up again, "We started following known associates and members of the Innies planetside, keeping tabs on their families and their movements as we tried to figure out what was going on. And sure enough, one by one, all of these associates and their families started disappearing one by one, taking all their financial and any physical assets they could manage."

"And this went on for months?" Arun asked.

"This went on for the better part of a year before it started slowing down." Maria answered, "And none of us could figure out how they were sneaking off the planet. Finally, in '36, we caught a lucky break and learned of an Innie pickup that was going to happen. A small freighter landing in a small port on the southern edge of the planet, where it was less populated. Maybe 100 or so people were being picked up. This was our chance to catch some Insurgents and get some information out of them. We had everything planned out and the task force ready to swoop in and seize it in order to find out where they were going." As she finished talking, Maria's face seemed to grow bitter, as if remembering something foul.

Catching on to this, Cole asked, "What happened?"

"ONI happened." Maria answered bitterly, "They had been tailing our operatives and piggybacking off our findings. And when we finally learn of a pickup about to strike, they struck first."

The room grew silent for a moment as the three stared at one another, with Cole and Arun both noting the look of pure anger on her face as she looked down, clearly remembering something foul.

"ONI requisitioned a battalion of Marines, then proceeded to use those assets to try and seize the freighter. It was a disaster. Those bastards executed our task force operatives, all 60 of them, and of course, the people trying to evac fought back. In the ensuing chaos, the freighter's captain self-destructed the ship to keep it out of ONI's hands, killing almost everyone present. And while this was happening, ONI sent strike teams to storm our headquarters, arresting everyone there and executing anyone who resisted as they copied then purged every bit of data we had acquired."

"What?!" Arun exclaimed, "Why? I don't understand. I mean even for ONI, this doesn't make any sense. Why would they do something like this?"

"To keep people from knowing the truth," Cole answered, "That there were people willing to leave known human space altogether, especially if the exodus efforts are being spearheaded by insurgents. If such knowledge became public, it'd be disastrous for the war effort." It made sense if you were a paranoid intelligence organization. The last thing that ONI or the UNSC wanted the public to find out, was that some people had decided that they'd rather take their chances with the unknown and try to build a new life, rather than stay where they were and live in constant fear of total annihilation. Sometimes when your back is against the wall, any alternative looks better. For a logistic and manpower-starved UNSC that was fighting a numerically and technologically superior enemy, such a mass exodus of both precious manpower and industry was unacceptable. It needed every available body it could muster in hopes of saving the human race. So, if a few hundred civilians needed to die in order to maintain stability and unity, then for ONI and the UNSC, this was acceptable losses. Otherwise, if such information got out then there would be riots and attempts to flee on almost every single colony left within UEG Space, forcing the military to fight a three-front war with the Covenant, the remnants of the Innies, and hordes of civilians trying to flee. Such a drain on the UNSC's logistics and manpower would probably bring it to the breaking point, making it almost impossible to fight off the Covenant, as tough enough as that was.

Though Cole didn't wholeheartedly approve of it, he could understand the logic behind ONI's actions and why they reacted as such. At the same time, though, if so many people, among whom many were sympathetic to the Innie cause, wanted to flee and take their chances in the unknown regions of space, why not let them?

He answered his own question almost immediately as he mentally chastised himself, 'Because they would then risk violating the Cole Protocol by being captured by the Covenant, leading them back to UNSC Colonies.'

Maria had a foul look on her face as her steel-grey eyes stared down at the Vice-Admiral, "Probably so, not that it gives me any comfort." She stopped for a second, recounting her experience as she spoke, "I spent months in an isolated cell, being interrogated by ONI daily. Demanding everything I knew about the 'Mass Exodus' and the URF's plans. Telling me that both myself and my colleagues had violated the UNSC Security Act and committed treason because we had reported our findings to the local government instead of reporting them straight to HIGHCOM, and various other bullshit claims as they tortured us for whatever info we had. I genuinely believed I was going to die there." She chuckled dryly, "Ironically, the URF were the ones who saved me, busting in to break out a few of their comrades while the Covenant invaded the planet. Seeing as I had nowhere else to go, I ended up going with them here. But after everything I endured at the hands of ONI, I couldn't let it go. They had been obsessed with finding out as much as possible about these exoduses the Innies had been conducting."

"And that was how you came to find out just how extensive these exoduses were," Arun concluded, "I mean, we aren't the first ones to have fled out here."

Maria nodded in confirmation, while Cole, and his security entourage, blinked in surprise and looked over to his colleague. "What do you mean, not the first ones to come out here?"

Maria sat a little straighter at this, arching an eyebrow, "Are you being serious? You don't know about the dozens of other human colonies that have been getting settled out here? People have been fleeing out to this region since the 20s."

"What?!" Cole exclaimed. Even his security entourage was now listening in intently. Maria sighed and softly cursed Lyrenne's carelessness as she pulled out her datapad and began sending packets of information to Cole's own datapad. Opening them up, he looked to see file upon file for various 'governments' that had staked out a claim within this region of space, all within a 100-light-year sphere of one another. Of the dozens upon dozens of colonies that were listed, there were three that had been highlighted.

The first on the list Federal Republic of Falkirk. A successor state founded in 2536 and made up of survivors of, interestingly, both UNSC and the infamous rebel group known as the Free Commonwealth of Falkirk, who had plagued and battled UNSC forces in the system for almost three decades trying to win independence for their system (And on several occasions nearly succeeding), that had fled the destruction of the Gaelic System in 2535 when the Covenant invaded. After 4-weeks of brutal fighting and heroic efforts by the defenders, 130,000,000 of the system's 600,000,000 inhabitants managed to escape, but roughly 80,000,000 of those disappeared, the fleet transporting them having never been found despite the best efforts by the UNSC. Well, that mystery was now solved. The FCF must have taken control of the fleet and fled known human space. Ironically, the Free Commonwealth had gotten exactly what it wanted, thanks to help from UNSC forces that had fled with them. Their own sovereignty. This rogue faction was arguably the most powerful and stable of the various human factions out in the star cluster, with 9-star systems under their control and some 86 warships at their disposal. Most were old CMA vessels, but they did have several Halberd destroyers, six Asculum-Class Heavy Cruisers, and a couple of Titan-Class Carriers under their command, making them a formidable force within the region.

The next one was the Confederacy of Colonial Systems. Founded mostly by remnants of several Outer Colonies' populations and several Innie factions that hadn't been associated with the URF as they fled out here in 2537. Best described as a Confederation of several colonies (hence the name) that were banded together in the name of survival, these colonial systems typically go about their own business separate from one another but do have a ruling body that oversees the various colonies and a standing navy of roughly 70 ships, again mostly old CMA vessels that the innies managed to salvage or steal. Their army is decentralized and only answers to their respective home colonies/systems. But, with 11 star systems and 61 million people living in their borders, they had both significant manpower and logistics to call upon, making them a powerhouse within the region.

The last one on the list was the Commonwealth of Kalmar. One of the oldest of the factions in the region, it was formed in 2532 by survivors from the extremely rebellious outer colony of Västerås, with most of the population, despite having been abandoned by the UNSC, managed to escape before the Covenant began glassing the planet in 2532. Though only having 3-star systems and less than 10 million inhabitants, they still out populated any of the other colonies by a massive margin. And with some two dozen warships under their banner, they had a lot of military power to throw their weight around with compared to all of the minor colonies. Luckily, they seemed to be practicing a policy of pro-Scandinavian, due to the majority of their population being of Scandinavian descent and isolationism outside of trading with other worlds, so they would see a very small growth in population compared to other factions and likely not be a major threat.

There was a brief log for another power calling itself the Helstadt Hegemony, but the logs and data for it were minimal and largely dismissive of the nation, describing it as an overinflated dictatorship ruling over a dozen minor star systems that behaved as if it was a big player in the star cluster.

The security team was surprised by this news of other colonies and governments having been founded. Cole, on the other hand, was furious. Another fucking thing that Lyrenne had kept from him. There weren't just the 11 systems being colonized by the joint URF/UNSC forces, which were a lot of systems and a lot of colonies to protect, to begin with, but alongside these other major factions, there were HUNDREDS of colonies spread out across the region.

"Why the hell was this kept from me?! This isn't exactly something small to be left out!" Cole demanded as he continued looking over the colony list. Maria and Arun could only shrug as Maria answered, "No clue. You'll have to ask Lyrenne about that one. I figured you already knew about it."

"Goddamn, that woman." The Vice-Admiral muttered under his breath. He calmed himself for a minute before continuing, "We're getting off subject. Ms. Muszynska, you said you had evidence pointing to a possible coup being planned by the SPP if they lose the elections."

"And I showed you that. The SPP have been stockpiling arms and munitions, and have assembled a sizable force they could use for their own means. They're assembling a massive support basin amongst the various smaller parties, either through bribes or outright strong-arming or eliminating the competition. In a few months, they could be unstoppable if things continue the way they're going." Maria answered. "And right now, there's no one with the political capital or support that could challenge them. Even my own party, which has the largest power base and popularity at the moment, won't be able to compete with them."

"Unless..." Arun added, with Cole suppressing a groan, knowing full well where this was gonna go.

"Unless someone with both the political know-how and popular support of the people were to run, even if it was for the role of Secretary of Defense. Someone like a certain Vice-Admiral we all know." Maria finished. Cole merely looked away momentarily, massaging his temple.

The FUP candidate merely narrowed her eyes, "Vice-Admiral, you can deny it until you're blue in the face, but why else do you think there are so many people trying to get you to run for President or as a Defense Secretary? Regardless of what everybody thinks of you, there's no denying you're a legend, a war hero, and a genius in multiple fields. Who wouldn't want you a President?"

"The Social Populists, for one." Cole dryly retorted.

"Anybody to the right of the Communist Manifesto is an enemy as far as they're concerned," Arun remarked, only slightly exaggerating. "They're dangerous and power-hungry, Preston. If they were to take control-"

"Then the UNSC- no, the whole of humanity would have a hostile human organization with vast amounts of manpower and materials at its disposal," Maria finished, "and once they've solidified their control here, they'll start sending troops and equipment back to the Innie forces still there to continue the war with the UNSC."

"I think it's far worse than what you think," Cole said, looking down at the files.

Maria blinked at this, "What do you mean."

Cole said nothing at first as he continued looking over the files and reports gathered by Maria on the Social Populist Party, it was becoming increasingly clear to him that their ambitions went beyond just a simple take over of the local star systems. Within the listings of known stockpiles, the SPP had several dozen warehouses were full of food and crops, as well as vast stockades worth of titanium, vanadium, platinum, and even some tungsten. All of which could be used for constructing a magnitude of things in modern human society. But that wasn't what he was looking at. His attention was at three particular lines in the listing, which he pointed out to his colleagues.

Z#-III-IV- 2 Mary/Ner
Z#-IV-III- 3 Mary/Ner
Z#-VIII-IV- 4 Mary/Ner

Arun and Maria looked at the three lines, both of them confused as to why he was so focused on them. "Vice-Admiral, I'm not sure if there really is any meaning to this gibberish," Arun answered.

At first glance, it looked like nothing but gibberish, a typing error that amounted to nothing, but why have it in multiple reports if it equated to nothing? But one thing that caught his attention was that these three listings, in particular, were always listed underneath the line सुविधा एक. Cole was certain that this सुविधा एक was from some extremely obscure language, but from which he had no clue. He'd have to find a linguistical expert or have Ceasar translate it. As for the three lines of random wording...

Well, time to play detective.

III-IV, IV-III, and VIII-IV. Obviously, those were roman numerals, so 34, 43, and 84, respectively. # was the number sign. Mary/Ner... he had no clue what that meant. Z, on the other hand, was a bit of a conundrum. The Z by itself meant nothing, but the way it was listed with the other symbols must have given it some significance or hidden meaning.

Z#-34... Z#-34... ... ... Atomic Number 34?

"It's a code. A very unorthodox one, but effective if you don't know what you're looking for." Cole answered finally.

"What do you mean?" Maria asked.

Pointing out the Z, Cole started, "I recall from my teachings at school and studying that back in the early 20th century, scientists used the word Zahl, or number in German, for an element's assigned number on the periodic table until the mid-1910s. So, if we're going off of that for our decrypting of this, then this is code for Atomic Number 34, Atomic Number 43, and Atomic Number 84. Selenium, Technetium, and Polonium." Looking up to his colleagues, Cole then asked, "And what certain component vital to space travel used all 3 of these elements in its construction?"

"A Shaw-Fujikawa Drive," Arun answered. Maria followed up, "They're stockpiling resources used to make slipspace drives? Why? Why not win the good graces of a lot of companies dependent on space travel and donate some of those?"

"Because they're probably planning on using this along with the other resources they're stockpiling to build warships," Cole concluded. It was the only reason he could think of as to why.

"What about Mary/Ner, then? What the hell does that mean?" Arun asked.

"Probably code for a unit of measurement they're using to keep track of how much they have," Maria answered as she repeated the word in her head over and over again, as both Cole and Arun discussed it with one another. Mary/Ner. Mary/Ner. MaryNer.

"Mariner?" Maria suddenly said, catching the attention of the two. "Could that be what it is? A Mariner?"

"Mariner as in a sea vessel or a Mariner-Class Transport?" Cole inquired, but Maria shook her head at this, "It couldn't be a sea vessel, not any of significant size for transporting materials, anyhow. There's no way an ocean shipyard and the vessels could have been built in just three years and no one knows about it. It has to be a Mariner-Class Transport."

"Then they have 9 Mariner vessels loaded up with these elements needed to create slipspace drives. Is that what this is saying?" Cole asked.

"It's the best assumption I could come up with that makes sense," Maria answered.

"How much can a Mariner transport carry in its cargo holds?" Arun asked. Cole did some quick calculations in his head before answering, "At 364 meters and with only needing a minimum crew of 6 and a maximum of 42 to properly operate, they can carry far more cargo than other vessels their size. Typically, the average they carry is 520,000 metric tons of deadweight, though it can be pushed to about 550,000 tons at the maximum."

As Maria did the math in her head, her eyes went wide with horror as she cursed softly in her native Polish tongue, "Jezus Chrystus! So if this is, in fact, accurate, you're telling me they have anywhere from 4.68 to 4.95 MILLION metric tons of these materials just sitting around?!"

Cole nodded grimly, "With that much of the three main metals needed for Shaw-Fujikawa Drives, they could build hundreds or evens thousands of drives. Provided they get their hands on the other metals needed in their construction, but that won't be an issue. Then they could build hundreds of space-worthy warships to use to invade UEG space-"

"Which would then lead either the UNSC or the Covenant back to here. Making all of this pointless. They're not just planning on taking over here. They're planning on trying to take over everything." Arun finished grimly, the direness of the situation sinking in as Cole nodded in confirmation, "Which likely doom humanity in the process if such severe infighting were to happen."

"How the hell did they get their hands on so much Selenium or any of the other two for that matter?" Maria asked, taking a swig from her drink, "Illegal mining ops?"

"That could cover some of it, but for Selenium it has to be produced since very few worlds have naturally occurring deposits on them." Cole responded as he continued looking over the file reports, "Technetium has the same issue, as it's not very common within a planet's crust due to its short half-life of 4.2 million years. I think the moons of Actium, Ballast, and the Galilean moon Io are known to have some large concentrations of Technetium in their crust, but that's about it as far as I know. So more than likely they have to artificially produce it through industrial means. They probably have raided shipping and used front companies across UEG space to help pool up their reserves. Polonium is much more common compared to the other two, so illegal mining is the likely candidate there. This pooling of resources was probably done over the course of years. Decades even."

"So if we were to, say, 'acquire' these stockpiles-" Maria began, but Cole was quick to interrupt, "We would have to tell everyone we received some intel and helped the military capture them from pirates operating in the region. If we tell them we took this from another political party, the SPP could then claim they were accumulating those resources for an emergency or for helping fuel the industrial sector with raw material. Either way, it would look extremely despotic and authoritarian on our part. However, if we can seize all or most of it quietly, then claim we seized it from pirates and gangs operating in the region, which there are some. Then the SPP can't say anything about it without making themselves look bad, because the people will then start wondering why they were hoarding so many badly needed resources, to begin with."

Neither Maria nor Arun had an argument to counter the Vice-Admiral's logic, only further convincing them that the one person who didn't want to run for office was the only one truly qualified for the role.

Cole cleared his throat before saying, "I'll need to make a trip back to Shinsei before we begin planning anything. I need to bring something that'll help us in this little scheme."

"What's that?" Maria inquired.

"An expert. Someone who understands how to conduct Black Ops and fighting terrorists." Cole answered, "Then we can start the scheming and plotting to dismantle the SPP."

This got the other two excited at the what this implied, but before they could get their hopes up, Cole quickly dashed them as he held up a hand, "This doesn't mean I'm running for any political office. But I do agree that this is something we need to deal with before it bites all of humanity in the ass."

Arun nodded, "I'll see what support I can muster from the Technocrats, but I'm glad to hear you're at least willing to help with this."

"My job is to protect humanity, Mr. Vadekar. Even if I'm no longer UNSC, I can't ignore a threat that endangers all of humanity." Cole answered precisely, though in his mind he'd truly love nothing more than to hang up the uniform and retire. Maybe finally start up that farm he always wanted to do. But, until the situation normalizes and stabilizes, that farm would have to wait. Still, he couldn't help but admit.

President Preston Cole did have a nice ring to it. Too bad it would never happen... right?


And that's all for this chapter, hope you enjoyed it! Let me know your thoughts in the review section, I always love hearing people's opinions/constructive criticism.

See you next time!

-Azores