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The following is a fan-based

FICTION

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"Bureaucracy Madness"

December 17 2525 - Hour 1922

Admiral Preston Cole

Orbit over Planet of Harvest

Preston Cole wasn't happy.

It was a successful operation, the planet was mostly theirs as the last batches of resistance were killed off and the work to turn it into an anti-fleet fortress was underway. By all means, this was a brilliant development for the UNSC's efforts, but... he wasn't happy. This victory highlighted flaws within what humanity was currently mustering, taking note of the fact that the Covenant ships had plasma as their main weaponry, something that created higher damage than anything they had at their disposal short of the MAC Cannons. It didn't help that there was also an issue in size. Their greatest ship at the moment was inferior in quality to their best one.

The Navy wasn't ready to conduct a full-fledged war until they could rely on bigger ships with improved equipment.

In an honest review of the last decades, it wouldn't be a lie to say that the UNSC had good reasons to not invest too much on military ships. The last time a major war erupted was too long ago and the current weaponry had been kept under loyal military officers and members of the higher sections of the UNSC itself. But that didn't solve the notion that Earth wasn't up there to face the Covenant, and that this victory could be easily squashed if the Covenant had one of those 'Super-Destroyers' on standby to intervene on Harvest.

Covenant Communication was still scattered. They were focusing on the land operations, knowing that the decimation of their forces on the surface was much more of a pressing problem. They already knew that there was no help coming. Good news? Maybe. What were the chances of someone feeling cranky enough to knock down humanity down to humility once again?

Closing his eyes and turning away from the screen detailing the more important elements of the engagement, he wondered if he should have just refused being recruited back into the corps. Things were burning down too fast, and years of stagnation were catching up with ugly surprises in tow. Maybe he was regretting 'too much' at this point, and Cole's attention was back at his terminal.

Perhaps there was something that he could work on to solve this issue. Building bigger ships would require months if not a year or two to get every step of the process dealt with. No, they couldn't rely on waiting for that long. They needed something 'temporary' but that could solve the issue they were having. The worst part of a Covenant Navy was the fact that all ships were protected by shields. Which meant that their resilience was twice as impressive as a normal UNSC ship. They had to develop something to bypass the shield, or disable those for a while, and allow the battleground to be evened out.

As he leaned back on his chair, his gaze glanced at the door as it opened to show his secretary. The young woman spared him a quick salute, clumsily as she was holding a cup of warm coffee with one hand and a folder with papers in another. He nodded, waiting for her to be done by placing down the cup by his desk and the folder in his waiting hands. A quick 'thank you' and the younger officer left his sight. Once again alone, but this time with new thoughts to keep him distracted.

ONI had tried to force its way into the special section of the medical bay where their newest collaborator was currently being treated. It was clear what they wanted, but they failed to realize one thing about this ship. This was Cole's ship, and it had been rendered 'safe' from any unpleasant infiltration before the battle for Harvest began. The last thing Cole needed was some spy paid by Parangosky to try and annoy him too much. This wasn't the space and the time to irritate him, not when they were on the brink of a war they couldn't win at the moment.

Every step, every thought, every hesitation- it all mattered in their chances to survive through the first rough years that were before them. The only reason why things were looking this positive and the men were keeping a high morale despite the disadvantage was propaganda and truth. Logan Sutton might not have done much since the war, but his progress was nonetheless impeccable.

His escape from Harvest highlighted that the Marines still had the discipline to go through this kind of pressure if trained for the regular schedule, which is why he voiced opposition to any mass mobilization just yet to keep the corps as high-quality as possible. The situation in Chi Ceti IV? He showed with his actions that BALMUNG was currently worthy of being invested on. The armor he received wasn't as hi-tech as those provided to the candidates part of Halsey's Spartan-II project, but it was enough to increase the combat prowess to acceptable levels while also providing a jump forward for normal Marines' equipment.

What really made the BALMUNG suit stand out was the idea behind it, the capacity to mass-produce it as an effective counter to the land disadvantage reported during skirmishes between Covenants and Humans. The stepping stone to make the land battles more even and to advance humanity as a whole into the future. The possibilities offered by creating civilian versions of these suits were intriguing and it would effectively expand the means of humans to achieve greater heights of efficiency without actually hurting the people.

Which is why, deep within, Cole wanted for a counterattack to happen. Not a big one, but something where Sutton could shine again and prove to the few skeptics in the UNSC council that this was the future. That this was their counter to ONI's schemes to secure loyal troops and try to take over. Parangosky might be saying the truth about wanting the best for humanity, but she wasn't as keen to admit what the limits of such a vision were. How did she plan to achieve such a grandiose idea? Definitely not through the UEG's legislation. Which is why the UNSC wasn't going to allow her any mercy to the little democracy they had left now that the military was going to take over most of the affairs.

The end goal in this war is to win and then restore the power back to the people. The last thing they really needed back home was to give some of the more radical insurgents more cannon fodders to join their fold. The cup was now empty, Cole noticed as he placed the small item down back to the desk. It was time to get back to the real work and oversee the completion of the projects planned for this defense operation. He could feel it in his bones...

The Covenants were coming, and they weren't sending a small force to deal with them.

AN

Next up, the surprise POV and... it's actually a move I was confused about why it didn't happen in Canon Halo. Maybe there were limitations I didn't notice, but let's just say a future bad 'guy' might not be one due to some favors being employed.