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"Scapegoating"

March 12 2528 - Hour 1222

MAJ Logan 'Log' Sutton

Aboard the UNSC Roman Blue, Orbit over Reach

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This was not a public speech, nor I planned to make one with the topics I had in mind to discuss about.

In the debriefing room there was me, Dr. Gerhardt, Dr. Halsey, the various leading officers of the Balmung group and a couple of Spartan-II that had distinguished themselves as reliable leaders within the large company. The reason for the secrecy was quite simple: things were happening and secret directives were to be enabled after being authorized to do so by Fleet Admiral Erikson.

The aging officer had been majorly displeased by the recent events, even more due to some of the responses dictated by ONI as that was going to be the worst thing to deal with as soon as the war was over. So, here I was with a fairly big report in hand and a lot to unpack through what we learned in these few days of seeing the war suddenly coming to a pause.

Thela had safely made it to medics that took care of her, and none of the Covenant officers caused issues when they were returned to containment cells. That front was sealed off for the time being, with my full attention now aimed to this 'now'.

"I will start this meeting with a good news. The War against the Covenant is going to experience a brief stall and then a potential quick rush to victory within the next one to two years at worst."

I saw many nods in relief at this, but no celebration just yet. Gerhardt was the only one with a smile, while Halsey was clearly in a bad mood for hearing some of the shit that I will have to bring up to attention.

"With that being said, that doesn't mean that the war will be easier. It means that we will have the advantage and the loyalists to the 'Prophets' will be unable to retain the same stalemate we held against their forces up to this very point," I continued, setting down the papers as I looked around to draw further attention on the matter. "It's best to stay vigilant as this will lead to our enemies to start being creative and murderous with their traps. They will use all sorts of tricks and amoral behaviors to keep us on our toes. Never forget that."

I looked away as I noticed Sif's avatar huffing at something, she glanced back at me, but was back to her silent browsing of... whatever she was looking into.

"We will start entertaining negotiations with the various 'rebellious' factions in the Covenant. The Sangheili have decided to form an united front and split in most part from the Covenant. Diplomacy will take its time, but we can say that they are out of the game and will probably join our side once things are ironed out."

"They would be willing to betray their own alliance just like that?" Gage remarked with a bit of surprise, only for Sif to reply.

"The Sangheili were the most loyal and yet the most divisive elements of the Covenant. Their attachment to Honor and Traditions set them at odds with the Prophets many times," The AI answered calmly. "And considering the circumstances, there's an high chance they will settle to finally centralize again under an Arbiter."

Alba hummed at this. "I thought the Arbiter was just a major puppet to the Prophet. A warrior meant to lead glorious fleets and troops into dangerous battles."

"It was the case after the Writ of Union was ratified. Before that, the Arbiter was both a King and a Judge. Since a concept for a Republican government had been shot down many times by the various Kaidons, it's clear they will resurrect the concept of a 'sole king to rule them all'."

"Which is why we will expect some sort of 'Entente' with the Sangheili first, then perhaps we will find a chance to collaborate with the few Jiralhanae clans that have rejected the Prophets," I pushed forward on the matter. "This will be a tense few months, but data suggests we will be on top regardless of any outcome."

Halsey nodded, but decided it was time to bring up the big elephant in the room.

"That is unless we will be dealing with more trouble from ONI."

Sighing, I nodded back at the woman. "That's correct, Dr. Halsey. To make it simple for you all, ONI has created a potential scapegoat in James Ackerson. You may not know him, but he was relatively active with HIGHCOM, trying to get his hands on the Spartan-II project while it was being developed and... growing a bit upset that he wasn't getting his own puppet soldiers."

The Spartans in the room looked calm, but Sif sent me some frames of their vitals- they were nervous.

"Luckily for us, his 'hasty arrest' has led us into a bit of a rabbit hole. The most troubling element being that he had set plans and funds to create a successor to the Spartan-II Project. He was trying to achieve a 'cheaper but loyal' foundation compared to what he defined as 'too expensive and too disobedient' batch."

"Which is utterly rubbish!" Halsey exploded at this. "I had provided my statistics to these idiots and they can't understand that quality is needed for soldiers of this kind. Even Balmung sets limitations on who ends up wielding the armors provided by Gerhardt- only those that have proved their worth in combat."

"And I agree to this to an extent as I have other major grievances," I lamented politely. "Such as the notion that they planned to implement lesser augmentations and a weaker power armor to preserve a large manpower pool compared to the Spartan-II Project."

Such a notion was quite easy for the Spartans and Halsey to grasp- less augs and a lesser armor mean that the new Spartans would have less of an edge to fight. Plus, the timing would force those troops to be deployed with less years spent training. It would have been a disaster.

"Shouldn't the HIGHCOM be able to dismiss Admiral Parangosky due to this fiasco regardless of Ackerson's guilty status?" John-117 inquired and I offered a grimace.

"One would think that it is so easy and efficient but... Parangosky is smart and will cover her butt from this fiasco. She will roll back some bold initiatives, but remain active in planning stuff. Which is really good at this very time since there will be a major event on Earth by next week and ONI will have no grip on it," I concluded this first half with a smile as this was indeed good news. "There will be a wave of mass promotions and this group will receive plenty of those. The Battle of Reach was historical and all reports are being gauged by a special commission created with the idea of pushing for a boost to ranks for many officers that showed dedication, great valor and admirable will during the attack."

Some hand-clapping ensued, but it was brief as the rest that was left to deliver was the directives in this regard. Like hell this ceremony was going to be absolutely safe, but prerogatives were also set to provide all troops receiving medals with standard sidearms and 'armored uniforms' to prevent any 'surprise terrorist attack'. I had a feeling that Ackerson had been a driving force for some goofy shit I had seen in recent times, but I knew Paragonsky knew and subscribed to the general lines of these ideas, perhaps differentiating herself in terms of 'how to get this done'.

Once the entire process was wrapped up, I found myself going back to my room and-

"She has been sending you several messages and few pictures. Safe things and mostly food served to her in the hospital."

Sif's voice drew a groan from me as I closed the room's door behind me. "She should know of boundaries."

"Perhaps she does, but she seems determined to ignore those to gain your attention."

"I already told her I would visit tomorrow."

"I think it's the hospital. It can be boring. And she only has your contacts at the moment."

A terrible mistake. But one that hopefully will contain even worse conditions to develop towards me.

But for now, sleep was needed. The first phase of the War was over... now it was time to deal with the splinter groups...

AN

I think it's safe to say that I will soon write a new lemon. I think I mentioned this before now, but I am quite certain now. Let's just say someone will go 'nuts'.