Aboard SSV Normandy SR- 2, 2186 Citadel Calendar, 09:05
It was always the sterile air that hit him at first. After a couple of months you supposedly got used to it but Commander Shepard never really got around to it. Every time he reboarded the ship back from a mission it was like a slap in the face. No smell, no freshness, just recycled.
It was always a strain. And it didn't help that Shepard was physically exhausted after every mission. Not even the constant conditioning and grueling combat scenarios in N1 through N6 and even N7 prepped him for the strains of barely two minutes of combat.
Sometimes he was also mentally and emotionally drained. He wondered how some soldiers could go on barely affected by the similar events Shepard witnessed. How many times he held back in order to strike a deal.
You cajole and sacrifice until they have someone to follow… Liara had said.
At least this time the mission worked out for once in a lifetime, thank Christ. The Geth and Quarians, with the help of Legion and company, were able to broker an alliance against the Reapers. It was going to be rocky, sure. But as long as they aren't killing each other, openly at least, Shepard tried not to care.
But the price was Legion. Another person Shepard couldn't save. Does this unit have a soul? ...Despite the close call with the Quarian fleet, Legion sacrificed himself for his people. Shepard told him to keep uploading the data. What happened if he didn't?
There could've been another way.
...At least his death wasn't in vain.
All Shepard wanted to do at the moment was collapse on his bed and fall asleep. Maybe... He wondered if he would go back to that forest. It wasn't frequent, but the thought that it might appear constantly kept him up.. He didn't talk about it to the crew, for obvious reasons. Well, except for Liara.
The lack of sleep didn't affect his combat ability. The adrenaline set him in line as dark circles formed under his eyes and his skin became rough and uneven. He just wondered how much longer he can keep going like this.
He had to check some stuff anyways. In the CIC, the Commander accessed his computer terminal. It updated him on the casualty lists on every galactic front. Few wounded. The Reapers had no mercy, no concerns, no other goal except the extermination of all life… He breathed in, trying to keep calm. There were some other messages, but they really didn't matter.
He was trying to keep it together. His crew were also in the same boat, keeping it together for the sake of each other. They told him about it, as with the open door policy and, well, since they were friends. At the least, all of them were tired. Christ. They had family. Friends. Shepard didn't have anybody. They were going through absolute hell.
People are suffering a lot worse out there.
He felt dizzy. He needed to talk to someone. He'll head down to Liara's room. Hopefully-
"Commander Shepard, Admiral Hackett is on the QEC. It's urgent." Specialist Traynor reported from her station, nothing in her tone that seemed to be affected by the war at all. She just continued to move screen after screen, typing in word after word.
"Thanks. Just type up a summary report of the Geth and Quarians and send it to the Admiral," Shepard said, a little disappointed.
"I'll give it to EDI. She can type it up faster."
He tried to run there but his legs refused. They were numb, unable to process any major central commands. Soon enough they'll begin to hurt. He had to take another magnesium pill soon to subdue the exhaustion. He was sure that it didn't have any side effects whatsoever.
He passed through the security screening to the war room. As usual, the two guards were talking about God knows what. Shepard didn't have the energy to listen. Maybe it was a blessing this time.
He entered the QEC room, pressed the answer button on the console. A blue figure appeared. He was dressed in a Systems Alliance naval uniform along with the standard cover. Admiralty rank was pinned over his heart and his shoulder pads had four bars across them. His face was covered in wrinkles and uneven skin. Bags over depressions were under his eyes, filling the distance between cheekbones. He had a greying goatee and a scar traveling across from his lower right eye to mouth.
Commander Shepard saluted Admiral Steven Hackett, tried his best to be at attention.
"At ease," He said quickly in his gruff and sad voice.
"Admiral, sir," Shepard said.
"Shepard, I just received a rather brief report from Specialist Traynor. She certainly types fast."
Shepard guessed Traynor made EDI say it was her report. "Yes, sir. Both the Geth and Quarians are willing to supply their fleets and whatever ground troops they can spare."
Admiral Hackett only nodded at first. He stayed silent as he brought up another screen. Three objects appeared, "Shepard, you're going to have to give me the report later. There's another pressing matter."
"Sir?" Shepard said, with actual surprise and maybe a peak of curiosity. And maybe a little bit of anger at how easily all the work and sacrifice was dismissed. He felt whatever tiredness he had begun to slip away little by little.
This alliance was the most important thing at the moment. What could be so pressing that Admiral Hackett...merely dismissed three week's worth of work and loss?
"Around twenty-nine minutes ago we received strange reports near Illium. Scattered remnants from the Eighth Fleet were helping defend the planet against Reaper forces. They reported three unidentified vessels enter into the system through the nearby relay."
Shepard looked to the three objects. Each one had a displayed name on their hull, similar to the Normandy. The first two ships' names were UNSC Shadow Man and UNSC Bar Fight. They were ugly as hell. Tali might disagree, having grown up aboard grey and bulky ships scraped together. They were thin, obviously more concentrated on height than width. They weren't impressive. They had a couple of armaments; a few point-defense lasers and long range batteries.
But the third one however was odd. The UNSC Legend After. It was heavily armored with dozens of defense guns and had a hull who knew how thick. Its main battery was a giant hole at the top of the front of the ship. As Shepard observed more and more he noticed there were dozens of smaller holes on each side of all the ships, seemingly jutting out.
Each one had a symbol. It was a menacing black bird of some kind, maybe an Eagle or a Falcon raising its wings in a similar stance to the ancient seal of the United States of America. A shield covered its body as the bird perched defensively over a sphere, most likely a planet, surrounded by a banner with the words 'United Nations Space Command'.
"I've never seen these kinds of ships before. And I can't say I ever heard of the 'United Nations Space Command,'" Shepard said.
"It seems no one else at Alliance command has either. In any other situation this would've been brushed off, classified under 'misinformation' even with scouting reports from dozens of Alliance under the SSV Cairo and Illuim Defense Force ships. But what was in the reports caught our analysts by surprise. The radio transmission that was forwarded to us confirmed our suspicions.
"When the three ships entered the system, they were immediately detected. They were spinning out of control, and only realigned themselves with some rather primitive technology. SSV Mombasa and SSV Honolulu were protecting two Alliance carriers holding hundreds of refugees trying to escape Illium. The three ships were directly in their approach vector. The captain of Honolulu ordered the unidentified vessels to move or be fired upon. They didn't respond. Unfortunately, two Reaper capital ships intercepted them, and destroyed the Honolulu and the evac group only a few minutes later.
"They then turned on the unidentified vessels. The battle only took a couple of minutes. The Reapers engaged, however unlike our ships, the Legend After was able to withstand a direct hit from the Reaper's main cannon. The UNSC Bar Fight after this attack completely disappeared from visual and scanner view. Cairo detected an immediate Relay jump. We can only assume it was the Bar Fight. The Legend After counterattacked, firing off three six-hundred ton slugs from its main cannon in succession at a quarter of the speed of light. All three rounds connected, two piercing right through the hull and taking down the first Reaper ship. The other Reaper capital ship easily destroyed the Shadow Man with one shot from its cannon. It then turned on the Legend After, breaking through its shields and severely damaging its hull. The Legend After maneuvered towards the planet at around two-thousand kilometers per minute. It used its main cannon along with pod type missiles and weapons cannons, destroyed the other Reaper, then crash landed on Illium. When it was going down, it played this message in the form of AM and FM frequencies."
Hackett pressed a button on an invisible screen. A young and accent ridden voice began to yell, "Mayday, mayday, mayday! This is Captain Mark Florence of the UNSC Legend After, transmitting on all UNSC frequencies! We are going down an attack made by an unknown alien force designated as Squids as we made our way through a Forerunner artifact designated as 'God's Key'. Our ship is going down on an unidentified garden world, coordinates, uh…nine by zero by seven by six by one-three. I'm activating protocol Winter Contingency. Cole Protocol will be fully enforced, I repeat, Cole Protocol will be fully enforced."
Jesus Christ.
Shepard couldn't say anything…
Aboard UNSC Infinity
150,000 kilometers over Earth
2557 Military Calendar, 09:00
Three days. Three days ever since.
For three days Master Chief Petty Officer John Sierra-117 only ate, slept, and looked out a hall window along the portside of the UNSC Infinity. Earth slowly rotated beneath them, showing Eastern Europe and the Middle East in its awakening from the dark. The globe was surrounded by the hundreds of ships of the UNSCDF fleet along with hundreds of SMAC stations. Sometimes, every once and awhile a ship or a repair cruiser carrying supplies or wreckage from the previous battle flew by.
Don't make a girl a promise, if you know you can't keep it.
Those words still echoed in his mind as if she were right there.
But she was gone. She sacrificed her life for his.
Could you sacrifice me to complete your mission? Could you watch me die?
He failed his mission.
"Chief?" A very familiar voice said, embedded with kindness and odd enthusiasm.
John turned around to face the tired eyes of Captain Thomas Lasky as he stood next to the entrance of the thin hallway. Small areas of grey hair, and dark circles under his eyes from the experiences during the Great War made him look much older than he really was. The sun of the Sol system landed on Lasky, giving way to his newly assigned uniform with promoted rank and holstered magnum. On top of the uniform was grey body armor and araised left shoulder pad with spinal case.
"Mind if I stand with you? Again?" He asked.
The Chief nodded, still remaining in a hopeless silence. Lasky stood next to him and placed his hands behind his back, quietly observing the planet on the other side of the window.
He spoke, "Europe…Home of the old idea of "Western Civilization." The two terrible wars that lead to the creation of the UNSC. Birthplace of modern day Christianity… my dad's ancestors were from the Middle East though, specifically Israel, living as Conservative Jews. That rubbed off onto my mom, but I'm not sure if I ever believed in it. Mom's ancestors were from Europe. Poland, near the Russian border as Eastern Orthodox Christians."
John wasn't sure why Lasky was telling him this, why he came all the way over here from the bridge.
"Yeah, both families moved to Mars about two hundred years ago? I don't know, it's just amazing we can trace so far back." He looked to the Chief, seeing that it was going nowhere and frowned.
"Well, I obviously didn't come to talk about my family..."
Lasky trailed off. He knew the Chief was listening, it was just… The Chief didn't know why he stopped. He changed topics. "How are you doing?"
He said nothing, still stared at the homeworld of Humanity.
Lasky only nodded, looking out at the homeworld with him. "…It might be too soon, and if you don't want to answer that's okay. But, ONI sanitized your records and tried to quiet it down that you're even alive, but I did some digging. There are a couple of old colleagues of yours that are actually serving on the Infinity right now. Lieutenant Chip Dubbo, Major Marcus Stacker, Major Jake Reynolds? Reynolds is my security chief, Stacker is the head of the few ODSTs I have aboard, including Dubbo."
The Master Chief remembered them. They were a few of the marines that helped him during the final effort of the Great War. It wasn't surprising. Out of the seventeen-thousand crew members of the Infinity, statistically eighty-seven percent of them serving were vets. It was more of a symbol to the public. Heroes that defended Humanity in its darkest hour leading in its brightest "exploration" efforts. They even debated assigning whatever Spartan-IIs were left, but Lord Hood decided that was unnecessary.
At least the number used to be eighty-seven percent. After the Requiem Events, Infinity lost about a fourth of her crew. It would be a hassle to purposely pull out any Great War veterans from their positions all to merely play for the public. And the Chief recently learned there weren't exactly a pool of veterans left. The few military personnel that were left at the end of the War were offered to go home with full pension even if their required years weren't finished.
They got to choose.
As he thought about Requiem he remembered Master Sergeant, now Major Stacker. Stacker helped him push towards the gravity rift on Requiem, but John guessed he didn't process his voice. He just thought it was just some other order from another marine, nothing important to the mission. And the last time he saw Private Dubbo and Gunnery Sergeant Reynolds was on the Ark, which was only less than a month ago (at least to the Chief).
Lasky sighed. There was some wave of relief that seemed to wash over him, "Chief, I have some good news for you. I might get in trouble for saying it, but-"
There was a ringing sound. It was his comm link.
"Excuse me. Priority message from FLEETCOM." Lasky said. He exited the hallway for a brief moment, leaving the Master Chief to think.
The old veterans were here. And they seem perfectly fine.
He thought about Lasky's words in their last meeting. Even though Lasky was a moralistic stigma within the UNSC, odd through and through, he still considered Earth home. Earth didn't feel like home to the Chief. But besides him and a few others ask the vast majority of Humanity and they'll say with confidence that Earth was their main home. And because it was their home Humanity and the UNSC will defend it to their extinction. So he had to too…
This place will become your home.
This place will become your tomb.
"-Chief, hey? You're okay, right?" Lasky said, standing next to him. He seemed a little worried, a lot more anxious. "You heard what I said, right? We have to get going."
…
The rest of the crew was brought in on Admiral Hackett's suggestion. Both James and Ashley saluted Hackett as they filed in. Tali didn't even say hi. She didn't act like it but she was instantly drawn towards the three ships. Her glowing eyes moved from one to another. The others were quiet, mostly confused.
Liara looked to him, noticing what was off, "Shepard, are you okay?"
"Talk to Admiral Hackett."
From the way he said it they might've been thinking the worse. Did the Citadel fall? Were the Asari wiped out? Who the hell knows. They were timid to ask Hackett and he responded by telling them the exact same thing he told Shepard: The full report. The defeat of a Reaper capital group at Illium by a unknown force.
And no one said a word for a long time. The humming of the ship became louder. The sterile air dug into Shepard's nose.
"Maybe I should ask the important question that's on everyone's mind," Liara said, moving towards the front of the room. "...Is this first contact?"
Hackett took a moment to respond. "Honestly I don't know. Right now we have perfect examples of perfect English communication. Yet we have never seen this kind of technology before. Advanced, but using primitive spacefaring technology."
"These small little holes across the ship…These aren't what I think they are…are they?" Tali said, voice stunned, void of any sort of enthusiasm.
"Cairo witnessed dozens of smaller engine emissions erupt from all sides of the ship, using them to balance out the force from their main engines or for main propulsion as evident from the flying maneuver past the Reaper. Reaction Control Systems at its finest. Ever since the discovery and usage of Eezo RCS engines and systems became completely obsolete with the use of depression shift." Hackett crossed his arms
Tali looked from the ships. "Wait. Are you saying-"
"Yes. From the quick scan performed by the Cairo's VI, we are certain that there is no trace of Eezo or dark energy of any sorts aboard those ships.
"A ship like the Legend After? It's almost impossible to think how much Eezo would be required to run it," Hackett continued, not even giving the courtesy for Shepard and his crew to process the news. "However, the Legend After is around a kilometer and a half long length wise, larger than most of our dreadnaughts. And, obviously, they can pack a larger punch than anything we can manage."
It took almost everything the Alliance and Citadel Security Force had to eliminate one Reaper capital ship. It took half of the Qurian flotilla to successfully bombard a single unimportant Reaper destroyer. This ship, the Legend After by itself destroyed two capital ships paying with its life. That was… almost impossible to believe. Three strikes from its main cannon, whatever the hell it was, tore the Reaper to pieces.
And no Eezo. Almost everything within the galaxy ran on Eezo. For countless years scientists tried to find an alternative with no prevail. And this…new species or organization or whoever they were found that alternative?
It just couldn't be. Eezo use in a ship is exponential according to the size of the ship. Using conventional electricity, even alternate or nuclear fusion, would require power that could supply an entire planet for centuries.
"What?" Tali asked, even more surprised than the rest. "Th…How? We've become so dependent on Eezo it's become basic law. How did they even get through a Relay without Prothean technology to influence them? Or Eezo to make the trip for that matter?"
Hackett sighed. "We don't know. Our scientists are trying to study all the information we acquired, and so far they've made as much progress as you have. This is why we can't say if this is first contact or not with such contradictory evidence. But...to support the first contact theory, take the FM signals. We picked up their transmissions on the FM. They obviously had no idea what was going on and tried every way to contact us. And these messages were mostly about staying the hell away or be fired upon. The ship transmissions they sent to each other however was through an unidentified encrypted channel, which we can't even begin to crack."
Shepard turned to Liara, "if this was some organization you would know about it, right?"
She nodded. "I've been researching ever since Hackett explained. Nothing matches in my databases... Except for the UNSC. The United Nations of Earth back in humanity's early efforts to unite itself. It collapsed however with the rise and gaining popularity of the Systems Alliance. But I doubt that it's the same ones. The Systems Alliance would definitely know about it. The only piece of evidence that makes us unsure at this moment, is of course, the English. They can't translate an entire language in the span of five minutes unless they had contact with us before or were watching us from afar." She opened up her Omni-tool, shifting through various orange notes on the data tool
"With those invisible ships, it may be possible for covert recon with absolutely no scanner or visual view. It makes it even easier without any Eezo emissions. How many of those ships do you think are around the Citadel, say?" Tali said.
"Okay, well, I'm no scientist or ship technician," Garrus said, "but maybe we should talk about the crash landing message. Aliens? Designated as squids? They had no idea who the Reapers are. And what can be said about this Forerunner artifact?
"Designated as God's Key?" Liara said. "They recently discovered this artifact? Wouldn't this contradict the theory they have always been watching us? They couldn't travel from system to system, not without the Relays."
"What's the assessment of their capabilities?" Shepard said, interrupting the three.
"We can't tell a lot from a two minute battle, but I can say the Legend After is a damn fine ship. Their shields are evidently a lot stronger than ours along with their main cannon. As for maneuverability and speed, they're about the same as our dreadnaughts if not a little less maneuverable. For now we're still processing all capabilities.
"But for the moment we can all agree there are still a lot of unanswered questions."
Yeah. The only semi-solid thing they had on these guys was a captain named Mark Florence. His name, along with his voice, sounded human. Then again it could be a translator of some sorts with a copied off name. But what was Cole Protocol? Winter Contingency? He made a lot of effort to include those two things, and from the way he worded it it almost sounded like a duty.
"And I can assume you want us to answer them?" Shepard said.
"Correct. From reports, the UNSC Legend After went down eighteen miles outside Nos Astra mostly intact. Escape pods are spread throughout the entire region. We don't know if there are any survivors at the crash site at this moment. Reaper forces are currently heading towards the ship's position. Shepard, I want you to take a ground team to the planet. Your first objective is that ship. Evacuate any survivors if you can, then secondary objective is to scavenge and recover any technology and information. Then move on to the escape pods. We don't know how many people these pods can hold, so it would be wise to have the Normandy on standby to make round trips. But your main priority however, if possible, is to try to convince whoever these people are to join our fight against the Reapers."
"Then, sir… This sounds a lot like first contact." Shepard said, already knowing the answer.
"You tell me, Commander." Hackett responded, knowing too.
Shepard remained silent.
"Does the Council know about this?" Liara said.
"For the moment, no. But soon enough the Council will find out. Alliance assets immediately contacted me with this report. I assume Illium Security Forces sent reports to the Citadel, but it would just be white noise. The Council receives hundreds of reports every day. Hell, they might've received a full assessment but classified it as misinformation. But it was me or the Council, the only asset we have to spare is you, Commander."
With stretching resources and men the only few available resources to deploy on multi-role combat operations are Shepard and his squad, and some Specter forces. Not a single fleet or ground division was left to spare. The Council tried to keep it very hushed for the public's sake.
"If they're uncooperative?" Shepard sasked..
"I have faith you'll somehow convince them," Hackett said.
Shepard couldn't help but get slightly frustrated with the little support from Hackett. Somehow convince them? It was already a hard road to convince an already known species or organization to join them. How the hell was he going to do that with something he had never seen before?
"…If they're hostile…?" Liara asked, leaning forward on the rail.
Jesus Christ. Shepard didn't even want to begin thinking of that possibility.
"Then you know what to do… But I sure hope that isn't true. Especially with those kind of ships. We already have our plate full with the Reapers."
"Sir, it's unlikely their people would just abandon them. What if they come looking for them?" She asked.
"If they don't come take them to the Citadel. If they do, give them back any survivors you obtained and try to establish peaceful relationships, bring them back to the Council if you can. There, we may be able to form something 'official' to help fend off the Reapers. If they refuse to fight though… It'll only be a matter of time before the Reapers turn on them."
"Will we receive any support?" Shepard said.
"No. ISF and local Alliance forces are spread thin. You're on your own."
A moment of silence before Hackett finished. "Any other questions?"
Everyone had a million questions. But everyone knew Hackett couldn't answer them. Or maybe they just didn't want them answered.
"Shepard, I know I'm sending you and your crew into the unknown but we don't have time for recon because of the Reapers. Despite all this, I have faith in your abilities. Get to that ship and get to those survivors, if any. I want a complete report once your mission is completed. Hackett out." With that, his hologram walked away, disappeared and deactivated the QEC.
Another silence. Shepard finally broke it, "Joker, set a course to Illium."
The Commander turned to the crew, with all but Liara and Tali looking to him as if he held the key for solving the mystery.
"So, assuming our luck and track record, all things are going to hell, right?" He said to try and lighten the mood.
"Ha, you actually thought things were going to go right?" Ashley said, smiling for once since the meeting began. "Are we at this point going to assume this is just an "organization" like the Alliance or like Cerberus?"
"Well, if they are first contact how did they find a Relay? I thought ships needed Eezo or Prothean tech to find and go through it," Garrus said.
"Eezo is constructed from dark energy. The…Reapers," Liara forced herself to speak the names of the true creators, "place the Eezo in the Relay to have a lesser effect with gravity pull, thus making it almost invisible relatively. Most astronomers or astrophysics would've dismissed it as a black hole or even a small asteroid, since Eezo properties tend to have a singularity effect. But if the Relay is activated the Eezo within the structure would've caused a massive density flux, again very similar to a black hole or binary black hole, which somebody might accidentally read it as… I won't go into detail, but the dark energy's mass effect doesn't necessarily have to be on a ship that possesses Eezo, it just has to surround it."
"But if they found it without Prothean technology then somebody went and signaled them to come to us. Otherwise Garrus is right, they wouldn't have found it," She continued. "Unless maybe they did discovered a Prothean cache and had no use for its technology."
"They were suddenly attacked during an exploration effort. You think this attack will make them more prone to hostilities?" Shepard said, feeling the correlation to the First Contact War. An unknown war between two species ending peacefully, thank God.
"Undoubtedly-" The Asari began.
"About their technology..." Tali interrupted, trying to hide hints of excitement. "If we can scavenge any technology we can, reverse engineer it…Keelah, imagine what we would learn, what we can apply to our own ships. Then… refueling stations would become obsolete. And if we held the strength of their shields and weapons…" Tali ended off so soon, overwhelmed with the infinite possibilities.
Shepard nodded. "Right... Remember, first priority is to evac any survivors. Technology is all secondary. If we convince these contacts to align with us then they can help us win. I'd rather have that than spending time reverse engineering technology and spending God knows how many credits applying it to our ships while people are dying.
"Either way, can this possibly be a one of a kind ship?"
"Maybe… Really, we can't say. The Turians have about…used to have about thirty-seven dreadnaught,." Tali said. "With the large size of this ship, especially without Eezo, I would guess they would only have a handful. Possibly even this only one."
Oddly enough, that was both relieving and troubling at the same time. Reliving whereas these people only have a handful of dreadnaughts. Troubling, where they wouldn't have that many ships to help fight against the Reaper.
"Commander," Garrus said. "I think it would be best to send the two experts with you."
"Experts would be a misused term." Liara said. "But I guess I'm the closest thing we have so hopefully I can have a better understanding of this new species/organization.
"If we meet any of them, Citadel protocol usually doesn't work well unless we have power. Their ship was almost a kilometer and a half long, who knows how many crew members it carried. But, to show our respect we should probably not unholster our weapons, and try to act…as kindly as possible." Liara lingered on those words, possibly wondering herself what that exactly means. "If they can speak Standard English then there should be no problem with communication, and tensions should ease, slightly at least. If all doesn't end up well, I could try melding with one of the survivors to quickly learn their language and some other important notes."
"Wait, you mean the kind of melding when you…" James began.
"No James, not that kind of melding," Liara responded in a patronizing way drowned in mockery.
"Sorry, that's the only kind of melding I heard of."
"There are different kinds of melding. You and everybody else in the galaxy are thinking of the melding you do when-"
"I think this is a discussion for another time, hmm?" Shepard interrupted.
"Shepard, you should bring me along to…Yes, partially because I want to observe anything and everything they have. But you don't know what's aboard that thing," Tali said. "I can try to access their systems, read through databases and unlock a locked door every once and awhile. I'll admit it's going to be more difficult than usual since their computers don't run on Eezo. It'll take some time to recode and make my Omni-tool and VI compatible; however it'll get me a good look at how their technology works."
"Okay, we're all in agreement. Tali and Liara will be the first ones with me to meet…this First Contact. We'll be at Illium in about a few minutes. Get to the armory and suit up," Shepard ordered.
So much for sleep. Shepard will live. How long is a-whole-nother question.
…
Like that day five years ago aboard the Orbital Defense Platform Cairo crew members stood at attention at their stations, surrounding the main stage with the large tactical computer screen. Forming around the main door were the one-hundred-sixteen admirals and generals of UNSC HIGHCOM, each one lined up and giving way to the thirty-six fleet admirals of Humanity. Everyone wore the standard black uniform similar to Lasky's.
A single figure stood on the stage. He wore the traditional white naval uniform along with a cover imprinted with the traditional symbol of the navy. Medals were dressed over his heart and the rank of fleet admiral on the shoulder of his uniform. He was a bald, aging man with a grim face void of any emotion. Wrinkles and sternness were spread everywhere. His eyes remained calm, turned to Captain Lasky and the Master Chief.
Lord Hood and HIGHCOM didn't say anything. They only saluted as they two walked down towards the stage.
"ATTENTION ON DECK," One of the fleet admirals yelled.
Captain Lasky tried to ignore the dozens of high ranking commanders saluting them. It was a silent walk to the main stage. Once Lasky and the Chief reached the center,, they both returned the salute to Lord Hood.
"At ease," He said, returning the salute.. He turned towards the Master Chief. "Gentlemen, it's good to have you back."
If Lord Hood really meant it Lasky couldn't see it, or hear it for that matter.
Lord Hood nodded to the other HIGHCOM members, who disembarked from the formal formation and turned towards the main tactical screen.
"Master Chief? How are you, son?" Lord Hood said to the Spartan. The Chief towered over him by about a foot.
"Green, sir." He quietly said.
"Admiral, sir. I heard this meeting was urgent?" Lasky said.
"Yes, Captain. I apologize for the sudden notice but this is a matter of Humanity's security."
Lasky nodded, understanding that nothing was seemingly more important. The Master Chief didn't say another word as the two of them stood to the side of the stage and let Lord Hood have the floor.
Lord Hood looked to the officers. He eyed Admiral Osman. Lasky could tell, since she was the only prominent snake in the grass within the particular group.
"A few days ago we along with the Swords of Sangheiliosl discovered another Halo Ring," Lord Hood began. "One day after the Halo's discovery the Elites' scanners picked up an unknown beacon signature, origins at a massive gravitational depression containing this artifact."
The tactical screen displayed a strange object. Two encircling rings at the base and two jutting metal beams that pointed in an unknown direction.
"This artifact, codenamed God's Key is nothing impressive. It's fifteen klicks in length and five klicks in height. Yet the Forerunner design was something of an add-on to an unknown source, at least this is what the scientists analyzed based on previous Forerunner architecture."
An add-on? Forerunners create purely off their own designs while Humanity built upon them. They built off of someone else this time? Who?
Hood continued. "That's why only thirty-three minutes ago we sent three vanguard vessels to study and learn what this artifact is and its purpose. The ships are research vessel Shadow Man, Black Cat Prowler Bar Fight, and Autumn-class cruiser Legend After as acting chief security vessel. The ships were provided over watch by the Fleet of Retribution and the Shadow of Intent. The hard deck was set to seven kilometers with suggested minimum distance at ten kilometers. When the Legend After passed the suggested distance edging on the enforced deck, something happened."
The Elites were trustworthy…at least in Lasky's point of view. But HIGHCOM and ONI had to rush in order to what? Make sure the Elites didn't learn more about the artifact first, even though they'll eventually find out? To Lasky, it sounded like something ONI and Admiral Osman would do, not Lord Hood. Lord Hood wouldn't risk it. He wanted a stable relationship despite the disagreements within ONI and some others in HIGHCOM.
The battle screen motioned forward, showing a momentary display of the Key rings encircling each other with increasing speed up to one-hundred revolutions per minute. It then showed the complete disappearance of all three ships.
"Elite scouts report heavy radiation and gravitational anomalies indicating pull in relations to a binary black hole. We identified this is not a black hole or the common use of slipspace. What our scientists "guess" is this artifact in some way manipulates dark energy, thus affecting the gravity of an object. Possibly. The artifact seemed to propel them forward without recoil force upon the artifact.
"Two minutes ago, Black Cat Prowler Bar Fight returned to UN space from the God's Key, reporting even more findings."
Lord Hood removed the representation of the God's Key, replacing it with the image of a planet and….
Lord Hood motioned his hand toward the screen. "First Contact. Hostile."
Two images of two types of ships appeared, built by completely different species. One design looked similar to that of the UNSC's. The other…
"Yes. It is confirmed this is first contact, people," Hood interrupted through the silence. "The Bar Fight's AI identified the planet as a habitable garden world, and that planet along with the alien ship designs match nothing within the known databases. From the state of the planet and the combat between these two identified fundamental ship designs confirm a state of war between these two groups of aliens. And from the severe damages to the planet with hundreds of towns and cities under siege like a Covenant glassing we can confirm that they have found and colonized numerous planets… Unless they're warlike beyond expectations, even beyond the Brutes, to destroy their only planet.
"Bar Fight reports that they were attacked by this ship design," He pointed to the second design. "Two ships supported by smaller battle ships engaged. As expected UNSC transmissions didn't respond to their communication systems. The AI reported that wavelengths were being received in the form of gravitational depressions. The AIs did send out handshake signals through FM and other wavelength signals. But whether or not they received the message is unknown. These ships, colloquially designated as 'squids', engaged the UNSC Legend After. The head security chief and acting captain of the Legend After Captain Mark Florence ordered the Bar Fight to find a way back to UNSC space through a similar God's Key they found on the other side."
Another engagement with a hostile race would possibly put Humanity again on the brink of destruction. Humanity was almost wiped out from the War only five years ago, and if another threat of the galaxy dared raised its head against them….
God, don't let it be another Great War.
Humanity barely survived once. And it was mostly because of John. If they... If they were hostile, and they began to attack the colonies...
Lasky looked at the ships. Two species. One with a ship so menacing it's something straight out of a video game. The other one however…had no contact with the vanguard group.
Lasky looked around to the others in the room to observe their reactions. Nothing passed over their faces except for the wave of sullenness that always seemed to carve itself in the eyes of leadership. However, Lasky noticed a few of them shifting their weight, slightly rocking back and forth.
"There was no further contact with the Legend After or the Shadow Man." Lord Hood said. "If the Legend After and the Shadow Man crash landed on the planet then we can assume both captains followed military law and initiated Cole Protocol. Yet, we cannot risk assuming that Cole Protocol was enforced. As all of you are aware this alien species has committed acts of war against the UNSC and Humanity by attacking those ships.
"I understand that it would be strategically wise to send out recon teams to assess the enemy but time is a factor. What we know from the Bar Fight is that these squids maneuvered at speeds unmatched by any of our ships. And judging from those tentacles we should expect CQC engagement. But these squids' weapons are outfitted for long range attack. The Legend After was hit multiple times from their main cannon at speeds much faster than our MAC cannons. It's safe to assume Captain Florence enforced the same long range assault tactics used against the Covenant during the Great War. Whereas that might work I suggest for constant adjustment maneuvering. Maintain distance from these ships and keep it that way. Our ships' strong suit and outfit is long range interstellar tactics, not close range knife fights."
Lord Hood was already advising on tactics. That meant only one thing…
We were going to war.
"However, our ships won't be the first into the breach. Shipmaster 'Vadum's Fleet of Retribution is already standing by. In response to this event, they've called upon the Arbiter to assist with matters. From AI calculations it'll take four hours for our battle groups to reach the God's Key. That is time I'm not willing to lose. I'm sending in the Elites to retrieve any and all Human survivors.
"For our combat group, task priority one is to ensure Cole Protocol is fully enforced by destroying all vulnerable intel. Battle Group Dakota accompanied by the Ninth Fleet led by the UNSC Infinity under Captain Thomas Lasky will be the first ones in. Admiral Alvares," Lord Hood looked to the fleet admiral of the Ninth. "You have control of the fleet; Lasky will control the battle group. Admiral, you are to establish a foothold around the Key. Lasky, you are authorized with complete operational freedom in tactics on both the ground and in space as you see fit to fill out priority one. Alvares, I want a ship going in and out of the Key on fifteen-minute interval updates.
"Once this objective is completed, Captain Lasky, you are to establish footholds on the planet if possible and advance territorial control. Admiral Alvares, hold position from there until my arrival with the Tenth and Twelfth. Fleet Admiral Jay Harper will take command of the UNSCDF in my absence
"If the enemy's capabilities prove to be beyond ours then you are ordered to eliminate any UNSC artifacts in the systems at any and all costs. Then you are to evacuate to the God's Key and retreat. On the other side near the Ring, we will destroy the Key to ensure these aliens will never find their way towards Earth and prepare for colonial and homeworld defense. But gentlemen, these new contacts are a threat to Humanity, and must be eliminated before they find our habitable worlds.
"Any questions?"
Lord Hood maintained his hands behind his back and waited for responses.
"Admiral, sir." Fleet admiral of the twenty-first began,"I thought Captain Lasky was to lead the opening Requiem front?"
"Lasky is commissioned with the lead of the Infinity. And with an unknown alien force we need to show the enemy the true superiority of the UNSC. Or, if this unknown life form is superior to us then we need our best ships to hold them off. Fleet Admiral Rebekah Takeda of the Fifth Fleet will take over as director of operations on the opening Requiem front."
"The Elites, sir? Can we really trust them to run a joint operation? As well as evacuating Human survivors?" Another admiral said.
"Even though our relationship is rocky, they can be trusted. While I understand all of your…opinions on the matter we need them for the time being not only for this event, but to also find the remnants of the remaining loyal Covenant and their home worlds."
"Sir? Why didn't the Legend After send a distress signal through the E-Band?" A general asked.
"Bar Fight reports the God's Key transported them to an unidentified location. The AI performed mathematical analysts and confirmed the location was out of the Orion Arm, thus making it impossible to connect to a UN radio beacon. Even if they sent a radio burst it would take thousands of years to reach us."
Out of Orion Arm. How is it possible this artifact transported them almost thousands of light years in regular space? They would have to be traveling faster than light. That's impossible, defying the foundations of physics set up by Einstein. They weren't killed in the process? No kinetic momentum that would've taken possibly centuries to decelerate from?
"And, Admiral, sir. Should all xeno life be considered hostile?" The same general said.
"All alien life is to be considered and treated as hostile. Any and all aliens that interfere with the United Nations Space Command are to be eliminated with extreme prejudice. Nuclear weapons and in-atmosphere MAC use on planetary surface are authorized."
Lord Hood's words seemed to reign down forever. Captain Lasky looked again to the diagrams of the ship designs displayed on the battle screens, and then spoke.
"Admiral? We've confirmed two ship designs thus possibly two types of alien life forms. Only one ship design engaged UN ships while the other did not have definite contact. What if in the event the other life form proves friendly to the UNSC?"
Everyone immediately turned from Lord Hood to Captain Lasky. No one said a word. Each one seemed perplexed by the proposition. Lord Hood also turned towards him, facing away from the tactical board and the crowd.
And it seemed a long awkward silence arose before he spoke, "in the event of friendly contact, maintain Cole Protocol and keep your distance. Do not engage unless fired upon. You are not to intervene in their affairs until reinforcements arrive after you complete the first and second objective. If necessary, I will arrive there myself for further diplomatic arrangements.
"Then it is: All squid contacts are to be considered hostile and to be eliminated. This other ship design that belongs to whatever race, are to not be fired upon unless they fire first. Initiate First Contact Protocol in the event if there is premature contact."
"Sir. What ground forces will I be receiving?" Lasky said.
"In the possibility of AA defense platforms on the planet, I'm dispatching the 19th ODST Battalion under command of Lieutenant Colonel Edward Buck and XO Major Jonathan Cortez. As for the Infinity's security team, I'll let you decide who should get R and R for the time being and resupply men and materials wherever you need them before you ship out.
"In the event of specialized missions, I'm placing the Master Chief under your command. No other Spartan-IIs are available at the moment with them spread across the galaxy. We need a Spartan-II present, especially against a threat like this."
No... The Master Chief can't be immediately redeployed, not after something like this. He just lost Cortana. Lord Hood knows the importance of her. What the hell is he doing?
"Any other questions?" Lord Hood said, seeing nobody else spoke up. "Gentlemen, we are now on full alert at DEFCON 3 for full mobilization within zero notice. Report to action stations on standby immediately. Full situational reports will be sent every hour.
"Dismissed."
With that, HIGHCOM began to shuffle out back to Sydney or to their respective fleet. A brief meeting for such a relatively 'brief' event. Lord Hood told both Lasky and the Chief to wait for a moment as he stepped toward the crowd. Admiral Osman seemed to be waiting for him.
From observation afar she remained respectful to the officer who could permanently silence her at any moment. Osman saluted Hood, who nodded at ease.
She spoke in a hostile tone, at least from what Lasky could tell.. Despite the signs to withhold Lasky stepped down from the stage towards the two.. He told the Master Chief to stay there, feeling guilty as he said it. As he walked he realized something. Lord Hood never mentioned a word of the Office's activities in the new incident. They would've played a major role in the development and processing of intelligence on the first contacts; in fact Lord Hood shouldn't have been the one to relay this information, it should've been Admiral Osman.
"-miral Osman, this is an assigned target for High Command. Our specialized team will handle it. For now, you and the rest of ONI command will return to Sydney under my direct orders. And get this through now: ONI is now under my direct authority, from every little hidden surveillance agent you have aboard our ships, to your Spartan secret operators, to your office janitors. Do you understand, Admiral?" Hood said loud enough for Lasky to hear as he got closer. Lord Hood permitted whatever emotion need be to relay the message across
Lasky approached the two. The two admirals turned their attention to him. The captain stood at attention but Hood quickly told him at ease. Osman looked relieved, unfortunately.
"Captain Lasky, I wish you luck on your mission. Those men trapped on that world are depending on you and the Elites. But…I know you'll do well. Your mother would be proud... Watch your back out there." Osman simply said, turning to the doors and quickly heading back to Sydney.
Lasky nodded, saying thanks to her and letting her go without any objection. Seemingly like everyone's dead family members, Brigadier General Lasky died during the ending of the War. She was commander of the Marine ground forces in Voi.
Captain Lasky faced Lord Hood. "Since when did she care for the lives of other Humans?"
"Captain Lasky, I didn't have time to congratulate you on your promotion." Hood said, ignoring his comment. "You control the most advanced ship Humanity has ever built. Believe it or not, that control comes with a lot of power. So much so, the Admiralty has elected you as the one-hundred-seventeenth of UNSC High Command. I also didn't inform you that Captain Del Rio has been stripped of his rank and commission today."
Lord Hood said it so casually it caught Captain Lasky off guard. It wasn't a lie, Lasky wasn't fond of Captain Del Rio. Age and arrogance placed him as a faulty leader. But… he only did what he thought was right, to save his crew. Yes,Lasky will never forgive him for leaving the Chief behind, but in the end it was for protocol.
"If I hadn't known already what cooperation do you need with me for the Chief?" Lord Hood said.
Lasky wasn't surprised he knew,"sir, you read the psychological reports of the Chief compiled by ONI. And you damn sure know what we found in the wreckage will help him."
Hood nodded, looked over to the Chief who stood perfectly still. It was frightening to watch the Spartan in this catatonic state. Lord Hood walked towards the Chief. Lasky followed him.
Once they both entered onto the stage Lord Hood saluted him and the Chief saluted back.
"Master Chief. I'm sorry for the quick reintroduction back to the UNSC." Hood said as he shook the Chief's hand.
"Sir."
Hood nodded, almost sympathetic. "I read the report on Requiem. Cortana was a great asset, for both you and the United Nations. I understand her death isn't easy for you, but you must understand Humanity is in danger right now. We need everyone we have at this moment."
There was a long moment of silence from the Chief. "I understand, sir."
Understand? At times Lasky didn't think Lord Hood or anybody else for that matter understood the Chief's condition. Hell, not even Lasky understood. But there has to be a point where Lord Hood realizes he didn't save Earth for Humanity or the UNSC, he saved it so Cortana could have a chance.
At least that's how Lasky saw it...
"We need you." Lord Hood sighed. "I wanted to withhold this information from you until we have a direct plan. But, we believe our scavenger teams have found something within the Didact's ship ruins. I'll let Captain Lasky fill you in on it.
"Later. The UNSC Infinity needs to close up shop in forty-five minutes in order to make the deadline. Report to your ship. There Lasky will tell you."
That was an elaborate way to tell the Master Chief to go. Why even bring him here in the first place? Lasky could've easily left the Chief, partake in this meeting, then inform him afterwards. Why did he even need to be here? To raise the morale of HIGHCOM that their most vital asset was back and in action?
Idiotic beyond belief. Despite the vast intelligence built upon years and years of historical wisdom and removed of any bureaucratic, democratic or any sort of political incompetence, HIGHCOM was still Human. They didn't understand the problems going on here. How could they? The UNSC was built upon the foundation of first dedication to Earth and Humanity.
Again, another long moment. "Yes, sir."
With that, the Master Chief didn't even salute. He exited the stage and walked out the main entrance towards the hangar.
Lasky wondered if the crowds would bother him again. When they were walking through dozens of people did double takes, wondering if they saw who they really saw. They talked among themselves, arguing whether the leaks and rumors were true or if he was supposed to be dead.
"Sir, you aren't going to tell him?" Lasky said. "Why even bring him here?"
"I was the only one present to coordinate the defenses during the battle against the Didact while the rest of HIGHCOM was planetside. They wanted to see him for themselves. Admiral Osman classified the Requiem Events even from them."
So was that the conversation between him and Osman about? Still though, he was the supreme commander; a strong one at that too. He should've told them to screw off.
"As for the other question, it would be better coming from you I personally believe. He trusts you."
"But, sir, you're still pushing him out on the field. What the hell am I going to say to him?"
Again, he nodded in understanding before speaking, "Before I answer let me ask you, Captain, you know the Master Chief better than anybody else besides Sergeant Major Avery Johnson and Cortana, who are now gone. Without Cortana what do you believe will happen?"
Lasky took a moment, reviewing thought after thought and report after report. "The Master Chief grew a strong emotional attachment to Cortana over the years. Now with her gone he pretty much has nothing left. Mendez and Halsey indoctrinated them pretty well with all the Spartan teamwork doctrine but barely glanced at UNSC doctrines and objectives. They...just follow orders, sir. Deep down.… they only look out for each other."
And in Lasky's opinion it wasn't necessarily a bad thing. He continued, "I suggest we just keep him here, for the time being. Maybe give him some psych evaluation."
"To ensure he doesn't go AWOL?" Lord Hood said. "To say the least, is there a way for the time being to keep his mind off Cortana and to stop questioning orders?"
"What? Sir, with all due respect with everything John went through, there isn't exactly a going back option. There's no restart, no checkpoint to respawn from. Besides, sir, he's a Human being in the end, not some robotic machine like many people believe he is or some perfect soldier. For God's sake, after all this, all he's done, you're putting him back on the field? I wanted him to gain back what was left, gain back Cortana somehow, so he can live the rest of his life in peace. We have enough heroes now, sir."
"As much as you hate to admit it, Humanity needs the Master Chief and the Spartan-IIs. These Spartan-IVs are nothing near the Spartan-IIIs, and the IIIs are regular grunts compared to the IIs. The Didact proved three days ago we are still at our weakest despite the numerous technological upgrades throughout our fleets that now match us to the Covenant. All of our combined defense fleets stood no match against a single Forerunner ship, and the only one who saved us was-"
"The Master Chief, sir." Lasky replied in sullenness. "I know."
"Now he's one of the last few surviving Spartan-IIs and IIIs. He's better than the best of the best. He needs to serve. And, Lasky, you're correct. Mendez and Halsey glanced over UNSC indoctrination, so a minor fault in orders can have catastrophic proportions. That was overlooked. But they made it easily fixable. If he's…fixed, what do you think will happen? You're just pushing for the Chief to get back into the field too whether you know it or not."
Lasky didn't respond, looking down at his black boots. He never thought about it, but HIGHCOM would never let the Master Chief go this easy. Yet all he himself wanted was the Chief to, well, to not travel the path of desolation so many have rotted down before. Prelude to the destruction of himself installed by Doctor Halsey those so many years ago. On a whisper who knows the lengths he'll take in order to bring her back.
"Sir, in his state right now, I'm not even sure if he'll follow my orders, or anyone's for that matters. Through the digital boxes in his suit we know Cortana spoke some very…non-programmed words to say at the least. Beyond a doubt maybe not now but overtime the Chief's mind will…corrode to Cortana's side, maybe even consider the Didact's words." Lasky said, revealing tactical instability vainly shrouding last attempts to convince the Admiral.
"Walk with me, Captain." Hood said, guiding Lasky. Both entered the hallway, with a clear view of Earth.
The reflection of the sun painted their faces and left their lower bodies and the floor in shadow. Lord Hood kept his entire attention to the homeworld.
"Captain, Humanity has proven time and time again that chosen individuals must sacrifice everything he or she has in order for others to live on. That is a part of war. And war never changes. Humanity sacrificed many of their freedoms in order for us to survive. Humanity now is nowhere near close from extinction, yet once it's safely away from its grasps then the UNSC can finally release control knowing we have completed our assignment given to us by the UEG almost thirty years ago."
"I know, sir. Hard to think it was only three decades ago." Lasky said, more or less lightening the mood for himself at least.
"We must fight in the dark so others shall never have to." Hood said, ignoring Lasky. "We, as soldiers, are Humans who chose to sacrifice everything we have, including our personal freedom, and at times the freedom of others so thousands of years later when you and I are long dead Humanity is spread on thousands of colony worlds, safe, when the name UNSC is now tainted with the atrocities we had to commit in order for those decedents to be there, we will know proudly we served our duties. Neither you or I, or the Chief, are given the luxuries that others are given. And that's our jobs. We kill so others never have to, we commit atrocities so others never have to, and we put our feet on the line knowing we may not be here tomorrow so others shall never have to. The Master Chief never made a choice; ultimately "fate", "God", chose him fit for service. Yet what he suffers through now, no one afterward shall ever go through."
Lord Hood paused for a moment. Germany and France rotated into view. "Captain, take note that nobody takes John's service to Humanity for granted. Without him none of us would be standing in this room today. None of those generations decades later can look back and shake their head in disgust at the Spartan Program.
"We're now facing a new threat after we defeated another one. And the Chief is the only one able to defeat these threats. I believe he's still fit for service. He trusts you, especially after everything you've done. And if I'm wrong, well… I know he'll do what's necessary. For Cortana. Despite Admiral Osman, the HIGHCOM board along with the full support of the Navy is willing to do whatever it takes to have John back to full strength. Even if this "indoctrination" is morally wrong."
Lasky already knew the information Hood relayed, already built into most minds of UNSC personnel. The UNSC is the only thing standing between Humanity and destruction, and they'll do whatever it takes to ensure Humanity is safe at any and all costs. Whether this was true or something else seemed to blur with Lasky as the days passed by. A blur whether it's only for power or actual duty to the final words of the UEG before their nullification and disbandment.
"With respect sir, it is brainwashing." Lasky responded.
"Whatever it was, Humanity at that time was desperate."
"I know, sir. But when will the day come that we can release soldiers like John? How will we know when we're safe?"
"We'll know when we can take care of ourselves without the intervention of the Master Chief. The generations after us will give homage to the Chief. Sympathy perhaps for what he was forced to sacrifice, for what others sacrificed for him to become the soldier Humanity needed him to be."
Lasky didn't respond, looked out onto home. The birthplace of those billions of peoples throughout Orion's Arm. A sanctuary of violence, instability, and otherwise disgust before the rise of the UEG, the CMA, and most importantly the UNSC. Those two other organizations were gone now. Only the UNSC was left. Still, this world and her people have seen so much blood, combat, insecurity…and in those final days of the War, the worst it has ever gotten, hopelessness. only a few years later did these same people journey once more unto the breach..
The soldier Humanity needed him to be. And the Chief didn't need to say a word. The world shall speak for him. If Lasky had to guess that would be the phrase Humanity would use to describe John about a thousand years later to some class of kids who don't have to care. Or more likely, they'll forget the context of the situation as most people have with history. They had almighty hindsight, they'll be going on and on how they could've done it differently, or they didn't need to do this. There could've been another way.
And hell, maybe they were right.
"Aye, aye, Admiral." Lasky said, looking at home.
…
"How long until our agents reach the location?"
"Approximately an hour. I'm sure you read the compilation reports?"
"Indeed. They sure make quite an entrance. No doubt Shepard and whoever else the Council can scrape up are already on their way."
"And in the event if they align with him?"
"That could be a possibility. But our ideals are too similar…too correlating. They'll see our side."
"My teams are ready now and I'll be off to the location. Any last orders, sir?"
"Yes; I know Shepard will no doubt interfere in your affairs, but do not engage. It'll worsen relationships. Yet I understand time is purely of the matter, making this operation the most dangerous one you've taken so far."
"I understand, sir."
"If you can't make this work then pull back with everyone else immediately. Their alliance is not needed in the event."
"Sir?"
"At this point their allegiance is unnecessary. I've known this for a long time. But no doubt it would be a tremendous help if we had them in our corner. But events are rolling in motion that have been in effect for a long time. Now leave. Operative Charon will make sure your teams have their assignments."
He looked at one of the computers, at a grotesque image of sickly green and yellow.