4/5 Update: Fixed typo that messed up the timing of the last two parts. This is all supposed to be taking place in 2550 (thank you to reviewer for catching that)
Second of the 'intermission' chapters, one of the shorter ones I've written, but fairly 'dense' in terms of stuff being set up. You all can probably figure out what the next step in this story is from here. :)
Thank you again to everyone who's read, followed, and reviewed.
Standard copyright disclaimer: I do not own Halo or any associated media, characters, or settings which are properties of 343 or Bungie. This is a work of fanfiction written purely for entertainment and not for monetary gain.
21 July 2550
ONI Site MAGNET, Reach
Rear Admiral Timo Korhonen idly scribbled in the margins of his notepad as he waited for the briefing on Operation BLACK FLAG to start. It was his first time at this site; the auditorium looked nice, the carpet seemed new and the heaters were keeping it at a comfortable temperature. The upholstery on his chair could use some work though; it looked (and felt) like it was stolen from one of those movie theaters that shows second-run movies for only a credit.
If he'd wanted to he probably could have gotten out of the briefing; Korhonen had already leearned he would not be deploying for BLACK FLAG. But, some of the 'people' under his command would be, and he'd already had the preliminary briefing, so here he was.
Speaking of those 'people', Korhonen glanced to left side of the auditorium, where half a dozen jackals ('kig-yar', he reminded himself) sat in a cluster. (It was hard to miss that there were at least two seats separating them from any human present.) One of the jackals scrawled something down on their note pad, then showed it to the others as they pointed at one of the naval officers sitting near the front. Korhonen couldn't read the foreign script from this distance, but whatever it was must have been funny because it got the entire group of them laughing. Until the nearby MP very loudly cleared his throat, and got them to quiet down. Korhonen sighed, but smiled a bit. Even after months of them working with the UNSC the jackals still had their 'unique' ways of acting.
It was even more obvious now after he'd worked with a few defectors ONI screened out of the very small number of surrendering Covenant troops. Those were still obviously jackals, but they lacked the ability to be a pain in the ass in the special way the former pirates had. Though, those former pirates didn't need garbage Covenant tactics cleared out of their brain. If only the war between them had been fought on a 20th century battlefield with two equally sized armies facing off. The UNSC could have ended the war in a few weeks.
Sadly, that's not how reality was, and that's why they were here for a throw of the dice like BLACK FLAG.
At last, a nameless ONI officer arrived to start the briefing. The first few slides were the normal stuff; classification label, ONI seal, a bunch of warnings. Nothing Korhonen hadn't seen before, aside from a couple of the project-specific keywords. After a minute or two the presenter got into the meat of the briefing.
"ONI has had knowledge of the existence of alien species, neither human nor Covenant for some time. For years, efforts to learn more about these 'Forerunners' has been slow at best. They left behind few artifacts, and what they did leave behind has been difficult to decipher. However, in the past few months, Section Four made a breakthrough."
A picture of a strange looking crystal appeared on the screen. The symbols were odd, but looked vaguely familiar to Korhonen. It took him a few seconds to realize they looked a bit like the ones off the artifact the jackals had lifted from that Insurrectionist colony.
"This is what we're calling the 'Sigma Octanus' artifact. It was sitting unnoticed in a museum on the Sigma Octanus colony, until its significance was realized last year after a somewhat similar object was recovered by allied ….non-human forces. Subsequently, it was transported to Reach and placed in a secure location to be studied.
Interpreting the Sigma Octanus artifact as a star chart yielded the location of a 'Forerunner' installation of some kind, triangulated to the Iota Horologii system. What this installation is, its purpose, or even if it still exists is unknown. However, to date, 'Forerunner' technology has been shown to be highly advanced, even compared to what the Covenant has. The opportunity to study a 'Forerunner' site in-situ, and potentially salvage technology, cannot be allowed to slip through our hands. This is the objective of BLACK FLAG."
The ONI agent paused as someone on the other side of the room raised their hand. After a nod from the presenter, they spoke; "What intelligence do we have on any possible hostile forces at this 'installation'? Covenant or otherwise?"
"Unfortunately, limited." The presenter frowned slightly. "Previous intelligence indicates a definite possibility of defensive measures around any sensitive areas of the site, and Covenant presence cannot be ruled out. Sites such as these are known to hold significant religious significance to them. If a small Covenant presence is encountered, direction is to eliminate them with prejudice to prevent them informing more significant forces." A longer pause, as they inhaled. "Due to this possibility, in addition to the assignment of the 105th Shock Troops Battalion and Special Platoon Yankee, HIGHCOM has decided to assign a detachment of Red Team to Black Flag."
Excited chatter quickly broke out throughout the room, even among the jackals. If multiple Spartan II's were being sent, then this operation must be important. Korhonen had a hunch before, with how much they trained against his jackals the past few months. Of course, it didn't hurt that this would be a great chance for Section III to test out some of the upgrades they'd given the Spartans recently. Korhonen was only read in to the extent the upgrades were based on salvaged technology from the jackals, but their new armor would definitely be a nasty surprise for any Covenant on the 'installation'.
As the briefing continued, it became clear just how serious the UNSC was about BLACK FLAG. ONI was lending three (!) prowlers, but the main centerpiece of the naval forces was a pair of heavily upgraded Halcyon class cruisers, the Targhee and the Pillar of Autumn. Both the near-obsolescent ships had been practically gutted from nose to stern, and filled with the best technology the UNSC could cram into them. New reactors, uprated MACs, and even more point defense guns and Archer pods that before.
Sadly, no shields. The Covenant still had the edge on that front. (And none of the jackals' ships had shields to reverse engineer.) One area the UNSC did have an advantage was AIs. Knowledge on Covenant artificial intelligences was limited, but what they had suggested they were much more limited than what humanity had. Discussions with Chac Lon and his jackals indicated there was probably a religious component to this, but also their technology was just inferior. The computer systems on the Phantom Chance and the other jackal vessels didn't even qualify as a dumb AI; the average human civilian freighter had better systems. Even so, both the Targhee and Pillar of Autumn were being assigned new third-generation smart AIs (Korhonen had not been privy to their names).
All these preparations had taken months, but they were nearly complete. BLACK FLAG would launch in the beginning of August, barely two weeks from now. Korhonen made a note to himself to warn the ground officers on the operation, in particular the commander of the 105th, about the jackals. Odds were, the wouldn't deliberately try to cause any problems, but just being the way they were could cause issues. Aside from all the issues of having humans working with a Covenant species after 25 years of war. Hopefully none of those ODSTs were from a planet like Draco. Things were better than they were a few months ago, but there were still incidents occasionally. Two weeks before three Marines jumped a pair of kig-yar and started a fight that ended with everyone involved in the hospital, than in the brig. Nobody needed something like that happening on some alien world with the Covenant around.
29 July 2550
Sanctum of the Hierarchs, Covenant Holy City of High Charity
"You are certain that we cannot be heard?"
"Yes, Tartarus, I am. And even if they could, those guards outside are far too pious to listen."
Tartarus, Chieftain of the Jiralhanae, and the High Prophet of Truth were alone within one of the inner rooms of the Sanctum of the Hierarchs. A few years ago, a jiralhane in these chambers alone with a Prophet would have been almost unthinkable. Now, even if the sangheili honor guard outside did have misgivings, they had seen it enough to keep quiet.
The matter the pair were discussing was of great importance. After the incident with the kig-yar, and the rumors they had discovered a Forerunner relic, Truth ordered a detailed review of High Charity's archives, to see if there was anything that had been missed. And the Forerunners had smiled upon them, for only a few days ago a forgotten record had been found in the archives. What the record referred to was unclear, but it gave a set of coordinates and the description clearly indicated something of great importance.
This was a momentous occasion, proof that the Forerunners smiled upon them and that the Great Journey would soon be at hand. At least, that was how Truth presented it. He honestly did believe that this was an important stepping stone on the road to the Great Journey. But was it the last one; probably not. What it did offer was two opportunities in his plan to replace the sangheili with the jiralhanae. And not a moment too soon; the questioning whispers were growing louder, and a few of the sangheili were even noticing how Truth had been adjusting the balance of forces in High Charity.
The first opportunity was tied to his plan to eliminate Regret as a factor. (Mercy would simply have to accept whatever happened, especially once Truth got one of his handpicked candidates to replace Regret.) It wouldn't change the plan much; he was still going ahead with it either way. But the finding of this relic gave a good opportunity for it, and would hopefully tamp down on the backlash from some of the more pious elements of the sangheili. But the real benefit was that it gave Truth a way to eliminate a few troublesome sangheili, ones that were otherwise politically untouchable.
Sangheili culture placed a high value on martial ability, and many of them were indeed capable fighters and commanders. The application of these abilities in service to the Covenant against humanity not only benefitted the Covenant, but gave many sangheili great status. So great, in fact, that Truth could not simply have them eliminated by his loyal jiralhane without questions being asked. (Not to mention that some of the sangheili in question would give Tartarus a run for his money in a straight fight.)
So, he was forced to use other means to get them out of the way. Such as by giving them 'important' commands, and sending them out to the far reaches of space where they couldn't cause trouble. Truth had managed that with a couple sangheili. But one, the commander of the Fleet of Particular Justice, was too valuable serving against the humans to be pushed off to the side. But now, here was an assignment worthy of him! No true believer in the Great Journey could refuse being assigned to investigage an important Forerunner relic!
Truth held no illusions that the would not notice certain unusual things about the assignment. Such as that only one of the combat ships would be crewed by sangheili, while the rest were crewed by jiralhanae. As long as the Prophet of Temperance, the san'shyuum Truth assigned to 'command' the fleet was able to keep a lid on things for a short while, Tartarus and his jiralhanae would be able to do their part in the plan.
Unlike many of the other san'shyuum Truth had dealt with in his years serving the Covenant, Temperance was intelligent and loyal enough to be of continued use to Truth, as well as a true believer in the Great Journey. Truth did not consider him a friend (there were few that he did), but he was valued enough for Truth to keep him around and sometimes give him a position of honor. Unlike the half dozen or so minor bureaucrats that were part of the plan to eliminate Regret. Truth barely knew their names, but he did know that they were all loose ends that needed to be cleaned up. The information they knew was far too sensitive to risk it leaking out in the chaotic days ahead.
"I trust that you have placed good, loyal units in place to eliminate those... problems, and also the one who will do the deed?" Truth wanted firm confirmation from Tartarus that he had prepared. If this stage of the plan went wrong the consequences would be catastrophic.
"I have done as you commanded, noble hierarch. My captains await your signal." Tartatrus paused. "My pack could easily eliminate the target ourselves. There is no need for skulking about."
Truth decided to let the bit of defiance slide. "As I have said, this is a very sensitive operation. We must be cautious, and be sure that the masses only see what they are meant to see. And besides, is not killing a warrior like 'Vadamee a better fight than some decrepit san'shyuum?" Tartarus laughed in agreement. By the standards of his race, Regret was in good shape, but even a juvenile unggoy could kill him. For a jiralhanae chieftain deciding what to eat for breakfast would be a more difficult task.
"As you say. I will do my best to secure the relic quickly and return to High Charity to lead my jiralhanae in the fighting. I doubt the sangheili will roll over quietly." Honestly, Tartarus hoped they didn't. Not only would fighting them give Tartarus the chance to vent his frustrations over how the sangheili had treated him and other jiralhanae over the years, but the fighting itself would be exhilarating.
After a bit more conversation Tartarus was dismissed, passing by the statue-like honor guards at the door of the chamber without a second glance. Both Tartarus and Truth had much to do in the days ahead. Tartarus had a fleet to ready, weapons to prepare, and dozens of subordinates to get in line (both within the fleet and on High Charity). Truth had speeches to prepare, religious devotions to perform, and more of the tiresome politics that came with being one of the leaders of the Covenant. And, he reminded himself, arrangements for his security in the coming days. Because if one hierarch could die, so could he.
31 July 2550
Upper Docks, Covenant Holy City of High Charity
"Walk with me, brother. There is much to discuss." Fleetmaster Thel 'Vadamee motioned to his comrade in arms Rtas 'Vadumee, who fell in alongside him.
For a minute they walked in silence, as 'Vadamee struggled to find the right words. Eventually 'Vadumee broke the ice.
"You may speak plainly with me, fleetmaster. I know that your devotion to the Great Journey is beyond doubt."
'Vadamee relaxed slightly, before speaking. "I have... misgivings about this situation." Seeing the look in 'Vadumee' eyes, he continued. "You share them as well."
"Yes. First the vessel we were given. It's disgraceful that such a ship would even be part of the fleet, let along be assigned to a fleetmaster who has served the Covenant as long as you have!" If 'Vadumee found the previous captain of the Serene Light, he'd run him through with his blade. The battlecruiser was in a horrible state of disrepair; near half the shield generators and weapons were non-functional, as were hundreds of minor systems.
"I've requisitioned as many huragok as I could, and told my officers to get high quality parts by any means necessary. Already they are making progress, the critical systems should be ready by the time we deploy at least." It galled 'Vadamee that he had to resort to scrounging for parts; for his own sake he was ignoring that many of them might end up sourced from kig-yar black markets in the bowels of High Charity. "But yet, the jiralhanae ships in our fleet are in near pristine condition. Something is afoot. I have thought for hours on this, and I cannot find a good explanation."
"Command at this level is as much about politics as anything else. Someone, one of the councillors or some Prophet, is making a move against you. But that would not explain..."
"All the jiralhanae units moving into High Charity the last few weeks." 'Vadamee finished his counterpart's sentence, and the conversation stopped as both realized the gravity of what had been said.
"This is larger than I thought." 'Vadamee muttered, as he pulled out a datapad and quickly began typing into it. "Rtas, you have seen how many jiralhanae there are and how few sangheili there are in the upper districts. Our brothers our outnumbered at least two to one, are they not?"
"They are." 'Vadumee said. "And many of the units I have seen are not the … most skilled... of our forces. Gods! The council, the hierarchs... surely they must see this happening!"
"The hierarchs have the right to do as they please." Replied 'Vadamee. "Nothing of what we have seen is against the laws of the Covenant, only unusual. Still, many have resented our prominence. The unggoy are too weak, the kig-yar too cowardly and greedy to do act on their feelings. But the jiralhanae... Something will happen soon, brother. A spark to ignite the flame. And that-" The fleetmaster finished typing into his datapad. "Is why I am ordering you to remain here. Gather your best, most loyal sangheili, and prepare to defend the hierarchs and the councillors. Discreetly. You cannot let whoever is leading the jiralhanae know we are aware of their plans."
For a moment, an expression of shock crossed 'Vadumee's face, but the experienced warrior quickly composed himself. "As you say. Thel, you truly believe they will try to seize control of the Covenant?"
"They may. And even the slightest possibility of their success cannot be allowed. I know of nobody better suited for this task than you." 'Vadamee raised his hand, sensing 'Vadumee's objection. "I am capable of taking care of myself. For decades I have fought the enemies of the Covenant, both within and without. I will survive this trial; you must ensure our Covenant does."