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PLNB TRANSMISSION SO306M-DV
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:6.0pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:6.0pt;
margin-left:0cm;line-height:normal">
ENCRYPTION<span style="font-family:
"Courier New""> CODE: ROMEO-ALPHA-YANKEE
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:6.0pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:6.0pt;
margin-left:0cm;line-height:normal">
PUBLIC KEY<span style="font-family:
"Courier New"">: FILE / ABLE-TWO-OLYNDICUS-TIAMAT
FROM:
CODENAME VOLUND
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TO:
CODENAME ULYSSES
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margin-left:0cm;line-height:normal">
SENT:
22/12/2552
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margin-left:0cm;line-height:normal">
RECIEVED<span style="font-family:
"Courier New"">: 22/12/2552
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:6.0pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:6.0pt;
margin-left:0cm;line-height:normal">
SUBJECT<span style="font-family:
"Courier New"">: Temerity Update
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:6.0pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:6.0pt;
margin-left:0cm;line-height:normal">
CLASSIFICATION:
TOP SECRET – EYES ONLY C
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:6.0pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:6.0pt;
margin-left:0cm;line-height:normal">
SECURITY OVERRIDE:
NOVEMBER BLACK
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margin-left:0cm;line-height:normal">
GHOST SEVER FILE-TRANSFER
PROTOCOL :
TRUE
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:6.0pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:6.0pt;
margin-left:0cm;line-height:normal">
AI-TOUCH PROTOCOL :
FALSE
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margin-bottom:6.0pt;margin-left:0cm;text-align:center;line-height:normal">
// FILE
EXTRACTION-RECONSTITUTION COMPLETE //
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// START FILE //
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margin-left:0cm;line-height:normal">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:6.0pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:6.0pt;
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I’m glad you survived. I would
have been hard pressed to find another sparring partner. Are you up for round
two?
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margin-left:0cm;line-height:normal">
I can’t say I find my new
“colleagues” very accommodating. Mostly they just stand around, looking alert,
every muscle bulging except for the most important one. How they even learnt to
work the machinery they used is beyond me.
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A couple of them have given us
rough overviews on weapon and vehicle operation, the general basics of their
hologram technology, and an extremely crude explanation of their shield and
active camouflage. The boys in VAJRA-II would have been disappointed – this was
stuff we’ve had figured out for nearly ten years or so. We appreciate the
gesture, of course, but there isn’t much that can be gained from their
demonstrations beyond intelligence on other former Covenant species, which is
not my department.
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The main reason they even
agreed, I think, is that they hope to have some access to the improvements we’ve
made to the shield and DEW systems. If it were up to me, I’d tell them to get
stuffed – most of the senior brass seems to share the sentiment. But the last
thing we need right now is to alienate the only external ally
we have in any numbers or strength. The Elites don’t seem to be able to build
their own ships, and are having trouble even maintaining them – they don’t seem
too interested in using ours, thank goodness. I don’t think even Fleet Admiral
Hood would have agreed to that.
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:6.0pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:6.0pt;
margin-left:0cm;line-height:normal">
The most important advances,
though, have been in deciphering and understanding the Forerunner artefacts.
It’s nice to finally know their name. I feel like we’ve been formally
introduced. The glyph system is so complex that I can’t get my head around it –
smarter men and women than me still have trouble with it. But we’ve cracked a
good deal. Enough for our purposes. Even the Covenant never had a full
translated lexicon – I suspect the Prophets just made up most of their religion
to hide their true ignorance. I said as much to one of the Elites, expecting
them to agree – he glared
and stalked away. They aren’t too friendly, are they?
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The one concession we’ve been
able to wrangle out of them is their active camouflage technology. They’ve
provided seven commando combat harnesses for us to examine – their stealth
systems were always a feature I’ve longed to finally understand, and now I have
that chance. I’m heading the analysis team myself – after the events of the last
three months, we’re operating at 30%. I don’t think there’s anyone left to
replace the people we’re missing – we lost a lot of people when Reach fell, and
even more during the invasion of Earth. I’ve heard rumours that we might be spun
off into a separate civilian department – if we do, I would have to resign to
keep my position. I’m incredibly tempted; these are people I’ve led for five
years, and the work we’re doing will put us decades ahead of even the Elites. On
the other hand, the military has been my life, and I’m hesitant to abandon it so
easily. As I said, it’s just a rumour, but it’s a persistent one. I’ll wait to
see what happens.
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margin-left:0cm;line-height:normal">
Have they got you rushed off
your feet where you are? If they haven’t, then they’re wasting a valuable
resource. Reconstruction aside, it’s going to take every ounce of effort to get
us back to a defensible condition. The Brutes are tearing themselves apart, and
the Elites never stopped their war of vengeance, but the Prophets have gone
dark. That’s all I can tell you because that’s all anyone knows – even the few
Bravo Kilo prisoners we’ve taken have no idea what’s happened to them. We have
operatives in the field, trying to track down any sign of them – Army Troopers,
Marines, ODST’s, Spartans, Prowlers, you name it, they’re out there. No luck so
far. Maybe the bastards really are dead this time. Good riddance to bad rubbish.
They were the real technological force behind the Covenant, though – if they can
buy themselves enough time, they might return with some serious firepower. We’re
making advances, but the Prophets could prove a force to be reckoned with. I for
one will sleep a little safer if they have you cooking up more weapons like
NOVA.
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// END FILE //
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// SCRAMBLE-DESTRUCTION
PROCESS ENABLED //
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PLNB TRANSMISSION SO306H-DC
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:6.0pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:6.0pt;
margin-left:0cm;line-height:normal">
ENCRYPTION<span style="font-family:
"Courier New""> CODE: ROMEO-ALPHA-YANKEE
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margin-left:0cm;line-height:normal">
PUBLIC KEY<span style="font-family:
"Courier New"">: FILE / ABLE-EIGHT-OLYNDICUS-HUSKARL
FROM:
CODENAME FUTHARK
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:6.0pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:6.0pt;
margin-left:0cm;line-height:normal">
TO:
CODENAME OZYMANDIAS
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margin-left:0cm;line-height:normal">
SENT:
24/08/2491 {ZONE SIXTY-ONE, ONYX FTL-COM LAUNCHER}
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margin-left:0cm;line-height:normal">
RECIEVED<span style="font-family:
"Courier New"">: 30/09/2491 {CASTLE BASE, REACH, EPSILON ERIDANI
SYSTEM, FTL-COMSAT 6365/HOTEL}
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:6.0pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:6.0pt;
margin-left:0cm;line-height:normal">
SUBJECT<span style="font-family:
"Courier New"">: Temerity Update
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:6.0pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:6.0pt;
margin-left:0cm;line-height:normal">
CLASSIFICATION:
SECRET –
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:6.0pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:6.0pt;
margin-left:0cm;line-height:normal">
SECURITY OVERRIDE:
GAMMA LEVEL-III
<span style="font-family:
"Courier New"">
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margin-bottom:6.0pt;margin-left:0cm;text-align:center;line-height:normal">
// START FILE //
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margin-left:0cm;line-height:normal">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:6.0pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:6.0pt;
margin-left:0cm;line-height:normal">
I won’t lie. I do resent being
reassigned to such a dead-end job. I know that the work I’m going to do here has
some importance, but I’m a soldier, even if I’ve never set foot on a battlefield
or fired a rifle at somebody. I keep feeling that I’ve been put here to spend
the rest of my career out of ONI’s way.
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:6.0pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:6.0pt;
margin-left:0cm;line-height:normal">
I also won’t deny that this
project is a complete mess. Whoever I’m taking over from was a complete
incompetent – find him and fire him, because he’s been squandering the resources
he’s been getting. Military security teams at remote dig sites? Huge numbers of
dropships? A personal yacht for travel between here and Reach? Somebody must
have had an overinflated ego. I could cut the budget in half and still do
better.
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margin-left:0cm;line-height:normal">
Naturally, the people here
have been very accommodating. I think they suspect why I’ve been transferred
here, but if they do they’re not letting on. Striking a superior normally gets a
court martial – even if the brass would have cheered me on. I hope Ackerson rots
in hell. At least he’s not here – far away from him, I can sort myself out and
put myself back together. Damn cuckold.
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margin-left:0cm;line-height:normal">
I wish you could see the ruins
here. They’re huge, vast, and mysterious. They remind me of an MC Escher
painting, though I’m not quite sure which one – the reflection in the glass
ball, or the labyrinthine maze. I forget the names. But most of all, they remind
me of those ancient temples on Earth. Did you ever go to Egypt or Mexico? If you
did, they’re more like the South American step pyramids than the ones the
Pharaohs built, but far more complex. Some of my new team speculate they were
for the same purpose – ritual mummification and storage of the dead. Sloppy.
We’re dealing with a potentially alien species here – there’s no reason to
suppose that pyramidal designs and mummification have any correlation outside of
Earth. It would be like saying that a car tyre must be used to grind grain,
because windmills used wheel-like mills. These ruins could be anything. It’s
true that they remind me a lot of temples – incredibly ornate with little
apparent practical purpose – but if we hold to our anthropocentric view then
we’ll get nowhere.
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:6.0pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:6.0pt;
margin-left:0cm;line-height:normal">
We’ve still had no luck
deciphering any of the glyphs that are inscribed on the outside of the ruins.
Even the AI we brought in eventually concluded that it was an entirely
contextual language, where each individual symbol might have a dozen, or a
hundred, meanings based on orientation, relative position with other glyphs, and
even placement on the structure. There’s nothing that can be done until we can
get a larger sampling – either through excavating more of the “temple”, or
through other sources. I’m told there are rumours, on worlds like Coral and Cote
d’Azure. I’d dearly love to send field teams, to at least check them out – with
a larger sampling, we might crack the code and unravel the entire mystery.
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:6.0pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:6.0pt;
margin-left:0cm;line-height:normal">
Give my best wishes to the
kids. I know I hurt their mother when I left, but they’re still my kids, and I
still love them. Tell Martha that I’ll sign the divorce papers once they come
through – I don’t care about the settlement, I’ve never been much of a big
spender. But with Henry Ackerson of all people? I know things weren’t going well
for us, but I thought she had better taste than that slime-ball. Tell James I’ll
see him at his graduation - even if he doesn’t appreciate the visit, he’s still
my son, no matter how many times she changes their names.
<span style="font-family:
"Courier New"">
<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="margin-top:6.0pt;margin-right:0cm;
margin-bottom:6.0pt;margin-left:0cm;text-align:center;line-height:normal">
// END FILE //
- <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:6.0pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:6.0pt;
margin-left:0cm;line-height:normal">
PLNB TRANSMISSION SO306M-DV
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:6.0pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:6.0pt;
margin-left:0cm;line-height:normal">
ENCRYPTION<span style="font-family:
"Courier New""> CODE: ROMEO-ALPHA-YANKEE
PUBLIC KEY:
N/A
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:6.0pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:6.0pt;
margin-left:0cm;line-height:normal">
FROM:
CODENAME SHOGUN
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:6.0pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:6.0pt;
margin-left:0cm;line-height:normal">
TO:
CODENAME OLYNDICUS
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:6.0pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:6.0pt;
margin-left:0cm;line-height:normal">
SENT:
12/05/2551 {MINORCA, PROCYON SYSTEM, DEPLOYABLE COMSAT 87584-INDIA}
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:6.0pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:6.0pt;
margin-left:0cm;line-height:normal">
RECIEVED<span style="font-family:
"Courier New"">: 23/06/2551 {CASTLE BASE, REACH, EPSILON ERIDANI
SYSTEM, FTL-COMSAT 6365/HOTEL}
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:6.0pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:6.0pt;
margin-left:0cm;line-height:normal">
SUBJECT<span style="font-family:
"Courier New"">: Temerity Update
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:6.0pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:6.0pt;
margin-left:0cm;line-height:normal">
CLASSIFICATION:
TOP SECRET – EYES ONLY C
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:6.0pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:6.0pt;
margin-left:0cm;line-height:normal">
SECURITY OVERRIDE:
NOVEMBER BLACK
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:6.0pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:6.0pt;
margin-left:0cm;line-height:normal">
GHOST SEVER FILE-TRANSFER
PROTOCOL :
TRUE
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:6.0pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:6.0pt;
margin-left:0cm;line-height:normal">
AI-TOUCH PROTOCOL :
FALSE
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margin-bottom:6.0pt;margin-left:0cm;text-align:center;line-height:normal">
// FILE
EXTRACTION-RECONSTITUTION COMPLETE //
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margin-bottom:6.0pt;margin-left:0cm;text-align:center;line-height:normal">
// START FILE //
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:6.0pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:6.0pt;
margin-left:0cm;line-height:normal">
You wanted me to run through
the initial prep work for HOT GATES, and I have to say that I’m impressed. I
haven’t seen this kind of work put into a single operation or campaign since
Harvest. The level of cooperation on all levels for it has been nothing less
than astonishing – that we’ve managed to keep something like this a secret is
nothing short of miraculous. I’ll be my cynical self and put it down to luck,
but I also suspect that all factions realise that this is something that the
UNSC needs, and are unwilling to deny us it just to further their own agenda.
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:6.0pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:6.0pt;
margin-left:0cm;line-height:normal">
I’ve had inquiries all day
about the requisitioning of EXCALIBUR prototypes and the assignment of TEMERITY
personnel to Minorca. I see no reason to suspect breaches of NOVEMBER BLACK
status. The initiator of the project has the clearance, and knowledge of it, and
the involved parties, are being kept compartmentalised at even the highest
levels. Frankly, I suspect that only PALADIN and Lord Hood know the entire
picture, and they aren’t telling anyone.
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:6.0pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:6.0pt;
margin-left:0cm;line-height:normal">
I am, however, concerned by
some references to aberrant SpecWarCom teams, both Army and Navy – “Indigo,”
“Azure”, “Kukri,” “Baselard,” among others. And I’ve been digging up references
to unfamiliar projects – “VOLSUNG,” “TROJAN,” “CHISEL” and “GENOME” in
particular, as well as another dozen that I’ve only heard rumours and whispers
about, but also “INDIGO” and “INDIGO-II” which seem to involve Spartan
personnel. The fact that these projects have NOVEMBER BLACK status but even I
cannot access them leads me to believe that at least some of these have not been
authorised by the UNSC Security Committee. They bear further investigation.
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:6.0pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:6.0pt;
margin-left:0cm;line-height:normal">
I’ve also lost contact with a
number of operatives recently – TAIKUN has dropped off the grid, and WOTAN seems
to have up-and-left in the middle of his last operation – I suspect he turned
tail and run to his other “employers” when he heard word I suspected him of
selling information. And when JUNO tried to stop him… well, let’s just say that
she won’t be up and about anytime soon. Some kind of biological agent that stops
our neural recalibration procedures. I didn’t have any idea, but at least now I
have a few less untrustworthy agents. Foisting them on me was a mistake, I’ve
always said so – I work best with people I pick. I’m submitting a
proposal to the Security Committee to investigate breaches of NOVEMBER BLACK
status – with the war going as it is, I think they’ll eagerly approve. Do you
have a name in mind? I’m trying to shake off the Japanese stigma – a German word
perhaps? I don’t speak a word myself, but isn’t that what translators are for?
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:6.0pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:6.0pt;
margin-left:0cm;line-height:normal">
// END FILE //
//
SCRAMBLE-DESTRUCTION PROCESS ENABLED //
- <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:6.0pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:6.0pt;
margin-left:0cm;line-height:normal">
PLNB TRANSMISSION SO306M-DV
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:6.0pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:6.0pt;
margin-left:0cm;line-height:normal">
ENCRYPTION<span style="font-family:
"Courier New""> CODE: ECHO-GOLF-OSCAR
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:6.0pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:6.0pt;
margin-left:0cm;line-height:normal">
PUBLIC KEY<span style="font-family:
"Courier New"">: FILE / ABLE-SEVEN-OZYMANDIAS-ARCHANGEL
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:6.0pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:6.0pt;
margin-left:0cm;line-height:normal">
FROM:
CODENAME FUTHARK
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:6.0pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:6.0pt;
margin-left:0cm;line-height:normal">
TO:
CODENAME OZYMANDIAS
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:6.0pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:6.0pt;
margin-left:0cm;line-height:normal">
SENT:
19/03/2525
RECIEVED:
23/05/2525
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:6.0pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:6.0pt;
margin-left:0cm;line-height:normal">
SUBJECT<span style="font-family:
"Courier New"">: Temerity Update
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:6.0pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:6.0pt;
margin-left:0cm;line-height:normal">
CLASSIFICATION:
TOP SECRET – EYES ONLY
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:6.0pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:6.0pt;
margin-left:0cm;line-height:normal">
SECURITY OVERRIDE:
GAMMA LEVEL-III
<span style="font-family:
"Courier New"">
<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="margin-top:6.0pt;margin-right:0cm;
margin-bottom:6.0pt;margin-left:0cm;text-align:center;line-height:normal">
// START FILE //
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margin-left:0cm;line-height:normal">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:6.0pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:6.0pt;
margin-left:0cm;line-height:normal">
I can’t say I like the
conditions of my sudden deployment, but it’s gratifying to see that the brass
still knows I exist. My briefing was short and uninformative, simply a statement
of our movements than our purpose for being there. I’ve tried to wheedle it out
of some of the crew, but if they know they aren’t talking.
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:6.0pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:6.0pt;
margin-left:0cm;line-height:normal">
I’ve managed to piece some of
it together, using simple logic. Evidently, something has happened at
Harvest – the deployment of one of your precious Prowlers tells me that we are
to be observers. Harvest never had much of an offensive or defensive capacity,
so the need for stealth indicates an outside threat. I would conjecture an
Insurrectionist uprising. I can’t say I ever expected one on Harvest, but
they’ve certainly been able to drop under our radar before. Your insistence on
including me on this mission also tells me that whatever happened there, we’ve
discovered alien technology, like the dig sites on Onyx, Coral or Cote d’Azure,
and that I was barred from bringing a team along means I am to be an observer
and advisor, not an active field participant. I’m disappointed, but at this age
you start to be grateful for not having to trudge through muddy fields,
blistering deserts or blinding snow. I leave that to younger men now.
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:6.0pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:6.0pt;
margin-left:0cm;line-height:normal">
ADDENDUM<span style="font-family:
"Courier New"">:
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:6.0pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:6.0pt;
margin-left:0cm;line-height:normal">
I don’t know what they hell
you thought I could do. The alien ship started firing at us before we’d cleared
our entry point – we lost the cover of surprise before we could engage our
active camouflage, and we barely made it back into Shaw-Fujikawa Space. We
ditched a second attempt, and all we could do was drop seven surveillance
probes, of which the ship destroyed six. We’re still examining the footage now,
but at least we have some first-hand observations of their weapons firing –
advanced DEW’s, though not lasers. Next time, send a god damned soldier or
sailor, not a civilian!
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//
END FILE //
- <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:6.0pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:6.0pt;
margin-left:0cm;line-height:normal">
PLNB TRANSMISSION SO306M-DV
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:6.0pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:6.0pt;
margin-left:0cm;line-height:normal">
ENCRYPTION<span style="font-family:
"Courier New""> CODE: ROMEO-ALPHA-YANKEE
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:6.0pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:6.0pt;
margin-left:0cm;line-height:normal">
PUBLIC KEY<span style="font-family:
"Courier New"">: FILE / ABLE-NINER-OZYMANDIAS-OSIRIS
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:6.0pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:6.0pt;
margin-left:0cm;line-height:normal">
FROM:
CODENAME SVAROG
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:6.0pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:6.0pt;
margin-left:0cm;line-height:normal">
TO:
CODENAME OZYMANDIAS
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:6.0pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:6.0pt;
margin-left:0cm;line-height:normal">
SENT:
13/06/2530 {ALGOLIS RESEARCH AND TESTING FACILITY}
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:6.0pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:6.0pt;
margin-left:0cm;line-height:normal">
RECIEVED<span style="font-family:
"Courier New"">: 29/07/2530 {HARVEST FTL-COMSAT 8874/FOXTROT}
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:6.0pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:6.0pt;
margin-left:0cm;line-height:normal">
SUBJECT<span style="font-family:
"Courier New"">: Temerity Update
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:6.0pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:6.0pt;
margin-left:0cm;line-height:normal">
CLASSIFICATION:
TOP SECRET – EYES ONLY C
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:6.0pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:6.0pt;
margin-left:0cm;line-height:normal">
SECURITY OVERRIDE:
GAMMA LEVEL-III
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margin-left:0cm;line-height:normal">
// START FILE //
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margin-left:0cm;line-height:normal">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:6.0pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:6.0pt;
margin-left:0cm;line-height:normal">
Thanks for the confidence
boost. I’ll be honest, I’d rather have a dozen new staffers and a larger
warehouse – we’re running on double shifts here just to catalogue all the stuff
you’ve been sending me from Harvest. We still have no idea what half of it is
yet, but we’re making good progress. I feel a little sorry for FUTHARK, but he
just couldn’t handle the work load. Give him my best when you see him next,
won’t you? I’ll tell you one thing, though – I can see why he finally cracked.
After nearly thirty five years doing this job, anyone would start to despair.
I’m only on my fifth and I swear I’ve found a dozen grey hairs. Not that our
work wasn’t important – on the contrary. But the pressures on a man in his
position, and at his time of life, were bound to get to him, and they finally
did. At least it had nothing to do with Ackerson – I don’t think he really ever
recovered from working with his ex-wife’s son. I’ve never met the man myself,
and I don’t relish our meeting this afternoon to “brief” me – I take it to mean
“here’s a list of favours I need, and ways in which I could have you killed.
Hypothetically.” He and Major Standish would be bosom buddies.
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:6.0pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:6.0pt;
margin-left:0cm;line-height:normal">
I examined the camera footage
from the Heracles you sent me, and cross-referenced it with Battlegroup X-Ray’s
encounter – as you suspected, and as I’ve seen first-hand, the two ships were of
a different design. The first was smaller, but still at least as large as a UNSC
cruiser, perhaps a little larger. We have no idea what happened to it, or why it
would leave the colony, but when Vice Admiral Cole led his ships into the system
they found a far more powerful ship waiting for them. Due to size
approximations, we’ve termed the first ship a “cruiser” and the second a
“battleship” – we had too little time to engage the enemy ship to actually see
what their real roles were, and the phrases may be complete misnomers, but they
seem reasonable estimates given the little we know.
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:6.0pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:6.0pt;
margin-left:0cm;line-height:normal">
I also examined the
transmission they were sent. Personally, I find it odd that an enemy that we
have never so much as suspected would have such a good grasp of the English
language. There are two possibilities for that – either they have been observing
human colonies for some time, covertly, or they have been intercepting our
transmissions to study. Either possibility is disastrous for the UNSC – I’ve
recommended HIGHCOM re-scramble all encryption codes, and I understand Admiral
Cole would very much like to have Prowlers intercepting transmissions from
centuries ago still making their way outward from Earth to prevent
triangulation. We know that Harvest is not the only colony to have fallen silent
– Green Fields and Second Base colonies went quiet a few days ago. A battlegroup
is en route, but I daresay the colony is already destroyed.
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:6.0pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:6.0pt;
margin-left:0cm;line-height:normal">
The contents of the
transmission itself are virtually meaningless at this point. It merely consists
of a promise of destruction, which they have already followed up on, accompanied
by the insistence that this is a divine commandment from whatever gods our
enemies worship. It might be useful in a sophontological context, better
understanding their mindset and culture, but in military terms it is
meaningless. Likewise, the initial captives we’ve taken alive have provided few
clues – the “Elite” Cole recovered shouted itself hoarse with promises of
reducing our worlds to burnt cinders, especially Earth, before succumbing to its
wounds. The “Grunt” on Harvest interrogated by Sergeant John Forge was equally
uncooperative, though more out of fear than any real zeal. All we’ve really
learnt is that they call themselves “Covenant.” Oxford English Dictionary
defines a Covenant as a verb, describing a sacred and binding promise between
parties. Why they would choose to apply the word to themselves as their
collective name remains an unknown – perhaps it’s a description? Or an offer? Or
a promise? What did they promise each other? Given the xenocidal fury we’re up
against, we may well find that we are the cause for their unity, the
reason why they set aside what differences exist between themselves to slaughter
us so wholeheartedly.
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:6.0pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:6.0pt;
margin-left:0cm;line-height:normal">
At the other end of the
spectrum, our studies of their technology have raised some interesting points.
Their mastery of electromagnetic and gravitational fields is superb – I
understand the Navy were already fitting gravity plating in sections of their
ships already, but the equipment the Covenant use is at least a century ahead of
our own, maybe more. Their ability to manipulate magnetic fields is much further
ahead of our own understanding. These two elements seem to comprise the bulk of
the Covenant’s advantage – electromagnetic manipulation is used in virtually all
aspects of Covenant weaponry, ranging from the shaped and guided superheated
ionised plasma they use in their firearms and energy supplies, to the protective
shields they use on their Jackal and Elite units, and in starship defence. Their
ships seem to be propelled by anti-gravity devices, and even their planetary
vehicles use a limited form of the system – incredibly wasteful in terms of
energy usage, but I doubt the Covenant have to worry about that. The only
wheeled vehicles we’ve seen are those used by “Brutes”, which seem both
primitive and hasty compared to other Covenant equipment, and even by UNSC
standards. I wish we could study more enemy ships like the Harvest crash site –
so far, all the debris the other teams have brought in have been too fragmented
or charred to really use besides a spectroscopic analysis.
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:6.0pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:6.0pt;
margin-left:0cm;line-height:normal">
It’s their shielding systems,
though, that have really been raising eyebrows among higher circles. Their uses
in starship defence have already been apparent – the brass don’t want this to
get out, but Cole lost a third of his ships before they could even make a dent
in the battleship’s shields. I’ve been getting requests from EXCALIBUR for any
material we have on them, and I can only presume they hope to reverse-engineer
it. Good luck to them. The shield emitters, or whatever they are, are the most
damaged parts of any crash site. I’ve also been getting interest from other
projects – MJOLNIR and HAYABUSA have both inquired about the personal shields
we’ve recovered from Jackal bodies, and ARONDIGHT has been asking to see the
battle armour recovered from Cole’s dead Elite. I can only imagine that they’re
just as hopeful that they can produce a wearable protective shield system as I
am. I find it more likely that smaller-scale shields will be easier to develop –
the “Bubble Shield” systems being developed by SHERLOCK are already seeing test
deployment, and although they’re expensive and can only be used once, they’re
effective. I still say it’s a damn stupid name, but at least it’s not my
department. It’ll probably catch on, though – its short, it’s catchy, and it
inaccurately describes its function without giving away any information on its
functionality. Typical ONI engineering.
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:6.0pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:6.0pt;
margin-left:0cm;line-height:normal">
At the time of writing, I have
three researchers en route to you to examine the new dig site. A lot of us are
excited about the prospects it holds – we’ve always insisted there was something
to find at the Onyx, Coral and Cote d’Azure sites, and the fact that the
Covenant are after something of a similar nature is vindicating. Even if they
only hold a religious importance to the Covenant, it is still one step closer to
understanding just why these creatures want us dead so badly. Be kind to [VOLUND].
It’s his first time in a live combat zone.
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:6.0pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:6.0pt;
margin-left:0cm;line-height:normal">
//
END FILE //
- PLNB TRANSMISSION SO306M-DV
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:6.0pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:6.0pt;
margin-left:0cm;line-height:normal">
ENCRYPTION<span style="font-family:
"Courier New""> CODE: ROMEO-ALPHA-YANKEE
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:6.0pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:6.0pt;
margin-left:0cm;line-height:normal">
PUBLIC KEY<span style="font-family:
"Courier New"">: FILE / ABLE-SEVEN-OZYMANDIAS-TIAMAT
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:6.0pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:6.0pt;
margin-left:0cm;line-height:normal">
FROM:
CODENAME VOLUND
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:6.0pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:6.0pt;
margin-left:0cm;line-height:normal">
TO:
CODENAME ULYSSES
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:6.0pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:6.0pt;
margin-left:0cm;line-height:normal">
SENT:
12/02/2546 {BALLISTA FACILITY, REACH, EPSILON ERIDANI SYTEM, PLNB-COMSAT 66452}
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:6.0pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:6.0pt;
margin-left:0cm;line-height:normal">
RECIEVED<span style="font-family:
"Courier New"">: 22/04/2546 {CASTLE BASE, REACH, EPSILON ERIDANI
SYSTEM, FTL-COMSAT 6365/HOTEL}
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:6.0pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:6.0pt;
margin-left:0cm;line-height:normal">
SUBJECT<span style="font-family:
"Courier New"">: Temerity Update
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:6.0pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:6.0pt;
margin-left:0cm;line-height:normal">
CLASSIFICATION:
TOP SECRET – NOVEMBER BLACK
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:6.0pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:6.0pt;
margin-left:0cm;line-height:normal">
SECURITY OVERRIDE:
NOVEMBER BLACK
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:6.0pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:6.0pt;
margin-left:0cm;line-height:normal">
GHOST SEVER FILE-TRANSFER
PROTOCOL :
TRUE
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:6.0pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:6.0pt;
margin-left:0cm;line-height:normal">
AI-TOUCH PROTOCOL :
FALSE
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:6.0pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:6.0pt;
margin-left:0cm;line-height:normal">
<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="margin-top:6.0pt;margin-right:0cm;
margin-bottom:6.0pt;margin-left:0cm;text-align:center;line-height:normal">
// START //
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:6.0pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:6.0pt;
margin-left:0cm;line-height:normal">
I suppose I should thank
SVAROG for the opportunity. Putting forward a junior officer to head a major
research project isn’t normal practice, but then, what is “normal” these days?
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:6.0pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:6.0pt;
margin-left:0cm;line-height:normal">
The Algolis site is gone.
There’s no question about it. The ground invasion was massive, with at least
seven legions of infantry, supported by heavy armour and aircraft support. The
Covenant came in force, and they came prepared – enemy Special Forces even
intercepted The Heart of Midlothian while it was trying to make a pickup.
Half of my staff were killed in the attack, either in the bombing run or when
the Covenant overran the compound. I hope SVAROG’s death was quick – he
detonated the weapons research facility, wiping out a whole Covenant legion,
opening up a gap for the UNSC to break through. He deserves a damn medal, and I
know he isn’t going to get one because people will wonder why – and that would
lead them to the destruction of the UNSC’s top research base. Thank god for
“Ghost” and his HRUNTING/YGGDRASIL suit – whoever told him to simply destroy it
is an idiot. Find him and fire him – we can’t afford idiots in this war. The man
would have made a damn good Spartan. Such a shame. After the final evacuation, a
few telemetry satellites picked up radiological spikes – either the Covenant
glassing the planet, or the countermeasures for the “secret” projects went off.
Either way, Algolis isn’t going to be of use to anyone, human or Covenant, for a
long time. It was never very hospitable in the first place, the reason why it
was used as a test site – no civilians. But the attack has set us back, and
badly. We’ll be scrambling to bring ourselves back up to operational level.
Sometimes I envy you your faith, but it’s a comfort I’ve never felt.
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:6.0pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:6.0pt;
margin-left:0cm;line-height:normal">
We received NOVEMBER BLACK
classification today. Technically we’re ineligible – the material we deal with,
if disclosed, would certainly not damage the UNSC’s credibility among the
populace. Quite the opposite, in fact. But Ackerson’s pestering finally had an
effect, though not the one he intended – they’re burying us so deep that he’ll
need a shovel to dig through the levels of protection they’re wrapping us in. I
feel like I’m using a coffin metaphor, and it’s appropriate. The Security
Committee believes us to be threatened with infiltration, and the results of
this would be damaging to all involved factors. I don’t know why, since
everything we’re producing is all going straight to EXCALIBUR anyway to be
refined and introduced into service. The security programs they’re using for us
both are collectively codenamed “WIDOW MAKER” – I’m told they’re operational
prototypes for the next generation Navy Sentinels, which I have it on good
authority will be called “BLACK WIDOW”. You can tell Halsey cooked it up, can’t
you? I know nothing of their operation or how soon they’ll be introduced, which
is likely why ONI doesn’t try to censor my communiqués. They know me too well.
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:6.0pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:6.0pt;
margin-left:0cm;line-height:normal">
I’m also implementing a few
changes of my own. All through its existence, TEMERITY has treated the Covenant
technology alongside the other stuff, prioritising the most important ahead of
the least – that was a mistake. If we’re going to be researching both types at
once, then it needs to be done separately – I’m forming a sub-group, codenamed
“Asimov”, to deal with the dig site ruins and artefacts we find or recover.
Everything else is going to be codenamed “Wells”. Not very imaginative, I know,
but its proven effective in other development cycles. “Asimov” will be far
smaller, approximately 1/3 the size, but it will be dedicated to the recovered
artefacts – with some direction and time, we might be able to make heads or
tails of these ruins at last. It’ll be small, but it will be well staffed, well
supplied, and kept in the bloody loop. I’m starting to think FUTHARK had it
right from the start. The Covenant’s technology has been repurposed so many
times that even its makers’ have no idea what it was originally supposed to do.
We need to go back to the basics, and for that we need their source material.
Unfortunately, they seem to have destroyed or looted the more intact sites and
artefacts we might use – for religious zealots, they’re surprisingly wanton
about dealing with the “gifts” their “gods” left behind.
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:6.0pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:6.0pt;
margin-left:0cm;line-height:normal">
I’m also implementing other
measures. FUTHARK was far too accommodating with his ONI liaisons. They ran
circles around him, carrying out their own sub-agendas and internal wars against
each other, to the detriment of the project. I don’t take orders from Sections
One or Two, and most of Section Three can get stuffed as well. We report
directly to HIGHCOM – it’s time we reminded them of that. ONI sent a new liaison
today – a woman. Small. Petite. Polite to the point of flirtatious. I’m looking
forward to finding ways to confound her – it’s all too obvious an act. She’s
sitting across from me at the moment, smiling demurely. I nod back. My secretary
has already informed me that she has discovered no less than seven electronic
bugs in the waiting room alone, some placed quite ingeniously. I’ll have to keep
an eye on this one.
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:6.0pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:6.0pt;
margin-left:0cm;line-height:normal">
The cooperative effort with
EXCALIBUR is going well. We have no less than fourteen concurrent projects,
working to adapt a number of the innovations we’ve made for field use. Keep a
close eye on MJOLNIR. Halsey isn’t the only one who’s left her mark. A lot of
the rest is top secret, even above your pay grade, so you’ll just have to take
my word for it that there is some outstanding stuff. If we can just hold off the
Covenant for long enough, we might just have a shot at survival.
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:6.0pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:6.0pt;
margin-left:0cm;line-height:normal">
OZYMANDIAS asked me to look
over your NOVA project. I’m sorry to say that I found a number of flaws, both in
the design philosophy and in its implementation – I’ve included notes to you,
detailing my objections. It’s nothing personal, but getting a nuclear bomb
anywhere near a Covenant world is going to be next to impossible, short of
smuggling it aboard their ships. I’m told Section Zero caught an attempt to
smuggle the plans out by an Insurrectionist sympathiser. At this point in the
war, I can certainly see how they would be so desperate, but at this stage it’s
far too late for them to pose a threat. If the UNSC collapses, they do too, and
they know it – all they can do nowadays is organise protests against the
military government, the rationing, and other inconveniences that the war
necessitates. Sometimes I catch myself agreeing with them – and then I remember
that we are facing an enemy that has no qualms butchering women and children,
glassing worlds, and intend to wipe every trace of human existence from the face
of this galaxy. I caught some ignorant bastard preaching to a group of civvies
yesterday, trying to convince them that the Covenant would let them live, that
they were only after the UNSC. After the Draco III incident, I wasn’t surprised
when an angry mob attacked him. The Insurrection is an era that most of us have
grown past. Those who can’t keep up get left behind.
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:6.0pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:6.0pt;
margin-left:0cm;line-height:normal">
Next time you see FUTHARK, try
to be nice. I know it’s hard for you, but the man has served in this job for
longer than I’ve been alive and I almost want to quit now. Try and bring Janine
in for a visit – Robert’s funeral was hard for both of them, and a reunion might
kick-start the healing process.
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:6.0pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:6.0pt;
margin-left:0cm;line-height:normal">
ADDENDUM:
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:6.0pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:6.0pt;
margin-left:0cm;line-height:normal">
Little Miss Perfect was here
again. I think the flirting is genuine – the act is an obvious cover, but maybe
she genuinely thinks she has a chance. I never wear the ring, but I can feel it
– tell Samantha that she has nothing to worry about. I sent her away, and
discovered four bugs, one planted among my Japanese Peace Lily. I wonder how
long she’ll keep this up. I wonder how long I’ll let her.
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:6.0pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:6.0pt;
margin-left:0cm;line-height:normal">
The real reason I’m adding
this postscript is because SHOGUN has just come into my office, carrying a piece
of paper, looking very excited. He tells me it’s from a member of Naval Special
Warfare, and that we figure into it. I’m looking over it now. My god. This is
the kind of thinking that won us Harvest and Viperidae – Admiral Cole would have
been proud of it. I think you’re going to get a chance to read it – you factor
into it as well.
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:6.0pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:6.0pt;
margin-left:0cm;line-height:normal">
<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="margin-top:6.0pt;margin-right:0cm;
margin-bottom:6.0pt;margin-left:0cm;text-align:center;line-height:normal">
// END FILE //
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margin-bottom:6.0pt;margin-left:0cm;text-align:center;line-height:normal">
// SCRAMBLE-DESTRUCTION
PROCESS ENABLED //
|
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