Chapter Fourteen

Hestia System

Meridian, Moon of Hestia V

In Orbit

UNSC Sevenfold Gates

April 3rd 2548, 1234 hours

Rachel Hoss marched down the extremely lit hallways within Sevenfold Gates with much on her mind. She kept from biting at her nails and talking to herself and instead kept staring at the end of every hall she turned down. She eventually made a right and came to a grain-stained door which opened on her approach. Captain Brenan stood at a monitor speaking with General Reaves stationed in Avignon, Meridian’s capital city.

“We’re running out of options.” Brenan confessed, rubbing his face.

“I’m not asking for permission, Captain.” Reaves commanded. “You are to move Anchor Stations 9 through 12 above the city within the next 24 hours.”

Hoss heard this and immediately stepped in. “Have you been briefed, Sir?” She stepped beside Brenan who looked appalled.

“Dr. Hoss. This is a private call and I don’t remember requesting you.”

“In order for the defense grid to operate efficiently it has to remain intact.” Hoss stated without making eye contact.

“And in order for Avignon to survive the waves of Covenant we’re receiving each hour; we need your MAC rounds.” Reaves’s patience thinned. Hoss swiped through her data pad trying to find anything close to the city that might help. Halcyon Class Juniper was close with ODST’s on station.

“I’ll send the UNSC Juniper to help assist. They will supply you with vehicles and ODST’s.”

General Reaves’s face soured as if Hoss spoke was heresy.

“Doctor, you have no authority over this grid and you certainly haven’t been cleared to speak with me let alone assist me with people who will just—”

“First, Sir, coming from the person who built this grid, I will tell you I am in control of it. Second, the Office of Naval Intelligence has initiated several contingencies to help accommodate most cities throughout the planet. As for you, sir, you have the most support than any other county let alone city. I’m afraid Juniper is all you will receive until further notice.” Hoss tapped on her pad for a moment surrounded in silence. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to get back to work and possibly end this war, Good day.” She concluded pressing the holopanel which ended the broadcast.

“You better have serious connections within ONI because you might get court-marshalled for that.” Captain Brenan cautioned.

“I really could care less, if everything goes according to plan, we might just win this war.” She said handing him a file with documents inside.

“What’s this?”

“Battle tactics the Covenant use in scenarios like this.”

“Scenarios? Like this?”

“Suggestions given to us by other ONI investigators. Toland helped bring it together months ago in preparation a Luminary would be discovered on Meridian, which evidently, one has.”

Brenan glanced over the documents which indicated a variety of strikes and flanks performed by the Covenant during their genocide. Most of them had no priority other than force but some, like on Jericho were…interesting. He touched the play button and listened to the audio.

“The Covenant was relentless; Banshee’s, Wraiths, you name it, they pushed as hard as they could, but Fireteam Zeta held their ground. Comprised of Spartan II’s, Zeta held their objective effortlessly. What was meant to be destroyed, authorized by the UNSC, the Directory, as we called it, was a device not Human nor Covenant origin. Once ONI understood its value, they decided to have the Spartans defend it. What was thought to be a victory only ended in slaughter.

“After several hours, the Covenant narrowed their forces and began sending infantry. This was alarming for several reasons since they would have a much better chance at reaching the facility with force. Despite this, the Covenant did this for hours keeping the Spartans on their feet and bunkered at their objective. That was, until the flank. The Covenant then sent wraiths to each side while a Cruiser descended from the sky.

The Wraiths were eventually destroyed but they were meant as a distraction as Spec Op Elites made it through and reached the Directory. Eliminating each Spartan effortlessly, they reached their objective and the Directory was destroyed via Covenant explosives. It was never understood why it was destroyed but regardless, this incident sparked attention. Why would they struggle for so long to get inside while refraining from damaging the Directory until they were inside? This implies it had significant value. If only we knew what it truly was.”

Captain Brenan stood still then blinked and looked at Hoss. “A Luminary?”

“It’s the only thing that makes sense. As Toland has explained before, they haven’t been lucky finding Human civilization, they’ve been tracking us using these artifacts. And understanding their value could help us understand how to beat them.”

“I’m not sure about this.” Brenan handed her the documents.

“I need to be down there studying this thing. I’m the only person in this system with the faintest knowledge about these artifacts—thanks to Dr. Halsey’s studies.” Hoss said. “And if I can’t figure it out, we lure them inside and blast it before they can’t retrieve it. If anything, we slow them down.” For a moment, a long moment, the room was completely silent. Hoss wasn’t even sure if either of them were breathing.

“I’m not sure if I’m hearing you correctly, Doctor.” Brenan raised his voice. “Are you telling me we designed this orbital grid comprising of several Halcyon class cruisers and one of the largest UNSC armies in the galaxy just so we can let them take Meridian.”

“No, I’m telling you that if they get that device it could be the end of everything. They could get to Reach or Earth by using these devices.” Hoss spoke almost forgetting to breathe. “Hell, they could already know the location of all the artifacts and they’re just collecting but I highly doubt that seeing as it was a pretty small force that arrived here a few days ago.”

“They’re not stupid, Rachel.”

“No, but they’re desperate.”

Brenan began to pace, rubbing his head. He eventually leaned against a desk which displayed a map of Meridian. Staring at the spinning planet, his thoughts clouded his vision. He knew the Covenant would win, somehow, that was always the case…but for once they could have a chance. Figuring out what the Covenant was after was just as important as figuring out how to defeat them.

“Ok.” He finally said. Turning around he approach Hoss and folded his arms. “I’ll place you in command of a small team, we don’t want attention; you’ll go with ODST’s and other ONI personal. Bring anything you think may be of value for your study. I can’t tell you how much time you will have for obvious reasons but if something goes wrong.” He paused for a moment relaxing his shoulders.

“I understand, sir. Thank you.” Hoss smiled.

“I just hope you know what you’re doing.” He said then walked out of the office.