Halo: Minorca Saga/Chapter Twenty Four

 UNITED NATIONS SPACE COMMAND PRIORITY TRANSMISSION 8809667306-XB   ENCRYPTION : AUDACITY  Date : June 25, 2551 (UNSC Military Calendar)  <span style="font-family:&quot;Courier New&quot;">FROM </b><span style="font-family:&quot;Courier New&quot;">: Doctor Meredith Yankovic (Professor of Xenobiology, Rishard University, Reach [Minorca Project Leader]) <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:36.0pt"> <span style="font-family:&quot;Courier New&quot;">TO </b><span style="font-family:&quot;Courier New&quot;">: Rear Admiral Lillian Wellsley <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:36.0pt"> <span style="font-family:&quot;Courier New&quot;">SUBJECT </b><span style="font-family:&quot;Courier New&quot;">: Minorcan PROJECT: TEMERITY field operations <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:36.0pt"> <span style="font-family:&quot;Courier New&quot;">CLASSIFICATION </b><span style="font-family:&quot;Courier New&quot;">: TOP SECRET [BGX Directive] <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:36.0pt"> <span style="font-family:&quot;Courier New&quot;"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:36.0pt"> <span style="font-family:&quot;Courier New&quot;">/START FILE/ </b> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:36.0pt"> <span style="font-family:&quot;Courier New&quot;"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:36.0pt"> <span style="font-family:&quot;Courier New&quot;">I understand the urgency of my teams work, General, but I assure you we are working as hard as we can. Your assignment of operatives to look over our shoulders is hindering my teams integrity, and your constant demands for situational updates make actually learning anything a far more arduous task than it needs to be. The recent loss of my predecessor, Lieutenant Commander Pomare, has compounded matters, and I think having a civilian consultant heading TEMERITY has rubbed some members of ONI the wrong way. There are some things, however, which I feel I can address. <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:36.0pt"> <span style="font-family:&quot;Courier New&quot;"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:36.0pt"> <span style="font-family:&quot;Courier New&quot;">First, your field operations have managed to turn up some interesting results. The artefacts the 506th recovered from the Covenant Gamma Site are all non-Covenant in origin, and of a much higher level of sophistication. Their molecular perfection indicates construction techniques far beyond the capabilities of the Covenant, and though they are apparently intact and operational, my research team has yet to determine what, if any, their purpose actually is. It may be that these were simply playthings of whoever created them. The structure uncovered at the Delta Site is of a far larger scale, and if your Marines ever lift the quarantine they put in place, I might be able to examine some of the artefacts functioning and intact. <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:36.0pt"> <span style="font-family:&quot;Courier New&quot;"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:36.0pt"> <span style="font-family:&quot;Courier New&quot;">Secondly, you wondered whether the Delta Site was the only structure on Minorca, and your hunch was on the money. The equatorial jungles have seventeen regions where Primary Growth is replaced by Secondary Growth, indicating past deforestation, with even more in the northern hemisphere. I have reconnaissance teams scouting these sites, and hope to provide updates on the viability of artefact recovery soon. <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:36.0pt"> <span style="font-family:&quot;Courier New&quot;"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:36.0pt"> <span style="font-family:&quot;Courier New&quot;">Thirdly, and related to my last point, there are other anomalies that defy such an easy explanation. Geological abnormalities that, given Minorca’s total lack of tectonic activity, should not exist. The Daemon mountain ranges, for example, are typical of those created by the collision of several tectonic plates, but are located well in the centre of the main continent. Likewise, island chains off the planets coast have all the hallmarks of past volcanic activity, but lack any magma movement or signs of past volcanism. The closest analogy would be to a diorama – externally it looks identical to natural formations, but there are signs of its apparently artificial nature. The only conclusion is that it is evidence of terraforming on a scale unparalleled by UNSC or Covenant achievements. The entire planet may have been terraformed. We have no way to determine what, if any, features are naturally formed rather than artificial. Whoever terraformed Minorca showed a level of technological sophistication so advanced they left scarcely any trace of their work. <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:36.0pt"> <span style="font-family:&quot;Courier New&quot;"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:36.0pt"> <span style="font-family:&quot;Courier New&quot;">Fourthly, you were correct about the crash site for the Covenant Ship (intercepted Covenant communiqués designate it as the CCS Righteous Fury). Whatever the Covenant recovered from the ship has allowed them to locate UNSC forces with considerably more accuracy, and most of our stealth systems have been rendered ineffective. Oddly, the experimental IX-99 class Prowlers don’t seem to have this limitation. Their Active Camouflage fields, reverse-engineered from Covenant technology, may render their own technology null. The communiqués we intercepted also detail some of the Covenant command structure. <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:36.0pt"> <span style="font-family:&quot;Courier New&quot;"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:36.0pt"> <span style="font-family:&quot;Courier New&quot;">Regardless of whatever ranks they held, the Covenant presence was intended to be led by a figure referred to as the [Spear-tip of the Glorious Crusade]. He was killed during the initial skirmishes, but command fell to a Covenant ship captain called the [Righteous Wielder of Truth</b>], who ordered the fleet to jump back to Covenant space, handing down temporary command to a figure called the [Noble Extension of the Gods Will</b>]. These seem to be names rather than titles or ranks, and so if so are extremely poor translations. It does, however, let us know that the leader we face was not the one intended to. From the variety of minor Battle-Net chatter we have gathered, his reputation was better than his actual skill. Most of the higher-ranked warriors regard his actions as disgustingly amateur, though the hold much respect for the [Righteous Wielder of Truth] and [Noble Extension of the Gods Will</b>]. These are apparently low-ranked members of the Covenant military, but exhibit significant prowess far beyond their station. Certainly the Covenant’s recent actions show a level of ingenuity and skill that they have so far failed to display, and may be a sign that whoever leads their local forces is a force to be reckoned with. <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:36.0pt"> <span style="font-family:&quot;Courier New&quot;"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:36.0pt"> <span style="font-family:&quot;Courier New&quot;">No details on the enemy’s exact numbers yet, but satellite imagery has confirmed at least three divisions-worth of troops were fielded during the capture of New London, and another seven moved to assault the quarantine forces at the Gamma Site. They may hold more in reserve, but we cannot be sure. The shield emitters they raise over their main encampment blocks satellites and long-range reconnaissance, and we dare not use the THOR satellites for fear of destroying what is so interesting to the Covenant. <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:36.0pt"> <span style="font-family:&quot;Courier New&quot;"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:36.0pt"> <span style="font-family:&quot;Courier New&quot;">There is one oddity, though. A single communiqué was sent approximately 14 hours ago from a location very close to the quarantine site, but with no sender identification tag. The encryption was designed to resist Covenant systems, and though ours have managed to readily intercept and translate all but the most difficult ones, translation still eludes us. A few words crop up repeatedly – “Cleansing” and “Labyrinth”, both actually poor translations of the actual phrases - but the rest are indecipherable. It may use a different dialect than that used by the standard Covenant forces, or it may be the enemy’s first use of encoding schemes. But the fact that it they are also hiding itself from the Covenant is more interesting. It may be evidence of internal factional struggles within the Covenant. <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:36.0pt"> <span style="font-family:&quot;Courier New&quot;"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:36.0pt"> <span style="font-family:&quot;Courier New&quot;">I have enclosed high resolution satellite images of the planets surface, with highlighted regions indicating areas of interest. Given the comparatively small Covenant presence, it is understandable that their ability to capture and hold areas is restricted to the more defensible and less-explored northerly latitudes, but it is this region that is of interest to us as well. I understand you have Special Operations forces present at the location, and I can only hope that they discover something that will allow us to break the deadlock and recover some of the artefacts before the Covenant find them first. <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:36.0pt"> <span style="font-family:&quot;Courier New&quot;"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:36.0pt"> <span style="font-family:&quot;Courier New&quot;">/TRANSMISSION INTERRUPTED AT SOURCE – UNABLE T REESTABLISH CONTACT/ </b> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:36.0pt"> <span style="font-family:&quot;Courier New&quot;"> </b> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:36.0pt"> <span style="font-family:&quot;Courier New&quot;">WE EXIST TOGETHER NOW. TWO CORPSES IN ONE GRAVE. <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:36.0pt"> <span style="font-family:&quot;Courier New&quot;"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:36.0pt"> <span style="font-family:&quot;Courier New&quot;">/END FILE/ </b>