Chapter 303 — ONI's Evaluation
Far from Cascade, inside one of ONI's most secure conference rooms, the battle was being fought again.
Not with weapons.
With footage.
Three holograms sat around the table beneath the dim blue lighting.
Admiral Margaret Parangosky.
Commander Serin Osman.
Dr. Catherine Halsey.
Osman stood beside the central projector while streams of combat data scrolled through the air.
"We'll start with Site Seven," she said.
The first recording began.
The footage showed Covenant dropships descending toward one of Cascade's hidden Planetary Defense Laser installations.
Then Naruto moved.
Orange blurs crossed the battlefield faster than the camera could comfortably track. Shadow Clones appeared in waves. Covenant infantry vanished beneath impacts that shattered armor and cracked the ground beneath them.
Unggoy flew through the air.
Kig-Yar positions collapsed.
Jiralhanae were driven backward by raw force.
Above the battlefield, Tanya floated calmly through plasma fire.
Every shot she fired destroyed something important.
A dropship exploded.
An Elite officer disappeared.
A heavy weapons team vanished beneath a magical detonation.
The sky itself seemed hostile to the Covenant.
Several minutes later, the footage ended.
Silence settled over the room.
Parangosky folded her hands.
"It seems I underestimated them."
A brief pause.
"Again."
Osman nodded.
"To be fair, Admiral, everyone did."
Even Halsey gave a small nod.
The footage spoke for itself.
"Neither of them can be reasonably compared to Spartans," Halsey said.
She pointed toward the frozen image of Naruto.
"A Spartan can change the battlefield."
The image shifted, showing dozens of Covenant troops scattered across shattered terrain.
"That is not change."
Another image appeared, this time of Tanya hovering above burning wreckage.
"That is domination."
Halsey's expression remained analytical.
"The same applies to her."
"She maintained complete air superiority by herself."
"Against an enemy force."
Osman checked another report.
"According to the soldiers stationed there, they spent more time watching them than engaging the Covenant."
Parangosky raised an eyebrow.
Osman continued.
"The Covenant weren't forcing them onto the defensive."
"The Covenant were being hunted."
Another silence followed.
All three had already reached the same conclusion.
Naruto and Tanya had not defended the installation.
They had attacked everything that came near it.
Osman changed the recording.
"Site Four."
Saeko appeared on the display.
The atmosphere of the battle changed immediately.
Less explosive.
More controlled.
More precise.
Yet somehow no less lethal.
A Jiralhanae charged.
Saeko's blade flashed.
The Brute collapsed before it could even complete its swing.
Another advanced.
Another single strike.
No wasted motion.
No hesitation.
Nearby, Mindy fired.
One shot.
Then another.
Then another.
Every round hit exactly where it needed to.
Saeko identified the targets.
Mindy eliminated the enemies farther away.
The footage ended.
Halsey spoke first.
"Saeko possesses some form of enhanced battlefield awareness."
She replayed several moments.
"Watch."
The footage slowed.
Saeko changed direction before an attack was launched.
Avoided ambushes before they occurred.
Intercepted enemies approaching from blind angles.
Halsey's eyes narrowed.
"She knows where danger will appear before it happens."
Osman nodded.
"The soldiers reported the same thing."
Halsey pointed toward another frame.
"And her weapon."
The image zoomed in on a Jiralhanae combat harness that had been split cleanly in half.
"The cutting capability exceeds what the blade's material should physically allow."
Parangosky gave a small nod. She had noticed that herself.
Halsey then shifted to Mindy.
The footage showed repeated shots striking nearly the same location on a Sangheili's shield until it collapsed.
The Elite died moments later.
Then another.
Then another.
"She doesn't simply hit targets," Halsey said.
"She hits exactly where she intends to."
Osman glanced at the statistics floating beside the footage.
Hit percentages.
Kill confirmations.
Long-range engagements.
The numbers were absurd.
Parangosky finally spoke.
"And yet they happened."
Nobody disagreed.
"Site Eleven," Osman said.
The room changed.
Diana appeared on the display, standing alone before another Planetary Defense Laser installation.
Her sword was already drawn.
The first Covenant dropships descended.
Then she moved.
The ground exploded beneath her feet.
A shockwave spread outward.
For an instant she vanished.
Then the recording found her again.
Already inside the Covenant formation.
Her sword flashed.
A Sangheili was cut apart.
Then another.
Then a Jiralhanae.
The battlefield became a blur of silver and blue.
The Covenant attempted to surround her.
It did not matter.
Every movement was too fast.
Every strike was lethal.
A Jiralhanae charged her directly, weapon raised.
Diana stepped inside the attack.
Her foot struck the Brute in the chest.
The impact launched the alien backward. Armor shattered. Several ribs visibly collapsed inward.
Before it even hit the ground, her sword followed.
The Jiralhanae died instantly.
Then the Covenant changed tactics.
The dropships stopped deploying troops and opened fire directly.
Plasma cannons lit the battlefield.
Explosions erupted around Diana.
She continued moving through them.
Dodging.
Leaping.
Advancing.
Lightning appeared around her blade.
She bent her knees and jumped.
The height alone would have been impossible for any human.
She landed against the side of a dropship.
Her sword swung.
The blade passed through Covenant alloy as though it were paper.
A glowing line appeared across the hull.
Then the entire craft split apart.
Using the dying dropship as a platform, she pushed off again.
The force of her jump accelerated the crashing vessel downward.
She launched herself toward another vessel.
The footage ended shortly afterward.
The result was obvious.
Every Covenant unit assigned to that installation had been destroyed.
Silence filled the conference room.
Osman was the first to speak.
"...She destroyed an entire Covenant force by herself."
It sounded absurd even as she said it.
Halsey replayed the moment Diana launched herself toward the dropship.
Height calculations appeared.
Velocity.
Acceleration.
Several seconds later she stopped the playback.
"Impossible."
Parangosky looked toward her.
"You've said that before."
"Not like this," Halsey replied.
"Not even a Spartan in MJOLNIR armor could generate that amount of force."
She pointed toward the frozen image.
"The physics alone should be impossible."
Osman leaned back slowly.
"Yet she did it."
"Yes," Halsey answered.
"She did."
Another silence.
Then Parangosky spoke.
"She cut through the dropship."
"I saw that," Osman said.
Parangosky shook her head.
"No. I mean she cut through the dropship."
The emphasis changed everything.
Covenant dropships were military aircraft built from advanced alloys.
Diana's sword had sliced through one like cloth.
Osman exhaled slowly.
"I don't think I've ever seen anything like that."
For once, nobody disagreed.
Osman changed the footage again.
"Site Three."
Tony appeared.
The battlefield below him vanished beneath explosions.
Missiles.
Repulsor blasts.
Iron Legion bombardment.
Fire rolled across the landscape in continuous waves.
Covenant troops barely had time to establish formations before being erased.
The entire area was drowned in explosions and burning wreckage.
Halsey watched the footage carefully.
"It seems Tony overwhelmed them with firepower."
Parangosky's expression did not change.
She had expected Tony to be dangerous.
This still exceeded her expectations.
The Covenant had not even been given a chance to fight properly.
The room fell quiet again.
None of them seemed entirely sure what to say anymore.
Osman looked around the table.
She could see it on both of their faces.
Their understanding of what was possible had already been pushed far beyond anything ONI had prepared for.
Then her own expression changed.
She took a slow breath.
"Be prepared for this one," she said.
Parangosky looked up.
Halsey straightened slightly.
Osman met both of their gazes.
"This is about Gaius now."
~~~
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