Chapter 306 — Time
Less than an hour after Jarvis completed the analysis of the Covenant flagship's data, another meeting had been arranged.
This time, it was held inside the workshop.
Tony Stark and Gaius sat on one side of a large worktable. Across from them sat Dr. Catherine Halsey.
A moment later, two holograms materialized above the table.
Commander Serin Osman.
Admiral Margaret Parangosky.
The blue projections stabilized, and the meeting officially began.
Parangosky wasted no time. Everyone had already been informed that the meeting would focus on the data recovered from the Covenant flagship and the course of action moving forward.
"I assume this meeting concerns the Covenant flagship."
Tony nodded.
"And the data we recovered."
Parangosky folded her hands together.
"I am interested in the data."
Her eyes shifted toward Gaius.
"But first, I want to know what happened aboard that ship."
The room became quiet.
The question had been waiting since the battle ended.
Parangosky continued calmly.
"The last thing we observed was your launch pod breaching the flagship."
"The next thing we observed was the flagship exploding."
She paused.
"So I would like to know what occurred in between."
Everyone looked toward Gaius.
The Ultramarine gave a single nod before answering.
"After penetrating the flagship's shields, I proceeded to the command bridge."
"I eliminated the Fleetmaster and his officers."
"I accessed the command consoles and copied all useful data."
"Afterward, I located the reactor chamber."
"I placed melta charges."
"Then I left the ship."
Silence.
Several seconds passed without anyone speaking.
It wasn't because they doubted him.
None of them did.
It was because of how casually he had described everything.
To Gaius, it sounded like an ordinary mission report.
To everyone else, he had just summarized the destruction of a Covenant flagship as though he were describing a routine patrol.
Osman blinked.
"...That's it?"
Gaius looked toward her.
"Yes."
Tony pinched the bridge of his nose.
"I told you."
"He does that."
A faint smile almost appeared on Osman's face before disappearing just as quickly.
Across the table, Halsey remained silent.
Her mind was already reconstructing the operation.
A Covenant flagship carried thousands of personnel.
Security teams.
Elite guards.
Restricted sections.
Multiple layers of defenses.
Simply locating the command bridge without a map would normally have been an operation by itself.
Reaching it would have required fighting through countless defenders.
After that, Gaius had somehow crossed another significant portion of the vessel to locate the reactor chamber, planted explosive charges, and escaped before detonation.
Yet he had summarized all of it in five short sentences.
Parangosky slowly folded her hands again.
"You make it sound remarkably straightforward."
Gaius answered immediately.
"The objective was straightforward."
The answer somehow made the accomplishment sound even more unbelievable.
Osman stared at him for another moment.
"You boarded an enemy flagship without a map."
"You fought through its crew."
"You found the bridge."
"You killed the command staff."
"You stole their intelligence."
"You reached the reactor."
"And you escaped before the ship exploded."
She paused.
Gaius considered her summary for a brief moment.
Then nodded.
"Yes."
Silence returned.
Again, nobody questioned his account.
Instead, they found themselves thinking about the timeline.
Nine minutes.
That was all.
Nine minutes between the launch pod striking the flagship and the explosion that destroyed it.
Within those nine minutes, Gaius had somehow located the bridge, eliminated the command staff, copied their intelligence, traversed the vessel again, reached the reactor, planted melta charges, and escaped.
The feat was so extraordinary that none of them even knew which part deserved questioning first.
Fortunately, Halsey moved the meeting forward.
"Let's move on."
She turned toward Tony.
"What intelligence did you recover?"
Tony nodded.
"Jarvis."
"Show them."
Immediately, the holographic display expanded above the table.
Rows of reports appeared one after another.
Forerunner artifact recovery.
Ground assault priorities.
Species hierarchy.
Command structures.
Religious references.
Nobody interrupted.
For several minutes, the only voice in the room belonged to Jarvis as he occasionally highlighted sections he considered especially significant while everyone silently read through the recovered records.
When the presentation finally concluded, Halsey spoke first.
"It confirms our theory."
Tony looked toward her.
"The Forerunners?"
She nodded.
"The Covenant repeatedly prioritizes Forerunner artifacts over military efficiency."
She folded her arms.
"They are willing to delay orbital bombardment."
"Commit ground forces."
"Risk casualties."
"All to secure those artifacts."
Tony slowly nodded.
"So forcing them into ground battles wasn't just a guess."
"It wasn't," Halsey replied.
"The data supports it."
The conclusion carried enormous strategic importance.
Until now, much of their planning had relied on educated assumptions.
Now those assumptions had become confirmed intelligence.
Osman spoke next.
"So... the Covenant is a religion?"
Tony nodded.
Halsey shifted another report onto the main display.
"We already suspected the Covenant was a multi-species alliance."
"But these records confirm that they are indeed a multi-species alliance."
No one argued.
The recovered information left little room for doubt.
Parangosky remained silent longer than anyone else.
She carefully reviewed the reports one final time before finally speaking.
"This is the most valuable intelligence ONI has obtained on the Covenant in years."
The room fell quiet.
Coming from Margaret Parangosky, that was not casual praise.
It was a serious assessment.
Her gaze shifted away from the reports and settled on Tony and Gaius.
"You successfully defended Cascade."
"You destroyed a Covenant fleet."
"And you've provided intelligence that may influence future operations across human space."
She paused briefly.
"Therefore, I have made a decision."
Everyone listened.
"ONI will fully support the defense of Cascade."
Osman looked toward Parangosky but offered no objection.
She already knew this decision had been made.
Parangosky continued.
"You have earned that much."
Her eyes remained on Tony and Gaius.
"I will place my trust in you and your companions."
"When the Covenant returns, and they will return, ONI will provide whatever assistance we reasonably can to help you prepare."
Tony smiled slightly.
"Don't worry."
"You won't be disappointed."
Parangosky simply gave a small nod.
The conversation might have ended there.
Instead, Halsey spoke again.
"And this time..."
"We have something we lacked before."
Everyone turned toward her.
"Time."
She folded her arms.
"The first battle forced us to rely almost entirely on planetary defenses."
"The next one doesn't have to."
The first attack had caught them with very little time to prepare. They had focused on strengthening Cascade's defenses because building an effective fleet from scratch simply wasn't possible in such a short time. Even with Tony's knowledge, designing and producing warships required research, testing, and manufacturing on a completely different scale.
Now they had something they hadn't possessed before.
Time.
The Covenant had suffered a major defeat. They would almost certainly prepare more carefully before launching another assault, but that also meant humanity would have the opportunity to prepare as well.
Tony understood immediately.
"A fleet."
Halsey nodded.
"A fleet."
"We now possess the opportunity to build one."
Her eyes drifted toward the holographic reports.
"Humanity's greatest weakness against the Covenant has always been space superiority."
"We've spent decades fighting defensively."
"Now we possess technologies that could begin changing that."
Tony leaned back slightly.
"And if we can meet them in space..."
"We won't have to force them into a ground battle every time."
"Exactly," Halsey replied.
Before the discussion could continue, Osman spoke.
She had already received Admiral Parangosky's instructions before the meeting began.
"I can provide everything ONI has regarding UNSC naval designs."
Tony immediately looked at her.
"Everything?"
Osman nodded.
"Frigates."
"Destroyers."
"Cruisers."
"Carriers."
"Weapon systems."
"Shipyard specifications."
"Whatever you need."
Tony's eyes brightened.
That represented decades of naval engineering.
Halsey was already thinking ahead.
"With that information, we can begin designing upgrades immediately."
She started listing possibilities.
"Shield integration."
"Improved reactors."
"Advanced targeting systems."
Tony grinned.
"And maybe a few things the UNSC never thought of."
For a few moments, the discussion became increasingly technical as ideas flowed naturally between them.
Parangosky quietly watched the conversation.
For the first time since the Human-Covenant War had begun, humanity was discussing how to gain an advantage.
Not how to survive.
Not how to retreat.
Not how to reduce casualties.
How to win.
It was a subtle difference.
But perhaps the most important one.
Finally, Parangosky spoke again.
"There is something else."
The room immediately quieted.
She turned toward Halsey.
"We have re-established communication with Spartan-117 and his group."
Halsey immediately straightened in her chair.
"John?"
Parangosky nodded.
"And Cortana."
For the first time since the meeting began, genuine relief appeared on Halsey's face.
The expression was small.
Brief.
But unmistakable.
"Where are they?"
Even Osman looked interested in the answer.
Parangosky replied calmly.
"Spartan-117 successfully captured a Covenant vessel."
That announcement caused several people to pause.
Tony blinked.
"A Covenant ship?"
"Yes."
Tony slowly turned his head toward Gaius.
Gaius looked back at him.
For a moment, neither of them said anything.
Then Tony sighed.
"Apparently boarding Covenant ships is becoming a trend."
A faint smile appeared on Osman's face.
Even Halsey's lips twitched slightly.
Parangosky ignored the joke completely.
"After communication was restored, I redirected them toward Cascade."
The room became quiet again.
"A Covenant ship..."
Halsey repeated softly.
Her thoughts were already racing through countless possibilities.
A fully intact Covenant vessel.
Not wreckage.
Not scattered components.
Not damaged fragments recovered from a battlefield.
An actual operational Covenant ship.
Tony's eyes had brightened as well.
Because he understood exactly what that meant.
Technology.
Weapons.
Navigation systems.
Propulsion systems.
Power generation.
Manufacturing techniques.
Perhaps even software architecture.
An intact Covenant vessel represented years, possibly decades, of technological research compressed into a single opportunity.
Parangosky delivered the final announcement.
"Spartan-117, Cortana, the surviving Spartans, and the captured Covenant vessel are currently en route to Cascade."
Tony leaned back in his chair and smiled.
"Well."
He looked around the room before chuckling quietly.
"Looks like we're about to have some very interesting guests."
~~~
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