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“Phase three,” Dr. Halsey said, “will consist of taking the captured Covenant ship to their homeworld.”
Several questions immediately formed in the Master Chief’s mind. Who would pilot the alien ship? Hadany one ever deciphered the Covenant control systems? It seemed unlikely since the UNSC had nevercaptured one of their ships before. Were there Covenant recognition signals that had to be sent whenentering their space? Or would they just steal their way in-system?
When a plan had so many missing pieces of data, the Spartans had been trained to stop and reconsider itseffectiveness. Unanswered questions led to complications—“snags.” And snags led to injuries, death,and failed missions. Simple was better.
He held his questions, though. Dr. Halsey surely would have planned for these eventualities.
“Phase four,” she continued, “will be to infiltrate and capture the Covenant leadership and return withthem to UNSC-controlled space.”
The Master Chief shifted uneasily. There was no intel or reconnaissance of Covenant-held space. Whatdid a Covenant leader—a Prophet—even look like?
Chief Mendez had told him to trust Dr. Halsey. The Master Chief decided to hear all the details beforehe asked any further questions. To do so might undermine her authority. And that’s the last thing heneeded the other Spartans to see.
And yet, there was one thing hehad to clarify. The Master Chief raised his hand again.
She nodded toward him.
“Dr. Halsey,” he said, “you did say ‘capture’ the Covenant leaders—not eliminate them?”
“Correct,” she replied. “Our profile of Covenant society indicates that if you were to kill one of theirleader caste, this war could actually escalate. Your orders are to preserve any captured Covenant leadersat all costs. You will bring them back to UNSC headquarters, where we will then use them to broker atruce, possibly even negotiate a peace treaty with the Covenant.”
Peace? The Master Chief considered the unfamiliar word. Was that what Captain Keyes had meant? Thealternative to winning wasn’t necessarily losing. If you chose not to play a game, then there could be
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neither winning nor losing.
Dr. Halsey took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. “Some of you already suspect this, but I shall state itanyway for emphasis. It is my opinion, and that of many others, that the war is not going well . . .despite our recent victories. What is not widely known is how badly it is going for us. ONI predicts thatwe have months, perhaps as much as a standard year, before the Covenant locates and destroys ourremaining Inner Colonies . . . and then moves against Earth.”
The Master Chief had heard the rumors—and promptly dismissed them—but to hear the words fromsomeone he trusted chilled him to the core.
“Your mission will prevent this,” Dr. Halsey said. She stopped and frowned, lowered her head, thenfinally looked up at them again. “This op is considered extremely high risk. There are unknownelements involved and we simply do not have the time to gather the required intelligence. I havepersuaded FLEETCOM not to order you on this mission. Admiral Stanforth is asking for volunteers.”