- jack0fhearts
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- Honorable Member
"Where ere thou hast been, here or in yon world manifest? Canst thou tell what is, or what was, or what is to come? No thing shall last. Yet there are some things that will never change. History is written in blood, yet are battles really lost on the battlefield? Canst thou tell me where thou comest, and where thou goest, and what is, or what was, or what will be? For everything remains, AS IT NEVER WAS."
OPERATION: RED FLAG/ 93893
SUM/INTENT: The secured capture of a living "HIGH PROPHET" for the purposes of bartering a formal ceasefire with the Covenant.
PRELIM INQ: Evidence suggests that the capture of a Tier-1 asset would provide enough political leverage for a ceasefire [AF-23]. The problem, of course, is getting a hold of the right asset, and in this case, a "HIGH PROPHET," one of the key members of their leadership caste. Current intel indicates that there are only three in existence and that they reside in the mobile dome-ship structure the Covenant refer to as "HIGH CHARITY" or, on occasion, a flagship carrier [CLASS-FIVE CSO/CAS], neither of which we've had real access to before. Not permanent access, at least [RL-54].
OBJECTIVE: Use a substantially-sized, high-impact team of S-II military personnel wearing qualified MJOLNIR gear to assault a Covenant vessel, acquire full, unmitigated control and return it, without suspicion, back to the domeship structure. There, the team would split up into discrete covert splinter groups, gather sufficient intel, seize an appropriately targeted Tier-1 asset and withdraw back to a ship, securing ad hoc ex-filtration.
COLLATERAL: The need for a Class-Five is paramount to the success of this operation, but it would likely require the sacrifice of a colony of significant value to the Covenant, potentially one with a high accretion of alien artifacts of non-Covenant origin, such as the volumes recorded on Harvest, Meridian, Arcadia, or even Reach. We would have to lower our defenses, draw the enemy in, and then acquire transport by force.
//END OF ORIGINAL SPEC REPORT//
--PLEASE INSERT ADDITIONAL NOTES BELOW--
COMM-SCRIBED/PTS 9386-9
ADDENDUM: Margaret, my original notes did include Reach here, but this was only a hypothetical and based entirely on what we've found there. You should keep in mind that using Reach as bait for this op is not an option I'm willing to consider. It's tactical suicide. We'd be giving them the war with only Earth left to fall back to, something I will not endorse. The only exception to this, in my mind, would be if the Covenant had already located Reach and it was deemed indefensible.
PRELIM REQ: The following assets are needed for this operation:
*S-II personnel (20-30) under NavSpecWeap operational command
*MJOLNIR Mark V software suite capable of construct piggy-back
*Gen-3+ AI construct extensively programmed with Covenant system intrusion software
*Full refit on Marathon-class, or an augmented Halcyon-class (with 2510 structure param)
*Veteran naval CO and crew, preferably someone with at least a decade under his or her belt
NOTE: I've submitted these reqs to Halsey, since half of this shopping list is from her store. She has an AI lined up already [CTN 0452-9], I'll ping you with details once I have them.
Still holding out that this is just a fire drill.