Halo: Minorca Saga/Chapter Twenty Four

UNITED NATIONS SPACE COMMAND 
PRIORITY TRANSMISSION 8809667306-XB
ENCRYPTION: 
AUDACITY
Date: 
June 25, 2551 (UNSC Military Calendar)
FROM: 
Doctor Meredith Yankovic (Professor of Xenobiology, Rishard University, Reach 
[Minorca Project Leader])
TO: 
Rear Admiral Lillian Wellsley
SUBJECT: 
Minorcan PROJECT: TEMERITY field operations
CLASSIFICATION: 
TOP SECRET [BGX Directive]
 
/START FILE/
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
Fourthly, you were correct 
about the crash site for the Covenant Ship (intercepted Covenant communiqués 
designate it as the CCS Glorious Crusader). 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-991 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.
 
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], 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]. 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]. 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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
/TRANSMISSION INTERRUPTED AT 
SOURCE – UNABLE T REESTABLISH CONTACT/
 
WE EXIST TOGETHER NOW. TWO 
CORPSES IN ONE GRAVE.
 
/END FILE/
Category:Minorca Saga