<\>TAC-OPS LOGISTICAL DATABASE [ONI.SEC.PRTCL-1A]
< RESOURCE ALLOCATION NOTICE
>>SENT:[MAZE.I.400361(S1)]
>>RECEIVED: PROWLER "SHADES OF GRAY" [SOG.ACTUAL]
>VTT TRANSCRIPT FOLLOWS
[MAZE.I.400361(S1)] "Additional Field assets have been routed to you."
[SOG.ACTUAL] "With all due respect, I am deeply appreciative of the assets, though I'm not sure what you expect me to find. Unless this is about...?"
[MAZE.I.400361(S1)] "It is. We've confirmed reports dating back to 2531 and satellite reconnaissance of the area. It will be waiting for you when you arrive."
[SOG.ACTUAL] "But... I thought that the area was supposed to be quarantined? It's been that way for decades."
[MAZE.I.400361(S1)] "This is old data. From the Spirit of Fire. At the time, we were more concerned with fighting the Covenant. Now though..."
[SOG.ACTUAL] "Now you have so much free time on your hands that you choose to assign a random agent to investigate one of the greatest mysteries in human history. One that is officially - and carefully - undistinguished, save for age. Seriously, what's this about?"
[MAZE.I.400361(S1)] "I've read your file. Your complete file. This is big."
[SOG.ACTUAL] "Oh... so that's what this is about. You're mistaken. I was a foolish kid with dumb luck back then. A lucky mathematical error doesn't count as experience with these matters."
[MAZE.I.400361(S1)] "Stop hiding behind your ignorance. We both know that you know more about this than any other human."
[SOG.ACTUAL] "Not necessarily. Sierra 117 had much more experience in these matters, and while he's marked MIA, it's possible that Cortana might have stored more information on the issue on a back-up drive before she collapsed. It might be more prudent to search for the Master Chief on this matter instead of coming to me. Besides, on the assignment, I was just an observer. I didn't actually learn very much."
[MAZE.I.400361(S1)] "This might help us. If Professor Anders' report is to be believed, it's a map."
[SOG.ACTUAL] "...I see. Well, considering their technology, this means...."
[MAZE.I.400361(S1)]"Exactly. If the reports are accurate, and if you can get it working again, we might be able to find Sierra 117. AS for the Cortana data, most of it was lost during the Covenant bombardment of the Alpha Facility in New Mombasa. We have fragments of data, but at this point, there isn't much to go off of."
[SOG.ACTUAL] "That's not what worries me, though. Certainly, we might find them, but what else could we find? Perhaps there is a threat lying beyond the narrow scope of our satellites; perhaps the Flood holds an expanse far greater than anything we could have predicted, or perhaps something even worse lurks beyond our vision. Whatever we find, the team assigned to excavate this will need to be mentally prepared, trustworthy, and above all, able to keep a secret. I know that more than half of ONI doesn't even have those capabilities."
[MAZE.I.400361(S1)] "You haven't met half of ONI. Regardless of what we find, we both agree that this is important. As such, you've been given additional field assets and the authority to override command descisions made by your battlegroup commander. In addition, we've had ONI ops AIs installed in the Armored Prayer and the Amnesty of God. The Commanding officers don't know about it, and it would be best to keep it from them for the time being. That's all for now."
>> TRANSCRIPT CLOSED PER UNSC JAG ARTICLE 901-1B
