>>3991331
>>Try and bring your mom! While things have been a bit strained between you, you want to extend this olive branch.

>>3991331
>Take your sister! She's the closest person to you in the family, so you want to share the event with her.

>>3991331

>Try and bring your mom! While things have been a bit strained between you, you want to extend this olive branch.
can they bring and use a camera so the rest of our family can see the event live and rejoice with us ?

Need a tiebreaker

File: Alexandria_Tethers.jpg (74 KB, 1536x1152)

74 KB JPG

It came as a bit of a shock to most of your family when you decided that you would take your mom to your promotion ceremony. Though it wasn't a spontaneous decision. In fact, you had been mulling over the idea of how to try and reconnect with your mother ever since you had graduated from training. As far as you saw it, if things went well then you would be able to reconnect with a family member who you had fallen out with. If they went badly then there would be an entire planet for her to explore while you handled your business.

The fact that the invitation had also mentioned that there would be a media presence also influenced your decision a bit.

Either way, you had managed to get her to agree to it in spite of her attempts to weasel out of it through arguing that the landlord would take the opportunity to terminate the lease on the apartment. Being a heavily built-up and well-traveled system meant that there was no shortage of craft capable of making the journey from Tribute to Reach. The problem was that the journey took around two weeks, and in spite of your best efforts, your mom barely talked to you in spite of your attempts to talk with her. You had to prompt every conversation out of her, up until your final descent to Reach aboard one of the climbers of the Delphi Tripple-Strand Network.

"Norman, are you sure you want me to attend the ceremony?" Your mom asked as the space elevator began to decelerate, the magnetically actuated brakes slowing the pod down as it began to reach the bottom of the strand. "I can just spend some time sightseeing in New Alexandria if that would be better for you."

>Write in

>>3991518
If I did not want you to attend ma, I'd not have asked.

"Mom, if I didn't want you to be here then I wouldn't have asked." You pointed out, before giving your mom one of your winning smiles as the elevator began to enter the final mile of it's journey, the brakes really kicking in in order to ensure that everyone inside didn't hit the surface of Reach at terminal velocity. Your mom was silent at that but gave a small nod. You took that as the best you were gonna get, and you were starting to get ok with that.

The Delphi Triple-Strand Network was the primary space elevator system that serviced the capital city of New Alexandria. From there, a pelican dropship would pick up you, your mother and everyone else and fly all of you to the Fleet Command Headquarters, where the promotion ceremony was being held. The original plan was for the event to take place at the FLEETCOM military complex in the Highland mountain range to play host to the event, but apparently, the situation had changed and the more civilian-friendly building of the Fleet Command Headquarters was better suited for the event. Either way, once the elevator climber had stopped and opened, you followed a waiting pair of marines out to a waiting Pelican. You strapped yourself into one of the seats after helping your mom with her harness.

>Try to talk with your mom again. You've put in all this effort and you're getting nothing back. What gives?
>Talk with the officer next to you. What's their story?
>Keep quiet until the Pelican lands.
>Other (write-in)

>>3991688
>>Try to talk with your mom again. You've put in all this effort and you're getting nothing back. What gives?

>>3991688
>Talk with the officer next to you. What's their story?
Let's not badger her.

Aww yeah, time for Halo.

>>3991688
>>Talk with the officer next to you. What's their story?

>>3991688
>>Talk with the officer next to you. What's their story?

>>3991688
>Talk with the officer next to you. What's their story?
Just got caught up. Really enjoying it.

>>3991688
>Talk with the officer next to you. What's their story?

>>3991688
>>Talk with the officer next to you. What's their story?
Don't know how I keep missing your announcements.

As the pelican began to take off, you turned to your right and struck up a conversation with one of the few officers in the dropship. "So, what's your story?"

"Smoked a pair of those scaled-down cruisers that the covies love to use as medium weight escorts, then hauled my damaged ship back home. You?" The lieutenant commander told you with a smile, proud of his achievement. And you couldn't blame him for it, if the scar on his face was any indication then he must have taken an injury.

"Wasted a bunch of escorts and curb-stomped a large rebel cell." You answered with the more official version of why you were being promoted. You didn't want to brag about being sponsored by the boogyman of human space.

"Smallfry then, well I suppose a kill is a kill these days." The other commander joked, before offering you his hand to shake. "Lieutenant Commander Bright, formerly of the UNSC Shiroyama."

"Commander Norman Wells, currently of the UNSC Dawn's Early Light." You shook her hand as you introduced yourself, you couldn't help but smile here. At the very least you were having more success talking to him than with your more anti-social mother.

>Ask commander Bright why he is "formerly" a part of the Shiroyama's crew.
>Tell the other commander about one of your recent operations.
>Other (write-in)

>>3992829
>>Ask commander Bright why he is "formerly" a part of the Shiroyama's crew.

>>3992829
>>Ask commander Bright why he is "formerly" a part of the Shiroyama's crew.
Guessing his ship went down.

>>3992829
>Ask commander Bright why he is "formerly" a part of the Shiroyama's crew.

>>3992829
>Ask commander Bright why he is "formerly" a part of the Shiroyama's crew.

File: Frigate_scrapyard.jpg (146 KB, 1920x1080)

146 KB JPG

"So, what happened to your ship? That formerly was fairly loaded." You asked the lower-ranking officer, who gave a resigned shrug.

"Was I really that obvious?" Commander Bright smiled, before shaking his head and continuing. "Nah, we took one hell of a beating, and we had to jump with quite a few holes. The Paris class is one tough hull, but even it has a point of no return. Once we made it to reach, she only remained in orbit long enough for us to disembark and have some patches and a set of Romeo-seven thrusters slapped on before she was sent down to the breakers."

"How did things get that bad?" You asked as the Pelican settled at cruising altitude, which itself wasn't very high but still avoided most of the civilian traffic.

"My flotilla got ambushed during a routine scouting op, we couldn't face the split-lip bastards head-on so we scattered on random FTL trajectories. When my ship re-entered normal space they followed us, sending a pair of those baby cruisers after us. Fortunately for us, the bastards had no idea what they were doing. But in spite of that, they still did a number on us with their torpedos and those light plasma beam turrets." Bright regaled you with the tale of what had happened to his now-defunct vessel. You couldn't help but feel sorry for the commander, it was a well-known fact that the Covenant could track a UNSC ship's FTL trajectory, and had some ability to predict where a ship they were following would drop out of slipspace. Allowing them to set up ambushes that most ships couldn't escape. And for Bright to manage to defeat a pair of mini-cruisers -which fleet intelligence still couldn't decide between classifying it as a frigate or a light cruiser- was a clear indicator that he hadn't just gotten lucky.

>Ask how he took down the Covenant ships. (roll 1d20)
>Tell him about your latest hit, while you took a bad knock at least the Dawn isn't headed for the breakers.
>Other (write-in)

Rolled 16 (1d20)

>>3992940

>Ask how he took down the Covenant ships. (roll 1d20)

Any combat information is useful information.

Rolled 7 (1d20)

>>3992940
>Ask how he took down the Covenant ships. (roll 1d20)

Rolled 10 (1d20)

>>3992940
>>Ask how he took down the Covenant ships. (roll 1d20)

Sorry for the delay, had to help out with stuff around the house.

===================================

"So, how did you manage to beat them?" You asked rather bluntly, getting right to the heart of what you wanted without bothering with the fineries.

"Well the first thing I did after dropping out of FTL was to send a MAC round right into one of them, that blew a chunk out of them. I sent a couple of volleys of Archer missiles at it, but a lot of them got shot down by the other cruiser's pulse-laser system. Once I realized the intact ship had essentially tied itself to it's damaged comrade I exploited the hell out of that by throwing the occasional missile volley at the damaged ship while dodging as much torpedo and plasma beam fire as possible." Commander Bright gave you the rundown on how he had defeated the Covenant forces arrayed against him. And to be honest, that took you a little bit by suprise, most Covenant forces weren't known to be very protective of each other unless they were specifically assigned to escort something. Such protective behavior between peers was practically unheard of.

"So that was it? You just exploited their teamwork to drag them both down?" You pried, maybe this guy was just trying to feed you a tale in an attempt to keep the key to his success to himself. You refused to believe that it was that simple.

Bright shrugged -or at least attempted to with the seat restraining him- before finishing off his tale. "Their problem, not mine. Besides, I doubt they were expecting me to fire a volley of nukes at them. Once those puppies went off, there wasn't much of either of them left that could survive a couple of missiles."

>NEW SKILL LEARNED: TIE DOWN
When engaging enemy ships operating in small two-to-three ship size groups, use this skill after damaging one of the ships to try and force the other Covenant ships to defend it. Thus preventing them from advancing aggressively on you and gaining bonuses on attacks against both targets.

The other commander was just about to ask you something when the pelican landed, the sudden jolt of contact with the ground killing the conversation in an instant. You both had to stop for a second at the realization that your journey had been a lot faster than you had expected. You said your goodbye to the Lieutenant Commander as you took off your harness, before helping your mother with hers as the dropship's ramp opened. The landing bay of the Fleet Command Headquarters started what the rest of the building continued, a pseudo-civilian facade that could pass a basic inspection, but fell apart the moment anyone gave it a lick of thought. From the stacked landing areas that looked right out of a large ship's hanger, to the faux-wood paneling that seemed haphazardly spread around in a manner that looked artistic but would be easily considered a fire hazard if it was actual wood. As you descended the ramp, your mother in tow, you were immediately ambushed by a man with a fake smile.

>CONT

>>3993216

"Commander Wells. I'm agent Fabian, part of fleet intelligence." The spook smiled as he offered his hand to shake, you gave him the courtesy but not without a glare. There was no fleet inteligence branch in FLEETCOM, there was only ONI. And while you appreciated him not directly outing that he was part of the office, it really didn't do much to change the fact that this wasn't a good time for them to be showing their faces. " Would you mind following me for a few minutes?"

>Brush off the agent. Whatever he has can wait until after your promotion.
>Go with the spook. They got you here in the first place, might as well hear what they have to say.
>Other (write-in)

>>3993218
>>Go with the spook. They got you here in the first place, might as well hear what they have to say.

>>3993218
"Is it so important that it cannot wait until after the proceedings? I did bring family and leaving her alone would be poor form."

>>3993218
>Go with the spook. They got you here in the first place, might as well hear what they have to say.

>>3993218
>>Go with the spook. They got you here in the first place, might as well hear what they have to say.

>>3993218
>>Go with the spook. They got you here in the first place, might as well hear what they have to say.

>>3993218
>spook's here
Geez.

>>3993218
>Go with the spook. They got you here in the first place, might as well hear what they have to say.

>>3993228
This.

"Mom, do you mind?" You asked your mom, as you turned to look her in the eye. You could have just gone with the agent, but it would have been a bit rude to simply leave your mom to find her way around.

"Of course, I'll just follow everyone to wherever the presentation is being held. Make sure you aren't late, it will be pretty embarrassing if you're not there for your promotion." Your mom gave you a reassuring smile, before following after the rest of the officers and their family members. You didn't follow them, instead, you followed the ONI agent back into the pelican dropship.

"Alright, what's going on that can't wait?" You asked the agent as the pilot closed the ramp to give you and the spook

"After the ceremony, you are to report to Olympic Tower. You're being reassigned, and we need to hammer out some details." The agent got right to the point, deciding not to waste your time by sugarcoating things. Which was something that you needed, given that you had places to be right now.

>"With respect, agent. What's this all about?" (roll 1d20+3)
>"Does ONI have the authority to reassign fleet units?"
>"Why couldn't you tell me this after the proceedings?"
>"Understood, I'll be there."
>Other (write-in)

>>3994056
>"With respect, agent. What's this all about?" (roll 1d20+3)

Rolled 19 + 3 (1d20 + 3)

>>3994062

Rolled 3 + 3 (1d20 + 3)

>>3994056
>"With respect, agent. What's this all about?" (roll 1d20+3)

Rolled 9 + 3 (1d20 + 3)

>>3994056
>>"With respect, agent. What's this all about?" (roll 1d20+3)

>>3994056
>>"With respect, agent. What's this all about?" (roll 1d20+3)

File: Arcadia ruins.png (505 KB, 763x354)

505 KB PNG

"With respect, agent. What's this all about?" You asked, and sure enough, the agent unclipped a tablet from his waist pouch and began to boot it up as he talked.

"We've detected a heightened amount of Covenant activity around Arcadia. It looks like the Covenant are planning on hitting it again, and we need a ship over there before they hit it." The spook told you as he booted up the tablet and punched in his access code. You took this opportunity to sit down on one of the jump seats.

"I thought that the Covenant had already hit Arcadia back in the thirties, why is ONI so concerned about it? It should just be a ball of glass." You were a bit confused about the whole situation on Arcadia, the Covenant wasn't known for leaving planets intact after they found them.

"Because while the Covenant attacked Arcadia around a decade ago, they didn't glass the planet, they didn't wipe out the civilian population. There is still a civilian population there, and they provide much-needed foodstuffs to the rest of UEG space. That's not what we're interested in though." The spook passed the data-pad to you, showing a compilation of images of a lush green jungle covering the grey-blue architecture of some alien ruins. The wreckage of some gargantuan Covenant vehicles only hammered home how different the two were. "Back in the thirties, during the first invasion, the UNSC Spirit Of Fire found a series of ancient alien ruins that the Covenant was very interested in. The Spirit wasn't able to fully analyze the ruins before they disappeared, but they left a log buoy with all of the analysis gained by their resident xenoarcheologist. We recovered the data and have a facility on Arcadia analyzing the ruins, and we need to pull them out before the Covenant arrives."

>"Why do you need me? Prowlers are stealthier than my ship and Stalwarts are faster, my Paris isn't gonna cut it on this."
>"If these ruins are important, why haven't they been excavated and pulled off the planet?"
>"When do I cast off?"
>Other (write-in)

>>3994259
>>"Why do you need me? Prowlers are stealthier than my ship and Stalwarts are faster, my Paris isn't gonna cut it on this."

>>3994259
>"Why do you need me? Prowlers are stealthier than my ship and Stalwarts are faster, my Paris isn't gonna cut it on this."

>>3994259
>>"Why do you need me? Prowlers are stealthier than my ship and Stalwarts are faster, my Paris isn't gonna cut it on this."

"Why do you need me? Prowlers are stealthier than my ship and Stalwarts are faster, my Paris isn't gonna cut it on this." You pointed out, without having to mention that your ship was currently undergoing major repairs.

"Exactly, the briefing will hammer out exactly what ship you'll command on the mission. Your ship won't be out of dock before we need to send you on the mission, so you'll need a temporary replacement. We've got a couple of replacement hulls lined up for you, all crewed and ready to go the moment you give the word to go." The spook nodded before pointed at your tablet and mimicking a swipe to the left. You swiped left on the tablet and sure enough, brought up a list of the ship classes available to you. It was a decent mix of lighter, faster hulls, but nothing that would really survive more than a brief brush with the Covenant.

"What hulls have been short-listed?" You asked, while the listing did give you the classes available, they didn't give you much about the actual ships and their history.

"We've got a Sahara-class prowler as our pick, PRO-dash-fourteen, she just came out of refit. FLEETCOM is offering you a pick between a Stalwart class light frigate and your old corvette, the UNSC Hoel. You'll have your pick of attached specialists and embarked vessels." The spook assured you, and you were a bit surprised that the Hoel was open to take you. How much that had to do with the new commander and how much that had to do with its previous relationship with ONI was really up in the air.

>"If these ruins are important, why haven't they been excavated and pulled off the planet?"
>"Why me in particular? Don't all of those ships already have assigned commanders?"
>"How should I handle the civilians?"
>"When do I cast off?"
>Other (write-in)

>>3994383
>"How should I handle the civilians?"

>>3994383
>"How should I handle the civilians?"

>>3994383
>"Why me in particular? Don't all of those ships already have assigned commanders?"

I think we should use this opportunity to find out why they want us in particular. Mind you it might just be because we’ve worked with ONI before

File: farm.jpg (791 KB, 1920x1080)

791 KB JPG

"How should I handle the civilians?" You asked the spook as you swiped over to the page on the world's agricultural contributions to the UEG. With the lack of glassing during the last Covenant attack, much of the planet was left open for agriculture after much of the population left the world, leaving behind empty cities.

"Interaction with civilians is to be avoided if at all possible, and that includes warning them of the imminent Covenant attack. Get in, grab the package, and get out" The spook instructed you, the ONI officer dooming the planet's population with a tone that wouldn't be out of place in a casual cafe meeting.

"What? Are you really saying that we should just let them kill everyone on the planet?" You snapped your head up and glared at the spook. You didn't like the idea of leaving other people to suffer the same fate as you. Especially when they had already suffered the tender mercies of the alien assault.

"Arcadia is lawless. We've barely managed to eke out a deal with some of the local warlords to guarantee grain shipments. If you tell them that the Covenant is coming back to finish what they started, all you're gonna do is cause panic and destroy any chances we have of getting what food stocks we can get before it all burns." The spook shook his head, before continuing on. "You are authorized to defend yourself if engaged, but don't rock the boat, ok?"

>"You said that Arcadia is lawless, but you managed to get a deal with the people there. So there must be some governing body, right?"
>"If these ruins are important, why haven't they been excavated and pulled off the planet?"
>"Why me in particular? Don't all of those ships already have assigned commanders?"
>"When do I cast off?"
>Other (write-in)

>>3994505
>"If these ruins are important, why haven't they been excavated and pulled off the planet?"

>>3994505
>>"If these ruins are important, why haven't they been excavated and pulled off the planet?"

>>3994505
When do I cast off.

>>3994505
>"When do I cast off?"

>>3994552
>>3994606
can we please ask more questions first?

>>3994505
>>"If these ruins are important, why haven't they been excavated and pulled off the planet?"

>>3994505
>>"If these ruins are important, why haven't they been excavated and pulled off the planet?"

>>3994611
We have a promotion coming up and I don’t really want us to be late to that.

"If these ruins are so important, why haven't they been excavated and pulled off-planet?" You asked, while you didn't know much about the ruins themselves, they had to be valuable if ONI was chartering a ship to extract whatever information was possible.

"Well for starts we have no idea how extensive the ruins are. Best estimates put the primary ruin as covering around three miles worth of land, with outlying structures extending that to fifteen miles. And as a few of those structures are still gaining power from somewhere, we have no idea if dismantling the ruins is even possible." The spook replied, and you could see his reasoning. Massive earth-moving was still something outside of humanity's reach, which once again was something that the Covenant had absolutely no trouble with. Destroying a planet generally involved moving a lot of earth.

"Have you been able to remove anything?" You postured another question, you doubted that ONI would just let something valuable lie around on a compromised planet.

"Only a few of the more heavily damaged and obviously unpowered structures have been removed, but that's always come with damage or complete destruction of salvage equipment when we hit a live power line." The spook shook his head, before pausing for a second and shrugging. "But I'd be lying if I said that it had all been for nothing. The metallurgy alone has advanced our knowledge of materials science by years."

>"If the ruins are so valuable, why not dedicate a larger military force to hold the planet?"
>"You said that Arcadia is lawless, but you managed to get a deal with the people there. So there must be some governing body, right?"
>"Why me in particular? Don't all of those ships already have assigned commanders?"
>"When do I cast off?"
>Other (write-in)

>>3994776
>>"Why me in particular? Don't all of those ships already have assigned commanders?"

>>3994776
>"Why me in particular? Don't all of those ships already have assigned commanders?"

>>3994776
>"Why me in particular? Don't all of those ships already have assigned commanders?"

>>3994776
>>"Why me in particular? Don't all of those ships already have assigned commanders?"

>>3994776
>>"Why me in particular? Don't all of those ships already have assigned commanders?"
Plus
>>"Any idea / info on why the Covenant did not glass the world?

I'm guessing the ruins have something to do with it...

>>3994776
>>"Why me in particular? Don't all of those ships already have assigned commanders?"

"You had your pick of officers, and I'm damn sure that all of the short-listed ships already have assigned commanders. Why reassign me?" You redressed an old question in an attempt to get to the answer you wanted. And this time, the spook seemed to get the message.

"Because we need an oh-six rank officer commanding this mission, and one we can trust at that. That's a pretty small club, and you're one of the few people in that club available at the moment. We need someone with the correct clearance to take custody of the information and ensure that it arrives." The spook explained, though his answer seemed way too ridged to be passable, and you called him out on that.

"ONI gives too much free-reign to its operatives for me to believe that, what's the real deal." You denied the spook's explanation and pushed on to try and find the root cause.

The spook sighed, before giving you the real reason why ONI wanted you out of your wolfpack. "ONI wants to start... consolidating its assets. Officers willing to operate under us are getting rare, and Captains are even-more so. Removing those officers from their existing postings is the first step in that."

"So this is a reassignment without a clear destination. You know what happens to lone frigates right? They get stuck on policing and anti-piracy roles for months until they can get sent back to the fleet." You couldn't help but grimace. Your last experience of being stuck on anti-piracy and policing had left a bad taste in your mouth, you had joined the fleet to kill aliens after all.

"That's assuming that they keep you in the 'Dawn, let's be honest here, do you really expect to stay on as her captain? A captain deserves something far heavier than a frigate, wouldn't you agree?" The spook lent towards you with a grin, like a devil offering you a cursed treasure.

>"And what makes you think that FLEETCOM won't give me the same choice?"
>"What makes your offer so special?"
>"There's a price to this, isn't there?"
>Other (write-in)

>>3997117
>"There's a price to this, isn't there?"
TAANSTAFL, There ain't any such thing as a free lunch.

Letting ONI sink their hooks into us has sent us down a path we won't stray from easily. We should just take the offer before they start considering us a liability.

>>3997117
>"There's a price to this, isn't there?"

>>3997117
>"There's a price to this, isn't there?"

Speaking of promotions, our ceremony is soon fellas.

We also 100% have to bring our crew with us if we leave for something better

>>3997140
We may not be able to take the crew, it seems like crew stays with a ship but captains move around?

We should at least try to take our XO and poach some officers. We can maybe even convince ONI to help make that happen since we've proven to be a successful team.

>>3997157
Yeah, definitely not all of it given the massive difference between Frigates and whatever else.

I reckon we can get Dyad, the bridge staff and maybe some odd ones like that pelican pilot.

>>3997277
To be frank, Dyad has done so much to cover our ass we should bring her with us for this mission, then see if ONI will help her get promoted to a command of her own.

And use her to start building our own squadron.

"There's a price to this, isn't there?" You asked tentatively. Your previous work with ONI had been somewhat profitable, but you were always wary for the other shoe to drop. And you were worried that you were getting close to it.

"Well, you'd be expected to put the interests of the office ahead of existing fleet directives. We have quite a few projects and staffers that we would prefer to be given... preferential treatment when it comes to evacuation or access to Covenant equipment." The spook began to tread carefully, but you could see that what they wanted was an obedient agent, but without the free-reign that most of their agents had.

"Putting the office's interests first... like leaving a planet's population to die?" You didn't so much as state, as downright spit your rhetorical question. You didn't like what they were telling you to do.

"That's a bit inaccurate. If anything it's putting the best interests of humanity as a whole first, even if it may seem immoral or sinister. The greater good of humanity comes before the individual after all." The spook tried to defend what he was saying, and by extension, the actions of the office as a whole.

"And you guys wonder why you have a reputation for being literally one step up from satan." You sighed, this guy had drunk the kool-aid, and you didn't want to waste your time arguing the point.

"Well, we like to pride ourselves on working with facts and data. Saving a thousand people only to starve three-thousand more isn't a good trade. It's kind of the same deal with Arcadia, the refugee crisis will cause starving on multiple worlds, and that will just cause a lot more suffering and will drag supplies away fro the places where they are needed most." The spook shrugged as he boiled down the situation on Arcadia to something as simple as making sure that people got fed. And not accounting for the value of human life in a war against an enemy that sought to wipe humanity out.

>"And what makes you think that FLEETCOM won't give me the same choice?"
>"What makes your offer so special?"
>"You know that the whole greater good argument is flawed as hell, right?"
>Other (write-in)

>>3997369
>Other (write-in)
"They're civilians, not stupid. You understand that once a frigate or destroyer arrives and starts evacuating and extracting that something's going down.

Would you prefer panic and chaos that inhibits getting every last scrap of food and utility out the population, or at least giving them them hope and organizing them to pull out and save what and who we can?"

>>3997369
>"What makes your offer so special?"

>>3997395
I'm sure ONI knows that but they probably just don't care.

>>3997419
Then the agent shouldn't have tried to use 'maintaining calm' in order to continue exports of food as a talking point if he didn't want it used against him.

>>3997439
True.

"They're civilians, not stupid. You understand that once a frigate or destroyer arrives and starts evacuating and extracting that something's going down." You pointed out a flaw in the ONI's plan not to warn the civilian population of Arcadia about what was coming. namely that the people there would sense something going wrong when ONI pulled out. "Would you prefer panic and chaos that inhibits getting every last scrap of food and utility out the population, or at least giving them hope and organizing them to pull out and save what and who we can?"

"That's why you're getting either a stealthy prowler, a fast corvette, or a light frigate with exceptional aviation facilities. The locals won't see enough of you to raise an alarm. Besides, one ship showing up and taking some cargo from a facility in the middle of nowhere isn't going to cause much of an alarm." The spook countered, and his tone of voice telling you that he really didn't care for your point of view. Whether that was due to a lack of empathy on his part, or a lack of an ability to actually change anything was still up in the air though.

"Getting back on topic, you're asking me to basically throw my reputation into the gutter for the sack of your office. What's in it for me?" You asked for the one thing that everyone sought, payment. If you were going to be asked to go down a path of burning bridges, then the least ONI could do would be to make it a rewarding juncture.

"Well just like how we sponsored your promotion, we can sponsor your reassignment to new ships. You can finally trade in that dinky little Paris and get something more accustomed to your fighting style. Maybe a Halberd, or maybe one of the new Halcyon replacement cruisers." The spook offered, finally smiling as he was able to tell you about the many things that ONI was willing to give you in return for your service.

Unfortunately for the spook, you weren't buying the low hanging-fruit. "I can probably get that by just sticking with the fleet for a little while longer. What makes your offer so special?"

"ONI has its fingers in a lot of pies, and quite a few of them are RnD. We can give you access to equipment that is stable enough for field testing but not approved for widespread use. Experimental subsystems, weapons, embarked craft, and even some extensive refit options." The spook's tone took a more exasperated note here, apparently, this wasn't an offer he had been willing to make from the word go, though you guessed that your stubbornness thus-far had been enough to force him to give in without being pressed too hard. "So, are you interested?"

>"Fine, getting a leg up on the Covenant is worth the moral loss."
>"Only for this mission. I'll need time and options from you before I can make my final decision."
>"No dice, I'm not gonna run to a doomed planet in the hope that the Covenant won't show up.
>Other (write-in)

>>3997530
>"Fine, getting a leg up on the Covenant is worth the moral loss."

I say we go for the Halcyon cruiser. I also think we have to make sure to get it refitted because from what I remember they were initially a bit shit.

>>3997530
>>"Only for this mission. I'll need time and options from you before I can make my final decision."

>>3997530
>"Fine, getting a leg up on the Covenant is worth the moral loss."

Fine, sip the kool-aid and see what happens. You've been pushing the ONI angle long enough that it's time to see how deep the rabbithole goes. Also, running on NYE is probably gonna keep the thread slow.

>>3997530
>"Fine, getting a leg up on the Covenant is worth the moral loss."
Time to get lost in red tape and black ink. Can't wait to be pushing Spartans.

>"Only for this mission. I'll need time and options from you before I can make my final decision."

>>3997530
>>"Only for this mission. I'll need time and options from you before I can make my final decision."

>>3997530
>>"Fine, getting a leg up on the Covenant is worth the moral loss."

>>3997530
>"Fine, getting a leg up on the Covenant is worth the moral loss."

>>3997530
>"Fine, getting a leg up on the Covenant is worth the moral loss."

>>3997530
>>"Only for this mission. I'll need time and options from you before I can make my final decision."

"Fine, getting a leg up on the Covenant is worth the moral loss." You decided after a few seconds. While getting in deeper with ONI was a fairly radioactive choice, you had to think more about guaranteeing the survivability and combat effectiveness of your ship. If that meant being a stooge for the spooks, then that was the price you would have to pay.

"Very good! We'll have the details of your reassignment hammered out by the time you return from the operation, but we'll have to talk about that later. We'll meet in my office in Olympic tower." The spook grinned widely at your choice, he had seemed worried that you wouldn't accept the offer, but his final hail-mary offer of experimental tech had swayed you for now. "But for right now, you have a promotion ceremony to attend. Unless you have something else to ask?"

>Ask a question (write-in)
>Take your leave, you're done for now."

>>3998311
>>Take your leave, you're done for now."

>>3998311
>>Take your leave, you're done for now."

>>3998311
>Take your leave, you're done for now."

>>3998311
>>Take your leave, you're done for now."

"I'm good." You said. And though you were good with the information you had been given and had no more questions, you still had some lingering doubts about your choice.

"In which case, we should probably head over to the presentation hall. if my reckoning is correct then the technicians should still be setting things up in there." The spook noded, before putting out his hand to take back his tablet. You turned the device off and passed it to him as you stood up, before hitting the button to drop the ramp.

The spook took the lead and led you out of the hanger at a brisk pace as he reattached the tablet to his side. You fell into lockstep just behind and to the right of him. Eventually, he showed you into a decently sized waiting room, kind of like the kind just outside of a theatre where people could chat and while waiting for their time to filter in. And from the small lanes left open for technicians and their drones, you guessed that the techs needed a little bit longer to get everything set up. You could see small groups of officers and their family members talking with each other, or walking around in search of a conversation. You couldn't see your mom on the edged of the crowd, but it wouldn't take much time to find her in the room. Alternatively, you could try and find Lieutenant Commander Bright and see if you could try and use him as an in-roads into a conversation. However, you could probably find something more to your liking if you wandered around the room for a bit. Regardless of if that was a talented officer or some rumors that you could use.

>Talk with your mom for a bit, you dragged her out here after all.
>Try and find Lieutenant Commander Bright, he seemed like a decent guy.
>Mingle with the crowd, maybe you can find some talent here. (roll 1d20-2)
>Mingle with the crowd, maybe you can find some rumors here. (roll 1d20-2)
>Other (write-in)

>>3999641
>Talk with your mom for a bit, you dragged her out here after all.

>>3999641
>Talk with your mom for a bit, you dragged her out here after all.

>>3999641
>Talk with your mom for a bit, you dragged her out here after all.

>>3999641
>>Talk with your mom for a bit, you dragged her out here after all.

>>3999641
>Talk with your mom for a bit, you dragged her out here after all.

>>3999641
>>Talk with your mom for a bit, you dragged her out here after all.

>>3999641
>>Talk with your mom for a bit, you dragged her out here after all.

Finding your mom among the crowd wasn't too hard. All you had to do was listen out for her slightly-higher-than-average tone and home in on it. You found her chatting to an even mix of officers and civilians. She saw you approach and introduced you. "Everyone, this is my son, Commander Norman Wells. Norman, meet Lieutenants Takahashi and Cartwright and their parents. Doctor Takahashi and Mr. Adama, respectively."

"Commander, your mother was just telling us about you." Doctor Takahashi informed you as he offered you his hand to shake, you smiled and shook his hand, you recognized his name from a paper you had to study on the structural effects of repeated MAC gun firings.

"Well, hopefully, she told you about my good points." You said, before addressing the group in general. "So, how are you all finding this?"

"Well, I hadn't expected there would be this many officers." Your mother stated, earning her a couple of nods from the people in the group.

"Makes sense though, being able to show off our few successes against the Covenant. It helps give the image that we have a chance." Mr. Adama sighed, his pessimistic tone casting a real downer on the conversation, and drawing glances from people nearby.

"Micha, we talked about this. Now's not the time for negativity." Lieutenant Cartwright cautioned her relative. You didn't know if he was her step-father, or if he was simply estranged. And given the social situation you were in, you weren't gonna ask.

"I'm sorry, I'll try to do better." Mr. Adama apologized to the lieutenant, and while she seemed to be content with the apology, it had definitively killed the conversation. At the very least you had an opportunity to get your own questions off.

>Ask the Lieutenants what they did to get a place here.
>Ask the doctor about his latest work.
>Ask Mr. Adama about what he does.
>Ask your mom how she's finding things.
>Other (write-in)

>>4002166
>Ask the Lieutenants what they did to get a place here.

>>4002166
Complement the doctor on that paper
Then
>Ask the doctor about his latest work.

>>4002166
Backing this >>4002188

>>4002166
>>Ask the doctor about his latest work.

"So, doctor. I read your paper on the implications of repeated MAC gun usage on warships. It was a very helpful source for my final graduation paper. Would mind telling us, what your current line of research is sir? A man of your talents probably has some interesting work on his deck." You congratulated the doctor on his work, which had helped you quite a lot with the background theory on your report, before asking him about his current work. The doctor smiled and nodded, though from the look on his face you could tell that this wasn't the first time he had been congratulated for his work.

"Thank you, commander, I've received quite a positive response from that paper. You certainly aren't the only person to have used it as a primary source for a final report." The doctor accepted your praise, before continuing on by answering your questions. "And you would be right, I've certainly been busy, my current work is on improving the efficiency of large-scale MAC gun coils. The end-goal being to reduce the requirements for super-MAC platforms to be serviced by extensive ground-based reactor complexes."

"Would that allow the fleet to start deploying those guns in offensive actions? Being able to snap one of their carriers in half would certainly make fleet-level engagements a whole lot more even." Lieutenant Cartwright asked the doctor, the younger lieutenant taking a keen interest in the idea of getting something capable of gutting the biggest ships the Covenant had ever fielded being deployable away from existing infrastructure gave a lot more strategic flexibility to the fleet.

"Well, even that is a bit out of our reach right now. The shock of firing a super-MAC gun would run the risk of causing damage to multiple ship systems, such as the drive systems and the slipspace core mount, and that is a risk that people aren't willing to risk such an expensive piece of kit without a way to recover it. Though I can't say much more about the specifics of the job, I can confirm that there are conflicting ideas on the subject." Doctor Takahashi shot that idea down, and you understood the problem entirely. While modern slipspace cores were isolated from the rest of the ship to an extent, the sheer amount of force imparted on a hull from firing something as large as a super-MAC gun was insane. Hell, that was much or the reason behind why many modern super-MAC stations used very old-fashioned systems. And more than one station had been either seriously damaged or lost due to structural failures when firing their main gun.

>Suggest an alternative way of getting heavy MAC guns into and out of battle. (write-in)
>Ask the Lieutenants what they did to get a place here.
>Ask Mr. Adama about what he does.
>Ask your mom how she's finding things.
>Other (write-in)

>>4002390
>Ask your mom how she's finding things.

We brought her along for a reason, and I honestly can't think of a way to bring heavier mac cannons into combat without making a literal gun-ship.

>>4002390
>>Suggest an alternative way of getting heavy MAC guns into and out of battle. (write-in)
Dedicated tugboats, with the MAc broken down into something easily assembled on site quickly.

>>4002390
>Suggest an alternative way of getting heavy MAC guns into and out of battle. (write-in)
>If i'm remembering right, Punic super carriers are equipped with Supers. Why not just scale back the super carrier aspect and make it into a dedicated gunboat? Or, rather, why not a proper battleship? Vindication's light BBs can barely be called as such.

>>4002390
>Suggest an alternative way of getting heavy MAC guns into and out of battle. (write-in)

What about allowing the MAC to move backwards in brackets on a dedicated ship, like old fashion field artilllery
https://youtu.be/tuvoP6QvMQ4
Like in this but on a bigger scale

>>4002390
Wait if the SHOCK is whats doing the fucking damage... Suspion things or whatever work?

Like its hanging suspened and when it fires, it rocks on those or maybe a thing that fires out the back and has a crush zone?

>>4002459
So like my suggestion >>4002439 but with a crumple zone? Don’t know if you want an area with damage deliberately taken.

What if it was kinda like a Hotdog? Massive Super MAC in hot middle with rest of ship built around it.

>>4002461
Well I mean, it won't be useful for ALOT of shots. But we don't fight super carriers quite alot. Just crusiers and stuff I think?

>>4002486
Perhaps have it kept w/ a carrier and escorts to be used for fighting big covvie fleets

File: Screenshot 2020-01-04 at (...).png (295 KB, 2048x1446)

295 KB PNG

>>4002515
PIC related, my 10-minute brainstorm of what it might look like

>>4002515
I mean most MAC's are already built over... Wait what if its actually suspened IN a liquad that's shockabsort but NOT something that easily conducts lighting?

>>4002569
Don’t know about a liquid but I can support this, let’s see what others have to say.

>>4002569
Like a fluorocarbon?

File: Punic_orbit.jpg (81 KB, 580x264)

81 KB JPG

"If shock is a major factor then why not attempt to mount the MAC gun in a kind of shock-absorbing mount similar to the liquid-based systems used in the MAC gun mounts on corvettes?" You suggested, your first proper ship, the Hoel, mounted its gun in a fluid mount in order to avoid damaging the ship's weak internal structure every time the gun was fired. If that could be scaled up, then you believed that it could solve the problem.

"Unfortunately that doesn't scale very well with the size of the gun, and attempting to scale it up to something that sends a three-thousand ton round to a percentage of light speed would require the development of a ship many times larger than a Punic class supercarrier just to mount the assembly." The doctor shook his head at your suggestion, but you weren't done, so you kept at it.

"Yes, but what about mounting it externally to the hull? You could mount the gun on a recoil system similar to old-fashioned chemical field guns and have the system compress a shock-absorber filled with a similar working fluid to the type used in corvettes to absorb the shock of firing the weapon." You clarified, and this time it actually got a look of interest from the doctor, who stopped for a couple of seconds to consider your suggestion before answering.

"That... that's a bit better than our idea of using a similar external mount but with metal crumple-zones to take the force of the recoil. Your idea gets around the issue of the crumple-zones being only good enough for a couple of shots before suffering a catastrophic structural failure. And it would fit well with our preliminary design of mounting the gun in a cradle-ship shaped, somewhat shaped like a hotdog bun for easy mounting and servicing without suffering from the ship pivoting off target every time you fired the gun." The doctor contemplated your suggestion for a couple of seconds before giving you a warm smile. He seemed to like the fact that you had managed to pick up on one of their more promising ideas with your first guess. However, he still shook his head and dismissed the idea. "Unfortunately it still runs into the same problem that killed our external-mount design. It leaves the gun very exposed to enemy fire from even light weapons systems. And with a system that critical, the admiralty just wouldn't accept it being left exposed on a combat ship. Not to mention that a system would be far more complicated and expensive to manufacture."

>CONT

>>4002801

"What about adapting an existing design, the Punic's mount a pair of super-MACs each. Would a cut-down Punic work as a dedicated battleship?" The doctor's son asked, though from his expression it looked like he was having a hard time keeping up with the conversation. Not that his idea was a bad one, you were going to suggest it yourself. Working from a pre-existing template cut down on the RnD time.

"That's the current method to get heavier MACs into combat, yes. But it's also a very costly endeavor, the fact that I can count the number of Punics we've built on my fingers is a testament to that." This time, the doctor's explanation for why that wouldn't work was far more straight-forward and to the point. "Sure, you could gut all the hanger and supply storage space from the hull to cut down a bit on the construction time of a Punic, but when you're building a ship over four kilometers long, the admiralty makes it a necessity for it to be used for a variety of roles. And in turn that drives the cost and complexity up until we're essentially back where we started."

"What specifically makes the Punic so hard to build though? Aside from its sheer size and mass of course." Mr. Adama asked, before clarifying. "I build colony ships you see, and before the war, we were rolling them out at quite the rate."

"Well, I'm not really the person you should be talking to on the overall ship design. Though I can speak for the integration of the MAC guns into the primary hull." The doctor deflected half of the question, before answering the pars he could speak about. "The sheer power of any MAC gun requires it to be directly built into the skeleton of the ship, which then takes the brunt of the shock of firing and dispels it throughout the rest of the ship. Due to mounting a pair of guns, a heavier internal skeleton is needed, and that adds additional mass and complexity to the hull. You can't simply build the ship in blocks and out them together like most civilian or escort hulls. And that adds on a lot of time and effort."

"Not to mention that the material cost of a single Punic could be spent to build entire fleets of smaller ships. And with the fleet constantly needing more escorts and cruisers, it becomes harder to put in a bulk order for supercarriers. And all of that for not a lot more gain." Lieutenant Cartwright piped up, earning her an appreciating nod from the doctor.

>CONT

>>4002803

"The lieutenant is correct, the materials cost of a single Punic and the extensive timeframe required to build one is a major reason behind why so few of them are commissioned. Especially given the pressing requirements for lighter hulls to make up the fleets that the Punics would be expected to lead. Granted, they still carry powerful guns in their own right, but we can't deny that they are still called super-MACs for political reasons more than anything else." The doctor confirmed the lieutenant's statement, before adding what he knew from his perspective as a designer of things that sent hunks of metal into Covenant ships. "The Punic's guns are between fifteen to fifty percent as powerful as their modern equivalents dependent on their refit state. To the point that it takes both of a modernized Punic's guns to accomplish what a modern ODP can do in a single shot. We could upgrade them in order to make them more efficient if we had combat data of them in use, but those that are completed are assigned to inner-colonies that aren't likely to encounter the Covenant for years. That makes it hard to get meaningful combat data with which to improve current gun designs."

"And this is where your project comes in, your gun ships are intended to be used more aggressively, which then gets you more information with which to work with." This time your mother spoke up, and while it seemed like a lot of the specifics were flying over her head, you appreciated that not only was she listening and getting involved, but also that the doctor answered her question.

"Precisely, though the primary goal isn't to get data, it's to get an effective weapons system out there for our fleet to make heavy use of." The doctor clarified before a small pause descended upon the group. You took this opportunity to try and push another angle.

"If you can't mount a drive unit to the guns, then why not use smaller tugs to cart them around? There are a couple of ways you could do it. You could have them simply follow a larger tug vessel and exploit the phenomena of slipspace wake to get them where they're needed. Obviously, the tug would have to be the size of a heavy cruiser with more reactor and dead mass to allow the ships following it to have a better chance of staying in its wake. Alternatively, you could just dock them to a larger hull and have that drag them around without having to over-build it." You suggested, and this got another nod from the doctor, who followed your logic on this idea. But unfortunately, it seemed like him and his team had already tried this plan.

>CONT

>>4002809

"While that would be the easiest option, the idea isn't very practical if the fight goes badly as if the tug gets destroyed then the guns are stranded. Additionally, as the guns would already be armored to survive transit through slipspace on their own and would have their own reactor modules to power the guns, adding a set of thrusters to make the vessel mobile without a tug is far easier and cheaper. And from there, installing a slipspace drive is the next step up, even if it is a very hard thing to do." The doctor shot down this idea too, but he still seemed satisfied by something. And his next offer only confirmed it. "I must admit Commander, you are certainly a lot more studied in this field than I would have expected. Perhaps we can talk some more about it at a later date? "

>Ask the Lieutenants what they did to get a place here.
>Ask Mr. Adama about what he does.
>Ask your mom how she's finding things.
>Other (write-in)

>>4002813
>>Ask Mr. Adama about what he does.
Cool, you'd actually answered a question I had about Punic SMACs. Who knows, maybe we can influence the design of a battle cruiser or BB. Call it the 'Carnifex' or some shit.

>>4002813
>>Ask the Lieutenants what they did to get a place here.

>>4002813
>Other (write-in)
"Has anyone floated the idea of a putting nuclear charges in MAC rounds? Or using smaller cannons with a nuclear payload? I haven't seen any Covenant ships able to use their point defense against mac cannon rounds worth a damn, and firing a smaller round from a smaller cannon would seem to sidestep the issue of needing a superMAC at all."

If you're a space-faring civilization, it's not like fisisonables or fusion weapons are all that hard to come by, and nuclear warheads are remarkably solid-state and shock resistant.

>>4002813
>Ask Mr. Adama about what he does.

>>4002894
Mid to late war UNSC had a shortage of fissile material due to heavy use in a number of critical components from slipspace drives to reactors. It's not that they were running out, it's that other things needed it more. Also, nukes don't do well against ship scaled energy shields, so sticking them on a MAC slug doesn't do much to help.

>>4002917
Actually thats wrong, the nukes themselves were great against Covenant shields if they were close. The EMP or the actual 'boom' did wonders at bringing them down. They were just far more effective blowing up INSIDE the shields.

>>4002917
>>4002925
So I'm not hearing a 'no'... Just that the nukes would be more effective as MAC round variants than as Shiva missiles vulnerable to point defense.

>>4002925
Nope. Covenant shields dampen radiation (Including the EMP effect) and thermal shock, which lead to some pretty crazy nuclear development on the UNSC's part late war like XRAY nukes and Casaba guns.

>>4002927
For purely payload delivery, I can agree with that.

>>4002917
>>4002940
>>4002927
I was incorrect about the shortage of nukes. It wasn't that they had to redirect materials but that procurement couldn't keep up with the usage of them in space.

>>4002940
Payload delivery is what I'm thinking, yes.

Though if fuzing can be done to have the round detonate after the it pierces a shield...that sounds delicious and yummy.

>>4002967
And a more effective delivery system that's less prone to interception by point-defense would make the few nukes they can make far more effective. Win/win.

>>4002940
Where does it say that now?

>>4003023
First Strike. A nuke was used to destroy a cruiser from inside, and it was noted that the shields would contain the EMP and blast, preventing nearby ODP generators from being hit by the explosion.

>>4003032
No no, I'm well aware of the nuke denoting inside does all that.

I'm asking where the fuck did you read they are worthless against the shields from outside?

>>4003036
Do shields only work one way? Can you provide any examples of them being used effectively? Also I didn't say they were worthless, I said they didn't do well against shields.

>>4002940
>Nope. Covenant shields dampen radiation (Including the EMP effect) and thermal shock, which lead to some pretty crazy nuclear development on the UNSC's part late war like XRAY nukes and Casaba guns.

More like the lore got retconned abit after the Halo writers found out about http://www.projectrho.com and atomicrockets and actually read some pre-existing theorycrafting and hard scifi.

>>4003039
uh, Well the shields are talked in one of those 3. I think first strike? It talks about how covenant shields need to be lowered too fire or atleast certain points of it.

Also, I'm asking why they wouldn't do well against the shield is what I'm asking you.

"Has anyone floated the idea of putting nuclear charges in MAC rounds? Or using smaller cannons with a nuclear payload? I haven't seen any Covenant ships able to use their point defense against mac cannon rounds worth a damn, and firing a smaller round from a smaller cannon would seem to sidestep the issue of needing a super MAC at all." You asked a question that had been bugging you for the past few years, but you had never been able to get a concrete answer. MAC guns could fire almost whatever you stuck down the barrel, from probes to care packages. So it always struck you as odd that nobody had thought to fire a nuke out of one of them.

"That idea has been floated, but with the way modern nuclear weapons are designed, it's a pipe-dream. The systems used to arm and detonate a nuclear weapon are delicate enough as they are, the massive increase in velocity caused by firing a nuke from a MAC gun is liable to break the arming system and cause the device to malfunction. Add into that the fact that a MAC round is traveling so fast that you can't get a two-way link to the package, and you have yourself a perfectly unreliable system that you can't use to directly impact a Covenant ship." The doctor paused for a second, before continuing. " Of course, if you have an idea for how to get around that issue, then feel free to tell me so that we can begin investigations immediately. But until then, the majority of UNSC RnD is more in favor of keeping nuclear weapons and MAC guns separate."

"Makes sense, a lot of people are happy with the newer variants of the Shiva nuke, especially if you can get the shields off two ships with a single missile. And that's without talking about the more powerful standoff weapons like the Bident." Lieutenant Cartwright said, giving you the opinion of at least part of the wider fleet.

>Ask the Lieutenants what they did to get a place here.
>Ask Mr. Adama about what he does.
>Ask your mom how she's finding things.
>Other (write-in)

>>4002813
>Ask the Lieutenants what they did to get a place here.

>>4003058
>Ask the Lieutenants what they did to get a place here.

Dumb question, What about a MAC round that crumbles or whatever it is like Hollow point? Or maybe even a more dense tip?

>>4003048
>It talks about how covenant shields need to be lowered too fire or atleast certain points of it.
Correct, which is why UNSC ships wait until shields were dropped to fire plasma or popped from MACs to deploy nukes.
>Also, I'm asking why they wouldn't do well against the shield is what I'm asking you.
Because in universe examples dictate as such. But, as with the newest post from Thunderhead, I'm not so sure anymore.

>>4003061
You're thinking of frangible munitions. That doesn't solve the problem of electronics doing surviving well against going from zero to fucking fast in less than a second.

>>4003058
>Ask the Lieutenants what they did to get a place here.

>>4003058
>Other (Write-in)
"The original nuclear weapons just relied upon explosive power to compress fissile material into a critical mass. What about simply letting the impact of a mac-round compress two subcritical masses of fissile material into a critical mass? As long as the round itself is a decent neutron reflector, it should work.

>>4003061
They already have those shredder rounds.

>>4003058
Also, 'too delicate' my ass Thunderhead. Warheads are armed when the launch, and you don't need a two-way link for something that's supposed to detonate on impact. You set a range for it to self destruct if it passes. Don't just try to pull excuses out of your butt to cover for Bungie's lack of research.

>>4003073
>>4003074
That's a good fucking idea. Using the impact as a detonator instead of a timer or any sort of electronics negates the need of special housing outside of a case of tungsten carbide or some such to act as a reflector. Changing my choice to this.

>>4003061
You have shredder rounds, which are functionally similar to a hollow point but have more in common with the RIP round. They are less effective against Covenant shields due to being less dense, but make up for this by shattering and causing more internal damage to a Covenant ship. So while a regular MAC round will bore a hole straight through a covenant ship, a shredder round will effectively turn into a bunch of smaller projectiles after piercing the outer hull, causing a whole lot more damage. Though internal armor similar to WW2 era citadel armor will stop it.

>>4003091
>Though internal armor similar to WW2 era citadel armor will stop it.
Do Halo verse ships have citadel armor? That seems like a really good idea, especially in the war era. Make like a double walled bathtub or something and fill it with some future equivalent of aerogel or inconel.

>>4003116
I don't think they do. Most UNSC ships just have the one layer of outer armor due to mass constraints. I'm not entirely sure about the Covenenant, though they seem to rely more upon their shields.

And to be honest, shields over hull makes a pretty good simulacra of spaced armor, which is why shredder rounds work for shit against most shielded ships.

>>4003116
Nothing has been mentioned in official lore, but given it makes sense for larger UNSC and Covenant ships I'll be including it where I think it's appropriate. The UNSC because protecting key internal systems like the MAC gun, reactor, and probably a relocated bridge structure from plasma weapons fire is a decent idea. This explanation also works well for the Covenant for a couple of reasons. The first being that a lot of key internal systems like the bridge are already located deep within the hulls of their ships, so it isn't a major leap of logic to say that they wouldn't pack on some extra armor around the key systems just in case. And for both factions a lot of their larger ships (the UNSC Halcyon class, the Covenant CAS class, etc) all have a lot of empty internal space, so swapping some of that internal space for an extra layer of armor is a decent move that improves the survivability of your ship.

>>4003174
Okay, but how do you explain the lack of nuclear weapons given the vastly expanded resource availability to a spacefaring civilization, when a purely terrestrial conflict during the Cold War gave rise to tens of thousands of nuclear weapons with just partial exploitation of a single planet? Bungie fucked uuuup.

>>4003133
IIRC the Halcyon was outfitted with some sort of filament for it's own spaced honeycomb armor that gave it some pretty crazy survivability against plasma, though that's not exactly citadel armor.
Agreed, though one pretty big downside to shields in halo is that a significant overload can slag a ship through the heat generated. That's one of the reasons why a SMAC doesn't actually have to hit a hull to score a kill.
>>4003174
Cool, thank you for considering that.
>>4003182
My head canon is that a lot of nukes are lost mid fleet action and are unrecoverable for later use.

>>4003189
Yeah, but with only 3 nukes or so per ship, that's still far below production capacity. Especially if you go thermonuclear and only need enough fissile material to kickstart a fusion reaction. Bungie constrained nukes for plot purposes, not any realistic or logistical reasons.

>>4003196
>Bungie constrained nukes for plot purposes, not any realistic or logistical reasons.
Absolutely. Bungee didn't know shit when coming up with the setting. It would have worked way better in 21/2200. Five hundred years from now you would think humanity would have moved away from gunpowder and liquid fuels.

>>4003174
Oh no, Covie ships getting stronger too defeat Mac rounds. we are in danger

>>4003226
Mmmn, binary liquid propellant with magnetic boost...hybrid mac-gun nuclear rounds. If only.
>>4003232
May as well start joining me in the clamoring for reasonable nuclear proliferation instead of the bullshit plot limitations since Covies are getting an un-needed boost to survivability.

>>4003240
>May as well start joining me in the clamoring for reasonable nuclear proliferation instead of the bullshit plot limitations since Covies are getting an un-needed boost to survivability.
Not like it would hugely benefit the UNSC anyways. Covenant has them beat on production scale by a whole lot.

>>4003249
I dunno. A nuke tends to do for a covenant ship. And it's far less resources and production for a nuclear warhead than for even a corvette, much less a cruiser.

>>4003249
Actually no, Covenant ships take AWHILE to build a ship, Where as the UNSC at late-stage pumped frigates/destoryers out by the month.

>>4003252
So, late stage of the war UNSC's bottlenech would be trained/experienced crew and commanders, whereas Covenant are only worried about hulls?

>>4003252
I'm genuinely curious as to how you came about that. The covenant controlled a significant portion of the orion arm, with several client and subservient species under their control. Humanity, by late war were down to maybe a dozen or two worlds.

>>4003258
Covenant never had a reason too worry? They controlled a large chunk of space and ontop of that were never 'really' on the defensive against the UNSC.

Late stage was the fact humanity was being fucking crushed and moral was damn near gone once reach was lost, PLus a shortage of goods and smart AI's/ect. nu-lore is funky

>>4003182
Aside from Bungie making a bad call, I'm gonna say that lighter UNSC ships are limited to 3 nukes per engagement due to the UNSC not wanting large numbers of nukes to be lost every time a ship is lost. Keep in mind that most of the time the UNSC doesn't really have a chance to recover their destroyed ships or remove key systems from them. As such it makes some sense not to give your fodder ships too many valuable nukes just in case a bunch of them go down with each ship you loose. I will freely say that the UNSC's nuclear arsenal is far larger than seen in most battles. Hell, Admiral Cole was able to get his hands on around 400 nukes with the express purpose of making a brown dwarf go supernova. You should be able to get more with a bit of work and favor-calling, though the type of nukes you want and how you want to use them is up to you. Even if all you're doing is requisitioning some civilian-grade nuclear bombs and rigging them up into old fighters to make some SBNEDs.
>>4003189
The internal honey-comb was only present on the first 10 ships of the class, with the later 40 lacking it. And while that is around the closest we get to cannon citadel armor, it isn't enough to act as a full explanation.
>>4003232
In fairness, the biggest Covie ship you've encountered has been an old Light Cruiser model and a Heavy Destroyer. You're still a ways off from meeting ships with internal citadels. Though getting good is still a good option.
>>4003240
Combined chemical and magnetically accelerated guns are a thing already, your heavy point-defense guns are dual-propellant and can fire on only one propellant if needed.
>>4003252
The UNSC's biggest bottle-neck late in the war is experienced crews. It was a major issue for the IJN in WW2 and it's going to be a major issue for the UNSC. Hence why you're at a promotion ceremony for up-and-coming officers. The UNSC wants all of you getting as far up the promotion tree as possible. Once you get a new ship, your old experienced crew will be dispersed among new crews on newer ships.

>>4003274
Yeah, I get that the Covenant never had a reason to worry. I remember reading the first Halo novels being about the UNSC sending a team of Spartans and Cortana out to capture a ship so they could find the Covenant worlds and maybe, maybe do something to put the Covvies on the defensive similar to the Doolittle Raid of WW2. Unfortunately, they found the Halo instead.

>>4003291
Yes, but dual powered MAC guns with nuclear projectiles would lead to fewer ships being lost and thusly fewer systems and nukes requiring recovery from lost hulls. It's just bullshit plot contrivance.

And that's the glorious thing about quests, the capability to make things progress as they should have, free of the shackles of idiot developers.

>>4003274
Non of what you just said answered my question, and even admitted that the Covenant had more resources to spend on production. Example: The destruction of the Unyielding Hierophant and it's fleet of several hundred was a minor delay in the invasion of Earth. And you're correct, they were hardly focusing on the UNSC, instead spending most of their time and resources on Atriox and the banished (As far as we know per HW2), yet still managed to muster thousands of ships and millions of troops against humanity.

>>4003297
Halo CE was the direct result of NOBLE team blowing up the Long Night of Solice in Halo: Reach. That was the super carrier that ONI bated in to capture and raid High Charity with.

>>4003306
>whereas Covenant are only worried about hulls?
>Said no

>UNSC issues is bottleneck of trained personal
>Late stage was the fact humanity was being fucking crushed and moral was damn near gone once reach was lost, PLus a shortage of goods and smart AI's/ect.


>Never answered
????

>>4003306
Eh. Maybe. It smells of RETCON to me, given that Halo: Combat Evolved started the series and it took nearly a decade to get around to NOBLE team and Halo: Reach. I don't blame you, I blame Bungie, and once again I'm pointing out this is our chance to make Halo lore play out as it should, instead of how it did in the fumbling hands of Bungie.

>>4003318
I just realized you weren't even replying to my comment.

>>4003328
I agree. This quest is it's own canon, so what ever Thunderhead says is what matters.

>>4003329
Oh we're both retarded, my sides.

>>4003333
Agree, yet disagree. Thunderhead only has a quest so long as he has players that buy into his vision of canon. So he might wanna start deviating from Bungie's bullshit, and soon.

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>>4003334
gfgf
>>4003338
Truth, though personally I'm not going to get to upset if he sticks with gospel on stuff. Also, that nu-lore retcon about the Long Night of Solice being for REDFLAG, in case you're interested.

>>4003347
I see your point, but I re-iterated. That hasn't happened yet, and won't for years. We can change the course of the war now and have some real fun with clapping ayy cheeks.

>>4003369
Absolutely, sorry, I had misunderstood the context of your comment and assumed you were talking about strictly technology as opposed to the whole timeline of events and outcome of the war.

>>4003392
We need to capture more Engineers and film our own patriotic tentacle porn.

>>4003427
Engineers are pretty handy, maybe we could get them to make us some cat girls too.

>>4003473
Gynoid catgirl ODST waifus would....prrrrobably derail the quest far more than Thunderhead has prepared for.

I'm not against the idea though.

>>4003484
>Derail
Nah, man, that's been the goal from the beginning.

"What about letting the impact of the MAC round set the weapon off rather than a dedicated detonator." You asked, and when that question got you a few confused looks, you clarified your question. "Let me explain a bit, original nuclear fission weapons just relied upon explosive power to compress fissile material into a critical mass. What about simply letting the impact of a mac-round compress two subcritical masses of fissile material into a critical mass? As long as the round itself is a decent neutron reflector, it should work."

"In theory, yes it could work. However, there is the issue that the rounds have to be designed to be malleable enough that they compress enough in order to force the fissile material to achieve critical mass, but robust enough that the round doesn't come apart or deform on contact with the target and can still act as a viable neutron reflector. It also relies on having a fast-detonating nuclear device. An average nuclear device takes around ten microseconds to go from the start of compression to a ball of expanding plasma. But a MAC round takes only a couple of microseconds to go from one side of a target to another, and even then that's dependent on various factors like the firing angle of the round versus the orientation of the target vessel's hull, the strength of the external armor plating and the overall dimensions of a target vessel. And that's before we take into account things like shield strength." Once again, the doctor seemed interested in your idea but presented a number of flaws with it. And while you couldn't answer much for the actual engineering and physics of the round itself, you did have an answer for actually getting the round on target.

"The overall speed of a MAC round, and the amount of time taken for a round to pass entirely through a Covenant ship can be reduced by varying the power put through a MAC gun's coil. And it wouldn't have to go all the way to the heart of a Covenant ship, just deep enough to blow a sizable chunk out of the target. Assistance from a sufficiently advanced AI and some up-to-date targeting intel can solve the issue of the round over penetrating. As for the enemy ship's shields, they can be taken down by concentrated fire with either regular MAC rounds or nukes. Alternatively, if the nuclear round remains intact enough to detonate against the target ship's shields, it can be a silver-bullet to open up for follow-up attacks." You addressed some of the doctor's concerns, which put him back to thinking about the idea. He looked deep in thought for a few seconds as he considered the information and the small group of people you were stood with waited for him to speak again. After around a minute of waiting with bated breath, the doctor spoke again.

>CONT

>>4004814

"The theory seems sound, though I would have to run it past my ammunition team and the RnD AIs in order to get some idea of if it's possible and how effective such a system might be. If we can get some viable prototype rounds finished then we'll ship them out to you along with the files required to produce sabots to make the round compatible with whatever gun your ship is using at the time." The doctor's more positive response gave you cause to genuinely smile. Both for the fact that it opened up the possibility for a massive boost in firepower to UNSC vessels, and for the fact that your ship would be the first one to gain access to those rounds in the event that they were produced, even if it was only in a prototype stage.

>Ask the Lieutenants what they did to get a place here.
>Ask Mr. Adama about what he does.
>Ask your mom how she's finding things.
>Let the others speak, you've done enough talking for now.
>Other (write-in)

>>4004819
>Ask Mr. Adama about what he does.
Nuclear SABOT get. Love you, Thunderhead, and your very technical writing.

>>4004819
>>Ask Mr. Adama about what he does.

>>4004819
>Ask Mr. Adama about what he does.

>>4004819
>Ask Mr. Adama about what he does.
Yay! We're helping the war effort!

>>4004819
Also, the whole round doesn't have to be malleable, just the part surrounding the bomb. That's why I suggested hollowing out a normal MAC round.

>>4004819
>Ask Adama

Quick question for us quested: what are your guys thoughts about swapping ships if we’re offered an upgrade?

Personally I’m against it, but feel free to disagree.

>>4005025
Why would you be against swapping ships? A larger ship is far more safe and shit like that for us? Not including it packs a better MAC round and various other factors.

>>4005025
I'm all for it. Frigates are good for escort and not much else. I"m hoping we can get a kitted out cruiser or some ship of the line from ONI or FLEETCOM with our new rank.

>>4005025
We really need the increase in firepower.

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>>4005025
Absolutely required if we want to start smacking Covenant ships and generally being a thorn in the side, fucking up the Prophet's plans.

>>4005762
I thought this was a cat with a hat picture.

>>4005791
What

>>4005762
Nah, man, the Infinity is a product of fear and a defeatist mindset. We have to set ONI/FLEETCOM straight and get them to invest in a super battleship.

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With the silence dragging on, and nobody willing to make a start. You once again directed the flow of the conversation. "So, Mr. Adama, your does your company build colony ships exclusively, or is your product range a bit wider?"

"Y-yes, my firm builds medium-sized hulls of various types and roles, though our premier sales corner is the medium size colony ship market." Even though he stumbled over his start, Mr. Adama seemed happy to be talking more about a conversation that he had a background in. You could understand that, after all, you had felt a similar way during your chat with the doctor.

"I would have thought that the fleet would be a better market. We always need more logistical assets. Modifying outdated hulls for second-line duty is starting to become less viable." Lieutenant Takahashi, the doctor's son, took the task of leading the conversation away from you with his own question. Which was just what you were hoping for.

"You would be right, aside from the fact that only the larger consortiums are able to build hulls to the specifications that the UNSC accepts for a cost that the UNSC is willing to pay. My firm is less of a single entity and more of a conglomerate of smaller docks that have gone out of business on their own, and together we take up what civilian contracts are available. And when it comes to building larger hulls, we're forced to build them in blocks that our yards can manage and then assemble them out in space. And that makes it hard to compete with larger single docks that can do the work with greater efficiency." Mr. Adama explained his conglomerate's situation, and you understood some of the root causes of the issue from personal experience. A lot more people were leaving the civilian sector for the military than vice-versa, and losing that workforce caused some smaller firms to collapse. Banding together to at least ensure a constant trickle of work and combining manufacturers where possible gave the smaller firms a chance to stay afloat.

"That sounds like quite a lot to manage, you wouldn't happen to use AIs to help out with that? My daughter spent a semester learning about the use of AI in industry and almost used it as the basis for her final paper." This time your mom asked a question, and you couldn't help but smile a bit at her being sociable. Even if it was with someone other than you.

>CONT

>>4006520

"To a degree, you would be right. We use basic AI programs to direct certain projects to the yards and docks that would be best served to handle them. And we use other AI units to help organize our supply chains. We would use a smart AI, but they're hard enough to find in the civilian market as it is. And most of the time they're the first things to be resold the moment a larger company goes under. And they always get used until they're too old to continue being useful." The dockyard director explained, before then adding. "As such, a lot of the internal management decisions are still made by human minds and we make acquisitions based on trends that we predict in the markets."

"And what do you predict?" The doctor asked though you felt that a good few people could predict the answer.

"A growing need for fast and relatively tough yachts, and a whole lot of colony ships. A lot of people aren't content to simply wait around to be glassed." Mr. Adama stated flatly, though he didn't say it with any malice or negativity. He merely said it as if he was reading off an item on a menu, free of emotion and worry.

>Ask the Lieutenants what they did to get a place here.
>Ask Mr. Adama about what he does.
>Ask your mom how she's finding things.
>Let the others speak, you've done enough talking for now.
>Other (write-in)

>>4006522
>Ask the Lieutenants what they did to get a place here

It's only fair, and Mr. Adama seems to be unable to talk about his business without thinking about just why his products are in great demand.

>>4006522
>Ask the Lieutenants what they did to get a place here.

>>4006522
>>Ask the Lieutenants what they did to get a place here.

>>4006522
>Ask your mom how she's finding things.
Mommy time

>>4006621
Second this.

>>4006522
>>Ask your mom how she's finding things.

>>4006522
>>Ask the Lieutenants what they did to get a place here.

>>4006522
Mommy time!

Need a tiebreaker.

>>4006522
>>Ask your mom how she's finding things.

"So, mom. How are you finding things?" You asked your mom how she was handling the event thus far. You had been a bit unsure about bringing her here, and you just wanted to make sure that she was feeling alright.

"To be honest, it's a bit more formal than what I'm used to. The most I'm used to is a bi-yearly celebration at the company headquarters. And there are a lot fewer officers there than here." She smiled, and she wasn't wrong. Everyone in the room -aside from the occasional marine security officer- was wearing formal attire. Be it military dress whites, business suits, or some kind of dress for the ladies. Your mom was wearing a modest navy-blue dress, which you assumed was appropriate for someone of her age. Your mom sighed and shifted on her feet as she continued. "These heels are killing me though, so I'd prefer it if they hurried up with the preparations."

"Say, Miss Wells, you never told us what exactly you do for a living." The doctor asked though it seemed as if he was just asking for the sake of formality.

"I'm a shift manager for a small cluster of orbital dockyards over Tribute that specializes in the final assembly and fitting out of frigates. Mostly Stalwarts and the odd Paris class, though also some of the more specialized variants when other docks can't keep up with demand." Your mom replied.

"Nice to see another person in the shipbuilding industry here." Mr. Adama smiled at the news, before asking his own questions. "If it's not too much to ask, I've noticed that a number of smaller yards on Tribute are being used to build warship parts that are too large to be hauled up the space tethers. MAC gun coils, hanger sub-systems, and primary thruster assemblies. So tell me, how do those parts make it all the way up into orbit for use? And what're the advantages of such a system compared to building everything in orbit?"

"We use stripped-down Berlin class frigates and specially designed lifters to transport the various parts up into orbit where we piece them together into primary sub-sections, which are then joined together into complete vessels." Your mom explained the process in as simple of a way as possible, before going on to the drier part. "As for economics, a lot of the parts can be built in existing automated factories and can make use of existing workforces. It's a lot easier for people to get to work every morning when they don't have to make a trip into orbit, and that's a very big drive for people to keep working in those facilities. That puts them near the top of the charts on the work-expenditure balance and gives a very good employee retention rate."

>CONT

>>4013780

It seemed as if Mr. Adama was about to ask something else when the room's tannoy system chimed into life, the sound almost instantly killing all conversations in the room. A calm, yet authoritative voice spoke over the tannoy. "Good morning everyone, preparations are now complete in the presentation hall. Can all family members please enter into the room via the large double-doors with the green light above it. All officers are to wait until directed by name to follow onto the stage for promotion."

You didn't have much time left to talk to your mom, but you did have enough time to tell her that you had a pressing mission after the ceremony, and you had to head off earlier than planned...

>Tell your mom that you'll have to leave immediately after the ceremony, it would be rude to leave her without prior notice.
>Keep quiet about it, you doubt that the spook would mind if you cast off a little later than planned.

>>4013785
>Tell your mom that you'll have to leave immediately after the ceremony, it would be rude to leave her without prior notice.
I'd much rather tempt the ire of our mother than the guys who experiment on children.

>>4013785

>Tell your mom that you'll have to leave immediately after the ceremony, it would be rude to leave her without prior notice.

>>4013785
>Tell your mom that you'll have to leave immediately after the ceremony, it would be rude to leave her without prior notice.
She'll understand that we have to get even with the fuckers that killed Dad.

>>4013785
>>Tell your mom that you'll have to leave immediately after the ceremony, it would be rude to leave her without prior notice.

>>4013785
>Tell your mom that you'll have to leave immediately after the ceremony, it would be rude to leave her without prior notice.

>>4013785
>>Tell your mom that you'll have to leave immediately after the ceremony, it would be rude to leave her without prior notice.

>>4013785
>Tell your mom that you'll have to leave immediately after the ceremony, it would be rude to leave her without prior notice.
Just in case

"Hey, mom!" You called your mom's attention as the rest of the civilians began to filter out of the room. You didn't have time, so you condensed what you had to say. "Listen, something's come up and I need to ship out today. It's not something I want, but if it's important enough to drag me out of shore leave then I don't think it can wait."

Your mom seemed saddened by this, but she still smiled all the same. A curious mix of both sadness and pride on her face as she spoke. "That's alright dear. You're an officer now, and given how quickly your promotions have been coming through, the UNSC is putting a lot of faith in you."

"Ma'am, would you please?" One of the security officers tried to hustle your mom out of the room, you opened your mouth to ask for a bit more time, but your mom raised her hand to stop you.

"Just, come and see me before you leave, ok?" Your mom asked, and you simply nodded in response. Your mom smiled, before closing the distance between you and hugging you. "I love you, you know that?"

"I always have." You replied as you gave her a reassuring squeeze. A few seconds later, you let her go. She gave you a parting smile, before turning and following the rest of the civilians out of the room. The door lead through to a small corridor, which ended in a pair of doors that opened out onto the sides of the stage. From this angle, you couldn't see the crowd, but you had a general idea as your mom was led off to the left from the door. Once she and the last of the families were out, the doors at the end were closed.

"Alright! I want everyone to line up in rank order, captains at the front of the line, ensigns at the back. We're going by your CURRENT RANKS, I don't want to see any commanders trying to force their ways to the front, you hear?" One of the security officers called from just in front of the stage doors, and with a snap, all of the officers in the room began to arrange themselves in a line. Nobody talked much, aside from confirming their ranks when challenged, everyone was too busy psyching themselves up to receive their promotions in front of a crowd.

It was certainly a change from your previous promotion, which took place in an admiral's office on an anchor station in the ass-end of nowhere.

>CONT

After a few minutes of waiting, the first officer was called out. By your reckoning, each ceremony took around a minute, with the recipient's name and new rank being given, along with a description of what they had done to deserve it. Though a lot of it boiled down to either service length or meritious actions in combat. Nearly a quarter of an hour had passed by the time you reached the head of the line, and still, you couldn't see much of the crowd. You could hear a lot of people clapping, you could hear the man presenting the promotions speaking through a microphone, and played back through speakers so the crowd could hear him.

"Our next recipient is also our first to have lost his home to the Covenant onslaught...." The speaker began as you were ushered out and onto the stage proper, your presence still masked by the thick curtains that sat at each end of the stage and gave just a bit of respite from the eyes of the crowd. However, you weren't listening to the announcement as a woman in civilian clothes addressed you.

"When you go out there, march and stop in front of the admiral. Salute and accept your promotion, he'll say a few words to you before dismissing you. Once you're dismissed, walk over to the other side of the stage and leave via the open doors. Move on my mark." The woman instructed you, gesturing to the identical copy of the doors you had just left. You nodded, before giving yourself one last moment to calm yourself before the woman gave you your cue. "Go!"

You marched out as smartly as you could, and that was pretty damn smart if you could say so yourself. You kept your eyes fixed-forwards as you walked out, though you could see a lot out of the corner of your eye. The presentation hall was massive, even from what you could see there had to be around a thousand people in here, each of them watching as you tried not to make a fool of yourself. The seats seemed to be bulked out by officer cadets from the military academy, though a decent number of civilians were present. Dozens of cameras, both from mobile devices, professional broadcasting-grade units and drone-mounted cameras watched as you walked out. And you had to steel yourself against the urge to stop dead in your tracks. Though it wasn't the crowd that had you spooked, it was the man who would promote you.

>CONT

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>>4016987

Vice Admiral Hieronymus Michael Stanforth. Born in 2486, he made captain by 2507 at the age of 21. And since then he had made a name for himself as a stubborn -but not inflexible- officer. He was a fighter, the fact that he had apparently turned down the promotion to lord admiral twice was a testament to that. The fact that he retained command of the cruiser he had made his career aboard rather than upgrading to a carrier or one of the rare Valliant-class battlecruisers showed either how modest he was or how little care he had for flexing his position. He had a reputation for exacting standards, even if his meteoric climb up the command chain had left a few people to worry about his capabilities during the early parts of his career. And in spite of being over 60, he showed absolutely zero signs of retiring.

You focussed on marching in proper parade form up towards the admiral, your mind honed in on the sound of your parade shoes snapping as they impacted the polished wood floor. You stopped in front of the admiral and snapped off a textbook salute. The admiral returned it, before turning to his right and taking a set of captain's pins from a case held by an ensign beside him. He addressed the crowd as he pinned on your promotion, his voice amplified by a mic that he wore flush to the side of his head. "It's rare for an officer to be promoted so quickly, and it's very much a mark of skill and determination. We'll be keeping an eye on the captain, skill like his does not deserve to be wasted."

The admiral offered you his hand, and you shook it as the crowd began to give their applause. However, the admiral was not done speaking, as he addressed you with the mic turned off, allowing him to speak with you almost privately. "Meet me at the Olympic tower after you see your spook, the front desk will direct you to my office."

You simply nodded at the admiral's order, with he returned with a smile as he let go of your hand. The pair of you saluted eachother before you marched off stage, clearing the space for the next officer.

>Head straight to Olympic tower, you still have a spook to see and this mission is on a timer.
>Stop to see your mom, you shouldn't leave her waiting for you.

>>4016994
>>Stop to see your mom, you shouldn't leave her waiting for you.

>>4016994
>Stop to see your mom, you shouldn't leave her waiting for you.
Uh-oh. This is going to be an ultimatum, isn't it. FLEETCOM wants us to do something that ONI isn't going to like.

>>4016994
>Stop to see your mom, you shouldn't leave her waiting for you.
We'll just have to double-time it after to not be late.

>>4016994
>Stop to see your mom, you shouldn't leave her waiting for you.

"Captain Wells, your mother is waiting for you on the third-floor balcony. Would you like me to lead you to her?" A security officer asked as you walked into the exit corridor. You nodded in assent, before following him through a waiting room similar to the one you were in just over 15 minutes ago and out into the hallways of the fleet command building. Thankfully, the corridors were almost empty, so you made it to the balcony in no time at all. Your mom was already waiting there, though it didn't seem as if she had been waiting for long.

"Hey, Mom." You greeted your mom as you walked onto the balcony. She looked over at you with a warm smile, something which you hadn't seen for a while.

"Norman. It was nice of the UNSC to let you spare a bit of time for me." She laughed as she walked over and hugged you, you returned the gesture, it was rare to get such close contact with your mom, and you didn't intend on wasting it.

"I always make time for family, regardless of what others say." You assured her, before releasing her. There was a comical moment when you both started to speak, and then instantly stopped to let the other continue. After that, however, you let your mom say her piece first.

"I'm sorry, Norman. I'm sorry for not trying to fix our relationship earlier." Your mom said, her smile giving way to a sad frown. "I... I wasn't a good mom to you, I spent too long fixated on what we had lost to notice what I was losing by keeping my distance from you. I know I don't have any right to ask for this... but can you please forgive me for being such an idiot?"

>Write-in

>>4017252
>Mother I've forgiven you awhile ago, There isn't a need to ask this. I love you. Keep the family safe while I'm away. "
>HUG THE MOTHER

>>4017252
>"Sometimes you have to see what's behind you to get a grasp on what's in front of you. Of course I can."
>Hug

>>4017252
>To be truthful mom, I can't find it in myself these days to really hold it against you. You had your whole life go up in smoke and got stuck with three kids to raise. That's tough going for anybody. While we may not have had the happy go lucky upbringing you'd see on sitcoms, you tried your best, kept us housed and fed, and most of all never made us feel like a burden. More than forgiving you I want to thank you for everything you've done for our family. I doubt I'd be here today without you.

>Hug your mom for christsake.

>>4017292
Wow. This.

>>4017276
>>4017292
Switching my vote to this.

>>4017292
Supportan.

>>4017252
>>4017292

>>4017292

support

At this, you sighed and gave a reassuring smile. You had expected that you'd have to have this talk with your mom eventually, and as such, you had gone over what you wanted to say many times in your head. "To be truthful mom, I can't find it in myself these days to really hold it against you. You had your whole life go up in smoke and got stuck with three kids to raise. That's tough going for anybody. While we may not have had the happy go lucky upbringing you'd see on sitcoms, you tried your best, kept us housed and fed, and most of all never made us feel like a burden. More than forgiving you I want to thank you for everything you've done for our family. I doubt I'd be here today without you."

Before your mom could answer, you closed the gap between the two of you and embraced her in a tight hug. She didn't seem to respond for a couple of seconds, before returning the hug and burying her head in your shoulder. You held her tight as you felt your shoulder going damp with tears, and you kept holding her for as long as it took her to calm down.

"Thank you, Norman. It means so much to..." She began, before stopping as she thought about what to say next. The pause lasted for a few seconds before she continued. "It means a lot to know that I haven't failed you."

"Captain, it's time to go." A voice called out from behind you, interrupting your little moment. You were about to yell back for a little longer, before your mom let you go and took a step back, looking at you with a proud smile.

"He's right, you shouldn't be wasting time with me when the rest of humanity needs you. It wouldn't be fair if I kept you all to myself, right?" Your mom smiled up at you, and for just a moment you could see some tiredness in her eyes, but that quickly disappeared. "I don't think I have to tell you to make me proud anymore, and I know you'll do your best. So please, just make sure you come home?"

"You don't have to worry about me mom, just keep an eye on the rest of the family for me, would you?" You asked her, you waited for her to nod, before saying your final goodbye and leaving. A security officer was waiting for you by the door and opened it for you with an apologetic look.

>CONT

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>>4020808

"Sorry about that sir, agent Fabian insisted. Come on, we have a falcon waiting to take you to Olympic tower." The security officer apologized the moment the door closed, before leading you down the hall at a brisk pace. You tried not to sigh at this, before absolutely failing and letting out a dejected huff.

"Let's just get this over with." You stated flatly, and the officer just nodded and kept quiet. Your walk through the Fleet Command Headquarters was slightly longer this time, though mostly due to needing to backtrack to the primary hanger that you had originally landed at.

Waiting for you was a UH-144T Falcon, a dedicated transport variant of the UNSC Army's standard atmospheric light utility helicopter. Unlike the more common models, the transport falcon ditched the guns and open sides of the original falcons for a larger and enclosed cargo bay. The cramped bay was just enough to hold six people, and it was uncomfortable enough without having any equipment to worry about. As such, the flight to the ONI tower was very quick. The few people you spent the trip with -some loose ensigns and civilian contractors- were quiet through the trip, and you were happy for that as you weren't in the best mood. Unlike most of the towers that surrounded it, the ONI tower featured a set of retractable landing pads to accommodate landing dropships. One of these pads was deployed to accept your transport and retracted into the building as you disembarked from the aircraft. Awaiting you were a pair of ONI guards, which lead you into a nearby elevator shaft and up a few floors to where your agent's office was located. And within five minutes of landing, you were walking through the threshold of the spook's office.

"Captain, congratulations on the promotion." Agent Fabian greeted you with a smile and an open hand as you entered his office. You put on a smile and shook his hand, even though you wanted nothing more than to insult him for ruining your reconciliation with your mom. The agent let go of your hand, before gesturing to a seat. "Please, sit. We've got a lot to discuss."

===================================

And that’s it for this thread! A bit of slow going overall, getting back to work after the Christmas break really sapped the energy out of me. Combine that with having a new person on my shift to deal with and you have a combination to really tire me out. Also, how did ya'll find the more emotional parts of the thread? Writing stuff like that really isn't my strong suit and if you have any pointers on how to improve then please tell me. I had wished we could have finished the prep for your next mission in this thread, but we can do it at the start of the next thread without much of an issue.

If you have any questions, then feel free to ask. I’m open to answering any questions before the thread falls off the board.

>>4020818
I enjoyed it, thanks for the run Thunderhead. I think you did fine with the more character driven stuff. One thing I might recommend is cutting out proper sentence structure for characters during dialogue as people in real life tend to use as little effort as possible to convey their thoughts.
Example:
>"It means a lot to know that I haven't failed you."
Would be more naturally spoken as:
>"It means a lot knowing I haven't failed you."
This is a pretty small nitpick though. Also you use you a lot. Instead of "you do x," you can just describe x.
Otherwise, I"m really digging the quest so far. It's going much better than I expected back when it first started. Looking forward to thread 13.
And a question. We're extracting a research team from Harvest in the near future, does this mean we'll have some part in ground side deployment and command? Or will we be predominately sticking to the ship?

>>4020895
>Harvest
Meant Arcadia

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>>4020818
Thanks Thunderhead, this was nice and good for character development, but I hope we get to split some ayy skulls soon. So far we've only really bashed Innies and had to give up all our sweet covenant salvage.

Pic very related.

>>4020818
Thanks for the run boss

>>4020818
Thanks for running QM

>>4020895
Don't forget the blame is partly on me for the original write-in.

>>4021519
No blame on anyone for anything. I enjoy Thunderhead's writing, and I thought your write-in was good. Just trying to point out a pitfall hobbyist writers tend to make.

>>4020895
Thanks a lot for the tips, I'll cut down on the proper sentences in dialogue to make things flow better. And I have noticed that I've been using "you do X" style descriptions a bit too often, so I'll change that up in the next thread. As for your question...

>We're extracting a research team from Arcadia in the near future, does this mean we'll have some part in ground side deployment and command? Or will we be predominately sticking to the ship?
I will say that things will happen that give the option to either go planet-side or command squads on the ground. Though it's up to you if you take the option or elect to take someone more qualified to handle that stuff for you. If you go for the more militaristic option then you'll have a fairly good chance to handle most ground-side fights with either embarked troops or just whacking something with ship-grade weapons. Just keep in mind that if you go in prepared for a fight, then you're probably gonna get one.

>>4022163
>or just whacking something with ship-grade weapons
Orbital strikes here we come. Can't wait to get in the meat of it later in the quest. Command ops from a ship of the line, like a light cruiser or some such, is going to be hectic.