Catherine Halsey: Difference between revisions

{{Quote|no=four|q1=The UNSC has two choices at the moment, the one rotten and the other lousy. Either we engage the enemy right now and start losing fleets in battles we have no chance of winning, or we mass at strong points and let the enemy glass everything else.|Preston Cole|q2=I should think the answer is obvious. We mass at the strong points. It will take the Covenant ''at least'' two years to locate all of our undefended worlds, and by then the Materials Group will have reverse-engineered—|Catherine Halsey|q3=Catherine, FLEETCOM can't ''do'' that. We'd be leaving hundreds of worlds defenseless. We'd be condemning billions of colonists to death by plasma incineration.|Michael Stanforth|q4=And if you commit prematurely, you will lose every fleet you send—and leave hundreds of worlds defenseless anyway. I think you need to make FLEETCOM understand that, Admiral Stanforth. There is nothing you can do to save those people—not until I can give you the tools you need to fight.|Catherine Halsey|Doctor Halsey argues, unsuccessfully, for a strategy that would sacrifice billions but conserve military losses.}}<ref name="HSS4"/>

[[File:HJ Drawing.PNG|thumb|300px|left|Blue Team had encountered [[Sangheili]] on [[Alpha Corvi II]] so it is likely Doctor Halsey also knew of the saurian race when she [[Dr. Halsey's personal journal|drew]] these representations of Covenant species.<ref name="HCD1"/><ref name="HJ22426"/>]]

By [[2526#March|March 7]] she was aboard the {{Class|Valiant|super-heavy cruiser}} {{UNSCShip|Everest}} within a deep space transitional zone of the [[Dynizi system]].<ref name="HSS4">''[[Halo: Silent Storm]]'', ''Chapter 4''</ref> At shortly after 0840 hours, in a compartment located within the Flag Deck's secure conference suite, Halsey met with vice admirals Stanforth and [[Preston Cole]], who commanded the ''Everest''. The three of them had met to plan a means by which the Navy could feasibly fight back against the Covenant. Catherine had also concluded that [[Staff Sergeant]] [[Avery Johnson]] of the [[UNSC Marine Corps|Marine Corps]] would also be a valuable asset to have at their disposal, so he soon joined the meeting as well. When Johnson entered the room he found Halsey forcefully arguing the necessity of another attempt at capturing a [[Covenant]] ship, [[Raid on the Radiant Arrow|such a mission]] having been recently tried and failed by twelve of her Spartans. She argued that it was of paramount importance that they gathered as much of the aliens' technology as they could, since she believed the only way to beat the aggressors was through reverse-engineering it. She also was of the opinion that the best strategy at that moment would involve massing fleets at strong points, leaving most colonies undefended while she and others within ONI's [[Materials Group]] worked over the next year or two to deliver the ability to fight back. Halsey implored Stanforth to make FLEETCOM understand this, but ultimately backed down and admitted that she had been making assumptions about the aliens' strategy that were unjustified with what little they knew about them. In the face of this admission, however, she stressed once more the importance of capturing an enemy vessel. As far as she was concerned the recent try had not been a total failure thanks to the capture of a few [[Type-26 Banshee]]s and the destruction of [[Radiant Arrow|the ship]]. It was with reluctance that Halsey finally agreed such an acquisition couldn't be the prime objective of the [[Operation: SILENT STORM|upcoming operation]]—it would need to be secondary to blunting the enemy's advance against their worlds. When the conversation eventually turned to why Avery had been handpicked to assist with this op Halsey reminded him of his experience [[First Battle of Harvest|fighting]] the Covenant just a little over a year prior and his history as an [[ORION Project]] volunteer. She had hoped his [[Special operations]] background and creativity exhibited at [[Harvest]] would lend themselves to the creation of new infiltration tactics for each ship they targeted. Additionally, the doctor pointed out that his experiences with ORION made him able to relate to the Spartans, introducing the sergeant to what they were and how they had been trained. Stanforth described Johnson's role to be a sort of "big brother" to the Spartans during the mission, with Halsey making sure he understood he'd never be able to replace [[John-117|their squad leader]].<ref name="HSS4"/>