8,076
edits
Margaret Parangosky: Difference between revisions
no edit summary
No edit summary |
No edit summary |
||
| Line 42: | Line 42: | ||
By [[2552]] Parangosky had been promoted to a full admiral.<ref name="HE74"/> On [[2552#July|July 18]] of that year Vice Admiral Stanforth sent her a due diligence report with his thoughts on the just-concluded [[Battle of Sigma Octanus IV|battle]] with the Covenant at [[Sigma Octanus IV]] and [[Operation: BRAVADO]]; attached was a file containing data the aliens had been broadcasting from the planet's surface that was picked up by the {{UNSCShip|Iroquois}}. Stanforth assured her the after-action report was ''en route'' and as he planned to make the rounds in [[Sydney]], [[Australia]] soon, invited her to talk then over tea.<ref name="DD2">[[Data Drop]] [[Data Drop/Three|#2]]</ref> Parangosky responded less than five hours later, sending her reply at 0325 hours on July 19.<ref name="DD3"/> She congratulated the vice admiral on the victory at [[Sigma Octanus system|Sigma Octanus]] but said their tea would have to wait. Something had come up, she told him, which demanded he head to [[Reach]] ''immediately''. Informants on [[Verge]] were pointing to an ultra-radical wing of the [[People's Occupation]], but Parangosky strongly suspected something else was brewing. She and others had run some numbers based on the Covenant's movement pattern over the previous nine months and concluded that within the next five there was an 87.2% chance the enemy would reach the [[Epsilon Eridani system]]. Given these dire odds, she believed they needed to start seriously considering [[Operation: RED FLAG]], a planned last-ditch effort to capture one of the Covenant's [[hierarch]]s to use for leverage. She told Stanforth to send her updates on the mission's recommendation documents he'd been working on back in March so she and others in Sydney could evaluate them. Though she thought it obvious, she also made sure he knew to keep this between the two of them and said he needn't worry about the ONI trawlers on Reach who would be asking everyone involved questions about the data the ''Iroquois'' collected, as long as his people didn't withhold critical intelligence when it mattered most. Parangosky knew Catherine Halsey would likely be involved in whatever they did with RED FLAG, but she noted to Stanforth that her patience with the doctor was wearing thin. She'd been searching through the admiral's files without permission since early June, and specifically those that related to Onyx. Margaret said she'd be surprised if Halsey hadn't pieced together [[shield world|what]] they figured the planet really was, but that she was keeping her in the [[Viery Territory]] with half a dozen eyes watching her every move. She only shared this with Stanforth because she knew he was fond of Halsey and wanted to give him the chance to brace himself for the end of what Parangosky called "her free ride days". She promised to drop the vice admiral a line once he arrived at [[Camp Hathcock]] and, as an addendum, included with her message the results of a [[Hemley & Aubourn Behavior Analysis|Hemley & Aubourn behavior analysis]] done on Halsey [[2551|the previous year]].<ref name="DD3"/> Stanforth sent Parangosky the original stratagem document for RED FLAG (updated with the latest requisitions) on [[2552#August|August 1]] after just arriving back in the Epsilon Eridani system.<ref name="DD4">[[Data Drop]] [[Data Drop/Four|#4]]</ref> | By [[2552]] Parangosky had been promoted to a full admiral.<ref name="HE74"/> On [[2552#July|July 18]] of that year Vice Admiral Stanforth sent her a due diligence report with his thoughts on the just-concluded [[Battle of Sigma Octanus IV|battle]] with the Covenant at [[Sigma Octanus IV]] and [[Operation: BRAVADO]]; attached was a file containing data the aliens had been broadcasting from the planet's surface that was picked up by the {{UNSCShip|Iroquois}}. Stanforth assured her the after-action report was ''en route'' and as he planned to make the rounds in [[Sydney]], [[Australia]] soon, invited her to talk then over tea.<ref name="DD2">[[Data Drop]] [[Data Drop/Three|#2]]</ref> Parangosky responded less than five hours later, sending her reply at 0325 hours on July 19.<ref name="DD3"/> She congratulated the vice admiral on the victory at [[Sigma Octanus system|Sigma Octanus]] but said their tea would have to wait. Something had come up, she told him, which demanded he head to [[Reach]] ''immediately''. Informants on [[Verge]] were pointing to an ultra-radical wing of the [[People's Occupation]], but Parangosky strongly suspected something else was brewing. She and others had run some numbers based on the Covenant's movement pattern over the previous nine months and concluded that within the next five there was an 87.2% chance the enemy would reach the [[Epsilon Eridani system]]. Given these dire odds, she believed they needed to start seriously considering [[Operation: RED FLAG]], a planned last-ditch effort to capture one of the Covenant's [[hierarch]]s to use for leverage. She told Stanforth to send her updates on the mission's recommendation documents he'd been working on back in March so she and others in Sydney could evaluate them. Though she thought it obvious, she also made sure he knew to keep this between the two of them and said he needn't worry about the ONI trawlers on Reach who would be asking everyone involved questions about the data the ''Iroquois'' collected, as long as his people didn't withhold critical intelligence when it mattered most. Parangosky knew Catherine Halsey would likely be involved in whatever they did with RED FLAG, but she noted to Stanforth that her patience with the doctor was wearing thin. She'd been searching through the admiral's files without permission since early June, and specifically those that related to Onyx. Margaret said she'd be surprised if Halsey hadn't pieced together [[shield world|what]] they figured the planet really was, but that she was keeping her in the [[Viery Territory]] with half a dozen eyes watching her every move. She only shared this with Stanforth because she knew he was fond of Halsey and wanted to give him the chance to brace himself for the end of what Parangosky called "her free ride days". She promised to drop the vice admiral a line once he arrived at [[Camp Hathcock]] and, as an addendum, included with her message the results of a [[Hemley & Aubourn Behavior Analysis|Hemley & Aubourn behavior analysis]] done on Halsey [[2551|the previous year]].<ref name="DD3"/> Stanforth sent Parangosky the original stratagem document for RED FLAG (updated with the latest requisitions) on [[2552#August|August 1]] after just arriving back in the Epsilon Eridani system.<ref name="DD4">[[Data Drop]] [[Data Drop/Four|#4]]</ref> | ||
Operation: RED FLAG was meant to secure the capture of one of the [[Covenant]]'s three "[[Hierarchs|high prophet]]s" for the purposes of bartering a formal ceasefire with the alien hegemony.<ref name="DD4"/> Intelligence suggested that the high prophets spent their time either within the confines of the mobile dome-ship structure "''[[High Charity]]''" or aboard a Class-Five [[flagship]] [[Covenant carrier|carrier]], be it a {{Class|CAS|assault carrier}} or {{Class|CSO|supercarrier}}. A substantially-sized, high-impact team of [[Spartan-II]]s wearing qualified [[Mjolnir]] armor could theoretically assault a Class-Five vessel to either seize a hierarch which may be aboard or, failing that, to acquire full control of the ship and return it to ''High Charity''. There, the team could split up into discrete covert splinter groups, gather sufficient intelligence, seize a high prophet, and withdraw back to a ship, securing ''ad hoc'' exfiltration. Incumbent to the capture of a Class-Five ship, however, was the likely need to sacrifice a colony of significant value to the Covenant. Defenses would need to be purposefully lowered somewhat in order to draw the enemy in before enacting the first part of the operation.<ref name="DD4"/> The best shot at taking over a Class-Five would come after a Covenant fleet believed it had attained a major victory.<ref name="DD5">[[Data Drop]] [[Data Drop/Four|#5]]</ref> Margaret's previous transmission to Stanforth had seemed to him to suggest that [[Reach]] might be used to stage RED FLAG.<ref name="DD4"/> Stanforth refused to even consider using Reach as bait, but he did not yet know then that it had already come under attack and did tell Parangosky that his thinking would be different if the colony was found and deemed indefensible.<ref name="DD4"/><ref name="HRWC">''[[Halo: Reach]]'', ''[[Winter Contingency (level)|Winter Contingency]]''</ref> He also had submitted the latest preliminary requisitions to Halsey and promised to ping Margaret with details as soon as he had them.<ref name="DD4"/> By August 27 both Parangosky and the vice admiral had agreed to sacrifice Reach.<ref name="DD5"/> At 1115 hours on that date Stanforth responded to a message she'd sent concerning the mission to let her know he and Halsey had just finished briefing the Spartans who would be undertaking it. The Spartans, along with a significant portion of the planet, were still being kept in the dark regarding the Covenant's presence there. He told Parangosky that regardless of what was happening at the enemy's primary target sites then, they couldn't allow it to compromise RED FLAG. He also suggested that at some point they were going to have to tell [[Captain]] [[Jacob Keyes]], commander of the {{UNSCShip|Pillar of Autumn}}, about the ongoing attack. Keyes and the ''Autumn'' had been selected to transport the Spartans during the first phase of RED FLAG, but should a much larger enemy force arrive at the planet soon Stanforth felt Keyes might abandon the mission if he wasn't made aware that Reach was already doomed. | Operation: RED FLAG was meant to secure the capture of one of the [[Covenant]]'s three "[[Hierarchs|high prophet]]s" for the purposes of bartering a formal ceasefire with the alien hegemony.<ref name="DD4"/> Intelligence suggested that the high prophets spent their time either within the confines of the mobile dome-ship structure "''[[High Charity]]''" or aboard a Class-Five [[flagship]] [[Covenant carrier|carrier]], be it a {{Class|CAS|assault carrier}} or {{Class|CSO|supercarrier}}. A substantially-sized, high-impact team of [[Spartan-II]]s wearing qualified [[Mjolnir]] armor could theoretically assault a Class-Five vessel to either seize a hierarch which may be aboard or, failing that, to acquire full control of the ship and return it to ''High Charity''. There, the team could split up into discrete covert splinter groups, gather sufficient intelligence, seize a high prophet, and withdraw back to a ship, securing ''ad hoc'' exfiltration. Incumbent to the capture of a Class-Five ship, however, was the likely need to sacrifice a colony of significant value to the Covenant. Defenses would need to be purposefully lowered somewhat in order to draw the enemy in before enacting the first part of the operation.<ref name="DD4"/> The best shot at taking over a Class-Five would come after a Covenant fleet believed it had attained a major victory.<ref name="DD5">[[Data Drop]] [[Data Drop/Four|#5]]</ref> Margaret's previous transmission to Stanforth had seemed to him to suggest that [[Reach]] might be used to stage RED FLAG.<ref name="DD4"/> Stanforth refused to even consider using Reach as bait, but he did not yet know then that it had already come under attack and did tell Parangosky that his thinking would be different if the colony was found and deemed indefensible.<ref name="DD4"/><ref name="HRWC">''[[Halo: Reach]]'', ''[[Winter Contingency (level)|Winter Contingency]]''</ref> He also had submitted the latest preliminary requisitions to Halsey and promised to ping Margaret with details as soon as he had them.<ref name="DD4"/> By August 27 both Parangosky and the vice admiral had agreed to sacrifice Reach, having green-lit it for RED FLAG during a discussion had at some point in the prior week.<ref name="DD5"/> At 1115 hours on that date Stanforth responded to a message she'd sent concerning the mission to let her know he and Halsey had just finished briefing the Spartans who would be undertaking it. The Spartans, along with a significant portion of the planet, were still being kept in the dark regarding the Covenant's presence there. He told Parangosky that regardless of what was happening at the enemy's primary target sites then, they couldn't allow it to compromise RED FLAG. He also suggested that at some point they were going to have to tell [[Captain]] [[Jacob Keyes]], commander of the {{UNSCShip|Pillar of Autumn}}, about the ongoing attack. Keyes and the ''Autumn'' had been selected to transport the Spartans during the first phase of RED FLAG, but should a much larger enemy force arrive at the planet soon Stanforth felt Keyes might abandon the mission if he wasn't made aware that Reach was already doomed. Included with the due diligence report sent from Stanforth to Parangosky were catalogued metrics for the key staff and assets RED FLAG would involve, courtesy of [[Cortana]], the [[artificial intelligence]] who would assist the Spartans' intrusion. The vice admiral had affixed his own notes to Cortana's work and asked that Margaret let him know what she thought within the next few hours after getting his report.<ref name="DD5"/> | ||
By [[2552#September|September 20, 2552]], yet another class of Spartans was being developed under Parangosky's watchful eye.<ref name="WaypointSpartans"/> Unlike its predecessors, this [[Spartan-IV|new project]] would return to [[ORION Project|ORION]] protocols of recruiting exceptional and fully capable adult soldiers.<ref name="WaypointSpartans">[https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/universe/factions/spartans '''Halo Waypoint''' - ''Spartans'']</ref> On [[2552#October|October 13]] cloaked remote sensor platforms of unknown provenance were discovered near [[Argyre Planitia]] on [[Mars]], triggering [[cryptonym WIDEAWAKE]].<ref name="lootcrate2"/> After consulting with Admiral Parangosky, [[Fleet Admiral]] [[Joseph Harper]] then issued a Priority One stand-down order to the scouting team which had made the discovery. On [[2552#November 17|November 17]], just over a month later, a massive [[Portal at Voi|structure]] was uncovered on [[Earth]] by the [[Covenant]] and activated to generate a [[portal]]. This portal created spatial distortions that damaged [[artificial gravity]] on all ships present in its vicinity. The science and repair records which followed this event were redacted at Admiral Parangosky's request.<ref name="lootcrate2">'''[[Halo Legendary Crate]]''', ''[[Halo Legendary Crate/Data Drops|Data Drop #2]]''</ref> | By [[2552#September|September 20, 2552]], yet another class of Spartans was being developed under Parangosky's watchful eye.<ref name="WaypointSpartans"/> Unlike its predecessors, this [[Spartan-IV|new project]] would return to [[ORION Project|ORION]] protocols of recruiting exceptional and fully capable adult soldiers.<ref name="WaypointSpartans">[https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/universe/factions/spartans '''Halo Waypoint''' - ''Spartans'']</ref> On [[2552#October|October 13]] cloaked remote sensor platforms of unknown provenance were discovered near [[Argyre Planitia]] on [[Mars]], triggering [[cryptonym WIDEAWAKE]].<ref name="lootcrate2"/> After consulting with Admiral Parangosky, [[Fleet Admiral]] [[Joseph Harper]] then issued a Priority One stand-down order to the scouting team which had made the discovery. On [[2552#November 17|November 17]], just over a month later, a massive [[Portal at Voi|structure]] was uncovered on [[Earth]] by the [[Covenant]] and activated to generate a [[portal]]. This portal created spatial distortions that damaged [[artificial gravity]] on all ships present in its vicinity. The science and repair records which followed this event were redacted at Admiral Parangosky's request.<ref name="lootcrate2">'''[[Halo Legendary Crate]]''', ''[[Halo Legendary Crate/Data Drops|Data Drop #2]]''</ref> | ||