"And where is he now?" War asked. The Admirals in the room looked at each other, somewhat uncertain about who would answer. Finally Admiral Hood answered his question.
"Look Walter-"
"Mr. President, thank you very much. You do not refer to me on a fist name basis anymore,
Terrance," War replied, his red eyes gazing into the Admiral's. Hood held the Horseman's gaze, unwilling to be intimidated, but knowing he had to respect the President's power.
"As I was saying
Mr. President, we are not entirely sure but we believe they would have fled to Venezia. Although the ex-Admiral is not on good terms with them, I believe they may be willing to comprise to bring down a common enemy. They both have limited resources, so it would be logical for them to pool them together," Hood replied.
"I want facts Admirals, not speculation. I deduced that myself without any equipment. You have the entire fleet at your disposal and you can't tell me where they are?"
"I can" a voice said from behind them. War turned and looked to see Margaret Paragnosky, head of ONI. War smiled, perhaps she would have some information.
"Margaret," War said, nodding his head.
"Walter," she responded with her nod. They two had become increasingly close allies, ONI and the Legion sharing the same mistrust of the former Covenant species. In their time together, ONI had been more of a shield for Humanity, and the Legion had been the sword.
"Margaret this meeting began half an hour ago. I'd like to know why you're late," Lord Hood asked.
"I was out gathering
information Terrance, which I'm sure some people here will appreciate," she replied, turning to War.
"Well then? Go on. I care not for your absence as long as I have results," War said.
"Yes well, the UNSC
Port Stanley has been cloaked around Venezia, giving us status updates on the situation at hand. They've reported seeing the
Aura of Armageddon exit slip space in orbit above the planet. They've docked, and satellite imaging from
Port Stanley has a positive ID on ex-admiral Blaine. They've defected over to the Insurrectionists' side," Paragnosky replied.
War smiled, before looking at the other Admirals.
"Exemplary work Margaret. Admirals, prepare your best crewmen to be ready to mobilize at a moment's notice. We will see how the situation develops, but should anything get off Venezia and head towards UNSC territory, keep an eye on it.
Now if you will excuse me, I have other matters to attend to," War said walking out of the room and into the hall way. His tablet showed that he had missed a few calls from his general. He'd have to take it in private, but now was not the time. Lord Hood was approaching him from behind.
"You told us to mobilize our best crewmen, but you failed to mention any ships. What are you planning?" He asked. Walter turned to looked at Admiral. Despite disagreeing with him about the value of democracy, he had a fair amount of respect from War. He had plenty of experience against the enemy, and the Arbiter seemed to trust him more than any other human. Hood was still useful, but his usefulness would run its course soon. In time, War would appoint one of his supporters to replace Terrance Hood, but not now.
"We will be fielding prototype ships," War saw the Admiral's mouth form into a tight line.
"They are more than combat ready Admiral. In fact I think you will favour the results, assuming everything goes well,"
"With all due respect, I don't think testing them against the Insurrection is the smartest idea,"
"Then what do you propose? The Sangheili? The Jiralhanae? No Admiral, we must use it against our own, to avoid giving those aliens a cause to rally behind. In time we will be stronger, but we must take, as they say, 'baby steps'." War explained.
"I just hope these new ships of your don't cost any of my men their lives," The Admiral conceded.
"Our men, Admiral.
Our men. I am concerned for their lives as much as you are," War said, looking behind his back. They were now in the hangar, and War left to board his personal Pelican.
"Right," Admiral Hood replied, before turning around to go organize a small strike force for War.
"How many?" War asked, viewing Manuel's hologram through his tablet. He was back in his
personal office, where everything was secure.
"1000 Enforcers, and 1000 Black Guard as well. I have them in a frigate, and I am heading to our rendezvous point. Is the new super carrier ready?"
"Of course, I plan to use Venezia as the test bed for our new line of warships" War replied.
"How did it go with the Admirals?" Manuel asked.
"Bah, only Margaret provided any solid results... As usual. I failed to mention the deployment of our new ships to most of them, only speaking with Hood about the topic. He seemed hesitant, but I'm sure the results of our new warships should be more than enough to put any doubts to rest." Walter replied.
"When do we strike sir?" Manuel asked.
"
Your strike force will be deployed in 24 hours, in the outskirts of the capital city,"
"Yes sir," Manuel replied grimly, steeling himself for what
needed to be done. It would all be over soon. They were trading in a few lives for the sake of millions, surely no one could protest once the results were seen?
24 hours later, in orbit above Venezia"All right, we're going to hit these farms here, here, and there," Manuel said, pointing out three areas on a 3D holographic map. His assembled group of Enforcers and Black Guard merely nodded.
"Alphas one, two, three, and four; take your squads to the Eastern farms and eliminate the rebels. Leave none alive, and make some noise. Feel free to bark and shout," Manuel ordered. The less human the Black Guard acted, the more likely people would believe aliens were the aggressors.
"Units 1, 7, 13, and 18, take your squads through the Western end and eliminate
all occupants. We can't have eye witnesses. Be sure to play your recordings as you go through" Manuel said, the Enforcers nodding as well. The would blare alien howls and yells through their "mouths' to add to the illusion of alien aggressors.
"I'll go through the middle with Alpha squad here," Manuel said gesturing to his squad. Miguel, Claude, Jakob, and Andrew acknowledged the Enforcers, giving them a brief wave. The Enforcers nodded in return, not being overly social yet.
"We set to go mang?" Miguel stepped forward. Manuel nodded before turning back to the assembled guards and robots.
"Yes. Take your positions!" Manuel shouted as the Guard howled in glee and the Enforcers merely saluted. Then they were off, leaping into stealth transports and plunging into orbit.
As the transports descended into orbit, they purred along their path ever so quietly, scanning for any anti air support. Fortunately ONI intel had been correct in stating the rural areas of Venezia were poorly guarded. Landing about a kilometre away, they landed and dropped off their cargo before flying away and around the farms to the extraction point.
Manuel hit the ground running, his soldiers following suite. Within half an hour, the strike force was there and splitting into three groups as planned.
Alpha squad ran up to the first farmhouse, crouching beneath the window. Miguel was crouched across from Manuel, pulling out a spike grenade. Manuel shook his head, signalling that now was not the time.
Claude gazed through the building using his Promethean vision , detecting no movements except for the sleeping bodies upstairs. He kicked in the door and led the way in, the rest of Alpha squad following. They stormed up the stairs, the noise awakening a man. The sound of a shotgun being pumped could be heard.
"I'm giving y'all ONE chance to-" The farmer's warning was cut short as Miguel fired his spikers, ending his life instantly.
"Honey?!" Came a shout from inside the bedroom. Manuel stormed the bedroom, pulling out a mauler and opening fire, blasting the women's face off. He motioned for his squad to clear the rest of the house.
Manuel walked over to the women's body to make sure she was dead. He rolled her over with his foot, to make he didn't get a response. Satisfied, Manuel walked out of the room to meet his squad.
"Have all the occupants been taken care of?" He asked Claude, whom was walking out the next bedroom.
"Two children were found and disposed of in the adjacent room, and Miguel took care of their dog," Claude reported. At the precise moment, a twisting wet noise could be heard and out appeared Miguel with a tooth.
"Just a little souvenir," he said, depositing it into his hard case. Manuel just headed downstairs.
"What?" Miguel asked, turning to Claude.
"Take your job a bit more seriously," he replied, heading downstairs. Miguel followed suite, heading for the door.
As Manuel's squad exited the house, another two stealth transports landed, giving Manuel the most crucial part of this mission: Jiralhanae Black Guard.
"Bring the bodies to the rendezvous point, and then eat them," Manuel ordered, speaking into his coms. The undead Brutes merely nodded as they lumbered off into the houses, coming back out and carrying the corpses as if they weighed nothing.
From here he could hear the faint sounds of Jiralhanae barks and howls, despite the fact there were no live Jiralhanae in the immediate area. The screams and cries of humans mixed in with the cry signalling to Manuel that the others were doing their jobs perfectly.
Manuel motioned for his squad to move forward onto the next house and repeat the same procedure. After all, the massacre had only begun.