Author's Note
If I mess anything up in relation to the lore, and I mean ANYTHING, just say so. I've been researching the timelines of Spartan projects and assessing where the gaps and "maybes" are to squeeze in the Legion. I think it's going to work out pretty well. However, if I mess up feel free to correct me.
Especially if my portrayal of a character which is canon to Halo seems a bit off. For example, if I happened to write Sarah Palmer with some sort of giggly high school girl attitude, then I think I did a bad job at her portrayal. So if my portrayals feel "off", please help me make them better.
Anyways, I hope you enjoy this short series about the Legion's timeline and where/how they (could) fit into Halo lore.
UNSC Space
Unknown Location
2536
Shady deals, morally questionable actions, and top secret information are three things one would expect to occur in a dark room, and away from prying eyes.
Today however, all three were taking place in a well light meeting room on board a spaceship. In this room sat an elderly woman, and a man sitting back in a chair and sipping whiskey. While this woman was a military official, the man was a civilian and dressed like it.
He was dressed in a business suit, clean shaven, and his blonde hair was slicked back. He looked like he belonged on Wall Street, not an ONI prowler. Yet here he was, about to become fundamental to one of ONI's biggest projects yet.
"Do you even understand what we are asking of you?” Margaret Parangosky asked the man in front of her. He was man with much wealth, much of it coming from the sale of weaponry, military hardware and software, and medicinal research. He was also charismatic, intelligent, and, perhaps most importantly, understood the necessity of ONI's projects. At the moment, he wasn't presenting himself in such a way.
“Of course Margaret, of course. You essentially want me to fund the creation of your private army,” 'Walter' replied, smiling at the elderly lady in front of him. She merely scowled at him, mostly for the way he had phrased her project.
“Not quite. We’re testing how effective Spartans can be together in large numbers, and if Spartan performance in large numbers improves over time. We have yet to test this because all we have are small fireteams dispersed throughout the navy and the Spartan III program essentially cut all progress short after a few missions”
“Is that the only objective?”
“Eventually, once casualties are sustained, we will test how well Spartans can work across generations. We need to know if later generations of Spartans will be able to work with their more experienced counterparts, so we can put them in fireteams together rather than sending new Spartans out alone… no matter how skilled they may be,”
"Is that regret I hear in your voice Margaret?" Walter asked, in an almost mocking way. In truth, he expected the head of ONI to be a little tougher. Then again, she was a person as well.
"Looking solely at effectiveness it should improve performances. We don't form fireteams from new recruits in the rest of the UNSC,"
"Point taken, I suppose," Walter replied before a silence fell between them. Eventually Walter broke that silence.
"There's more" Walter said. It was not a question, but a statement of truth. Margaret hesitated before speaking.
"We're lacking in funds. Officially, we'll be funding your PMC to be, you'll be shouldering the vast majority of the costs. We need more Spartans, and I'm willing to do what is necessary to save lives," Margaret replied. Walter could see she genuinely meant what she said in her last sentence, but emotions would not sway him from finding the truth.
“I see. Margaret, if we are going to work together we need to be honest with each other. I like you Margaret, I do, but you're causing me to doubt whether we can be business partners "
“This isn’t about business Walter, this about winning the war,” Margaret retorted, annoyed with his attitude towards the whole project.
“Whatever helps you sleep at night, but do know I could not care less about the money. You have told me what this project sets out to achieve, but you have yet to tell me why you want this,” Walter sat up in his chair, put down his glass, and rested his arms on the table. While Margaret was far more manipulative than other people, Walter was a special case. A man of his status and stature was not going to be fooled so easily. Margaret sighed, before giving Walter the answer he wanted to hear.
“ONI needs it’s own private batch of soldiers to carry out the most secret of missions. While Black team has been great in this regard, it is merely one fireteam. In addition to be able to test the previously mentioned objectives, having more soldiers at our disposal allows more of those Spartans already dispersed throughout the rest of the UNSC to stay there and aid on the front lines”
“So, essentially, your own private army-” He began before noticing Margaret open her mouth
“Since you know of or are the cause of everything here at ONI,” Walter replied, restating what he had said at first. He was a man that liked to get straight to the point, and while Margaret was a master of manipulation she was not going to find him so easy to use. Margaret merely nodded, not able to argue with that point.
"Now that we have cleared that up, shall we conclude our business together?" Walter asked, getting up and putting his hand out. Margaret looked at him, something telling her that she may come to regret this decision later on. For now though, she could see no practical reason to not agree.
"Let's," Margaret shook Walter's hand as he smiled. Now, there was no turning back.
