Ding! The Ultramarine Joined the Group Chat!

Chapter 323: Chapter 320 — Confirmed

Chapter 320 — Confirmed

Marcus pulled up the display without being asked twice.

A star map bloomed above Gaius’s desk, Cascade’s system rendered in pale blue at the center, a single red marker blinking at the outer edge of the display.

"Long-range sensors picked up the slipspace signature forty minutes ago," Marcus said. "Exit point is at the edge of the system, well clear of the star’s gravity well. We held off reporting until the analysis team could confirm it wasn’t a false return. It isn’t."

"Numbers," Gaius said.

"Preliminary count puts it at forty-one vessels." Marcus tapped the display, and the red marker expanded into a cluster of smaller icons, still resolving as more data came in. "Mixed composition. At least two hulls reading at flagship-class mass, the rest split between escorts and troop carriers."

Gaius studied the cluster without immediately responding.

Forty-one.

The first fleet had numbered eight. This was the response, exactly as expected, exactly as Parangosky had warned it would be. What mattered now wasn’t the fact of it. It was the shape of it.

"Time to arrival," Gaius said.

"They exited at the system edge rather than risk a translation error this close to the star, which buys us some margin. Current trajectory and sublight speed puts them at approximately eighteen hours out. Could shift with course corrections, but the analysts don’t expect more than an hour or two of variance either direction."

Eighteen hours.

Gaius ran the number against everything currently in motion. Thirty-one ships in orbit, with more still coming off the Fabricator Complex. Personnel from the convoy still being distributed to their posts. Five Spartans and Naruto still days from a stable Armament Haki, only just beginning Observation training this week. Diana’s Haki, stable but young. Tony and Halsey’s next round of shield refinements, still mid-testing.

None of it would finish in eighteen hours. All of it would be further along than it had been the first time.

"Have you informed admiral Parangosky?" Gaius asked.

"Not yet." Marcus hesitated, then added, "I wanted to ask you first."

Gaius looked at Marcus, then stepped over and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"There is no need for that, Marcus. Go inform Admiral Parangosky and Commander Osman."

He stood, and the star map folded itself away as he moved around the desk.

"Contact Admiral Parangosky and Commander Osman. Full briefing, within the hour. I want Tony and Dr. Halsey there as well." He paused at the door. "And recall every trained fighter from the field. Training stops today."

Marcus was already keying the first message into his communicator. "The Spartans are still mid-recovery from last week’s session, sir. Several of them—"

"I am aware of their condition," Gaius said. "They will still want to hear this in person, not secondhand."

Marcus didn’t argue. He simply nodded and kept working.

~~~

The briefing room filled quickly once word went out.

Tony arrived first, Halsey a step behind him, both of them still carrying the particular energy of people pulled directly out of active work rather than a scheduled meeting. Parangosky and Osman’s holograms flickered to life at the head of the table within minutes of being contacted, no pleasantries exchanged before Parangosky spoke.

"Report."

Gaius laid it out the same way Marcus had given it to him. Forty-one vessels. Eighteen hours. Mixed composition, at least two flagship-class hulls.

Osman’s expression didn’t change, though her voice tightened slightly around the edges. "That’s roughly five times the size of the first engagement."

"It is," Gaius said.

"And we’ve got thirty-one," Tony said, already running through it out loud rather than waiting to be asked. "Plus the Complex’s still producing. Depending on how the timeline shakes out, we might be looking at closer to thirty-five, maybe forty, by the time they actually arrive."

"Optimistic," Halsey said.

"Realistic," Tony corrected. "I said might."

Parangosky’s projection remained fixed on the star map still hanging above the table. "Numbers alone won’t win this. The first battle wasn’t won on numbers either." Her gaze shifted to Gaius. "What’s changed since the last time they came here that actually matters?"

Gaius answered without hesitation.

"Thirteen Planetary Defense Lasers have become nineteen, with three more nearing completion. The fleet holds shielding and weapons no UNSC vessel has carried before. Five Spartans and Naruto stand on the threshold of Armament Haki, with one already through it. Diana has crossed as well."

He paused.

"And unlike the first battle, we will not be caught with our preparations at seventy percent."

Admiral Parangosky considered that for a moment.

"What about the Spartans?" she asked. "The Master Chief?"

Gaius answered without hesitation.

"They have been training Armament Haki and have only recently begun Observation Haki training."

"Any progress?" Parangosky asked.

Gaius paused briefly before nodding.

"Yes. John has awakened Armament Haki."

The room fell silent for a moment.

Everyone present had read the reports. They knew what Haki was, at least in theory. They knew what it had allowed Gaius and Diana to accomplish.

Hearing that the Master Chief had successfully awakened Armament Haki was significant.

Neither Parangosky nor Osman visibly showed much reaction. Years of experience had made both women difficult to read.

Still, Osman could not completely hide the faint upward curve at the corner of her mouth.

Parangosky noticed it and chose not to comment.

"That’s good," the Admiral said simply.

Gaius nodded.

For a few moments, nobody spoke.

Each person in the room was occupied with their own thoughts, considering what that development might mean for the battles ahead.

Then Osman frowned slightly.

"What about the personnel? By this point they should have only just arrived. Can they control the ships well enough?"

Several people turned toward Gaius.

It was a valid concern.

The ships leaving the Fabrication Complex were far more advanced than anything the UNSC had fielded before. New reactors, new shields, new weapons systems. Even experienced crews would need time to familiarize themselves with them.

Before Gaius could answer, Tony spoke.

"I can have JARVIS and Cortana control the ships for now."

Parangosky immediately looked at him.

"Is that possible?"

After all, the calculations required to operate a warship were immense. Navigation, targeting, power distribution, communications, shield management, and hundreds of other systems had to be coordinated simultaneously.

Managing more than thirty warships at once sounded impossible.

Tony nodded.

"Normally? No."

That drew everyone’s attention.

"The processing power of JARVIS and Cortana alone wouldn’t be enough to efficiently coordinate an entire fleet of that size."

Parangosky folded her arms.

"Then how do you intend to do it?"

Tony pointed toward the orbital map where the Fabrication Complex was highlighted.

"Because Halsey and I built a dedicated computational facility into the Complex."

Halsey gave a small nod.

"The Fabrication Complex doesn’t build ships the way conventional shipyards do. Every component, every material flow, every assembly sequence has to be calculated and coordinated continuously."

Tony continued.

"The facility exists to manage all of that. It’s responsible for the calculations that allow the Complex to function in the first place, arranging millions of fabrication processes into the right place at the right time."

He tapped the table.

"Compared to that, helping coordinate thirty-one warships isn’t actually the difficult part."

Halsey nodded.

"The computational demands of the Fabrication Complex exceed those of fleet operations by several orders of magnitude. Redirecting part of that processing capacity to JARVIS and Cortana is well within the facility’s capabilities."

Parangosky was silent for a moment before nodding.

"I see."

For a moment, the room remained silent.

Then Gaius spoke.

"And I will have reinforcements for us."

That immediately drew everyone’s attention.

Parangosky looked at him, a hint of surprise crossing her face.

"Reinforcements?"

It was a reasonable question. She knew Gaius and his companions came from other universes, but they had remained on Cascade. As far as she knew, there was nowhere nearby they could possibly obtain reinforcements.

Gaius nodded.

"Yes."

Osman frowned.

"From where?"

Gaius paused before looking directly at Parangosky’s hologram.

"My brothers."

The room went quiet.

Parangosky narrowed her eyes slightly.

"Your brothers?"

"The Ultramarines."

~~~

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