[Naked Crook]

Burke: With all due respects Admiral...I don't think you have been down this road before. Burke frowned. Burke: Yeah, sure...you may be familliar with how to conduct operations with JUST The Covenant hanging over your head. I acknowledge that. However...you have The Trust sitting off to the side, turning this duet into a trifecta. Burke paused. Burke: You might think you have things under control, comfortable in the idea that you have teams assaulting what you strongly believe to be a Trust sleeper facility...but I assure you...you have gravely underestimated The Trust if you think that is going to slow them down, or even make them step back and "lick their wounds" to use the vernacular. The Trust is relentless, they are ruthless, and they are patient. If you wound them bad enough...expect them to retaliate. We have The Trust on the defensive, and we have The Covenant on the ropes. An army of men can do two things: They can defend a spaceport...or they can fan out in a city and get people to a spaceport...but they cannot do both at the same time. Burke paused. Burke: I am fully aware that we have people prepping and rearming as we speak. However, we both also know that there ARE soldiers down there who are still assigned to patrol and protection of that Spaceport. THis is not classified as "not listening to orders" as you put it. This is called procedure. My recommendation was to start thinning the patrol and protection numbers, little by little, as more shuttles leave San Angeles, in an effort to maximize the amount of boots we can send outwards. I am suggesting an ongoing and dynamic reassignment of manpower...not static distribution of it. Time is not on our side Admiral...so we need to start cutting corners anywhere we can.