Halo Legacy

About 5 minutes later I regained consiousness. I was laying a pile of scrap metal, I looked up and saw I was right by the sunked security building. One of the Spartans ran up to me and helped me get up.

"You alright?" He asked.
"I'll be fine, damn, that bitch had some fucking tough armor"

My assault rifle hadn't done a thing, not even a scratch. If we didn't kill her now those eggs would hatch and the entire continent would be overrun. There has to be something I can use, i thought as I turned over pirces of rock and metal. Then I saw it, still attached to a balcony, a turret stood.
I ran up to it, and with a single pull ripped it off it's stand. I walked up to the Spartan that had found me.

"Go get the charges set" I told him, "find whoever you need to help you"

He nodded and dashed away.

I walked back to the entrance to the chamber. In the midst of all the drones I could seee a huge bugger swatting at a Spartan.

"Payback time, Bitch!" I shouted and fired the turret.

The bullets cut through whatever drones unwittingly flew in front of them. they continued until the met their target, the queen's chest. At first they didn't seem to effect her, they just sparked and deflected off. But soon I could see shiny green blood squirting out In some places, and her loud cry's of rage also helped tell me the weapon was working.

She began to step back, trying to avoid the pain rounds. I got an idea and started walking to the side, making her back into the egg chamber. When she was there someone fired a grenade from a grenade launcher and hit one of the sides of the entrance. The entrance collapsed and she was trapped inside the egg chamber.

"Hurry set those charges" Richards ordered. Two Spartans completed the set up and armed them.
"Alright" I said, "Start the timer, give us just enough time to get out"

The bombs were set and as we were about to leave I heard a huge WHACK! and the ground rumbled. I looked back and saw the rocks that were between us and the queen began to loosen and fall, the bitch was breaking out.

"Run" I told everyone, "We ain't got time to deal with her"

Some looked like they wanted to protest but I could see they knew I was right. We ran as fast as we could through the hive, which was really fast. As we were however, The Spartan that had been stung before was falling farther and farther behind. Eventually she lost her footing and fell over, luckily I was behind her or else we would've missed her completely.

I kneeled next to her, she was unconscious. I slung her over my shuolder and ran to catch up. At this point I could hear huge foot steps echoing behind me, I bolted as fast as my legs could carry us. I could see a hole at the end of the tunnel, the building we came through when we first entered was just ahead. the other Spartans had gotten through already, I was about 5-10 seconds behind them. When I dashed through the hole I nearly ran into a wall, I wasn't used to the confined space.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!!

I heard the explosion go off just as I ran out the door and into fresh air. As soonas I passed through a wave of hot air pushed off my feath and into the air. when I landed I saw the building sink into the ground, the Hive was completely caved in destroyed.

Two Spartans rushed over to me.

One asked me something that I couldn't quite hear, my ears were still ringing from the explosion. The other took Joanna off my back.

"Pelicans will be here in 2 minutes" Matt told me when I hearing returned to normal. I took off Joanna's helmet to see of any symptoms had developed. They had. I could tell exactly but she was drenched in a feverish sweat, and her breathing was anything but normal.
"Let's hope she has that long" I said.

Everyone was just about to calm down when I felt a slight rumble in the earth.

"what was-"

A huge form emerged from the ground and unleashed another ear splitting screech. The bitch was back. She swatted the nearest guy away, launching him 20 feet into the air. She truned to us and looked like she was about to charge and I heard a loud noise behind me. I saw a volley of missles strike the queen and blow her to pieces. There were shouts from the other Spartan's as two Pelican flew in for evac.

"God damn it Jeff hurry up!"
Glancing down at Joanna didn't help me any.
Jonathan was at her side though, which relieved me slightly.
Those two were always together... through training... even as kids... or so the backgrounds say.

The battered Pelican came over the horizon.
"Hey Matt! Sorry I'm late."
"Just get down here now... we've got a Spartan and she's fading fast."
"Shit... I'm comin."

The Pelican hit the ground hard, two medics came out with a stretcher.
"Jonathan help them get her onto the Pelican... everyone else is dismissed, meet me on the bridge for a debrief asap"
No one said a word... just lights blinking on my HUD... Joanna's flashing red.
The two teams dispersed.
I walked over to James.
"Thanks... for helping Joanna back there."

"Always happy to save a damsel in distress" I said, laughing a little afterwards. I sat down into my seat, slowly drifting to sleep as the Pelican flew towards it's destination.

The queen blew apart, crumbling to the ground, for what seemed like in slow motion. Joanna was carried into the Pelican safely and carefully.

Wind blew past me making me turn to see another descending Pelican. I hopped inside, with the rest of my squad, making our trip back to the Mail Man.

"Sir, there's a distress signal, coming from New Madrigal."

"Put it on."

I turned all my attention to the message.

"Their everywhere! Ca- Hold them back! Fis-," the message cut out and then back in, "Any available Army Units, ODSTs, anything! There going to glas-" The message cut out with a large blast sound.

I turned to the pilot, "get back to the ship as quickly as you can. The Admiral has probably heard this already and is already prepping the troops."

We arrived, quickly docking in the hangar. I ran to the bridge quickly meeting the gaze of a worried Admiral. He listened over the message again, and I assumed he had already ordered the 'okay' to travel towards New Madrigal. We exited slip space, quickly revealing a fairly large planet. The space battle erupted in front of us, with Elite ships battling UNSC frigates and cruisers.

"Ordering all UNSC ships and reinforcements, destination New Madrigal, the Fist of Sanghelios is invading. These fucking bastards brought in an army. We need to hold them back, the Mail Man is sending down troops to defend the colonies for evacuation."

He then turned to me, "this shouldn't be as bad as the Human-Covenant world, but this is a world of trade with a strong military outpost, we need to keep this colony safe. Get down planet side right now! Get the people evacuated and defend any essentially structures."

I nodded and sprinted back into the pelican with the rest of my squad. The ship shook and then exited the hangar quickly making it's way planet side.

Chris-107:

I boarded a Pelican with the others. I was glad to leave the stinking cesspool that was the ruins of the Drone Hive, and their Queen. I'd boarded the same Pelican as the Spartan-Xs. I was glad that this damn mission was over. I was ready for a brief period of time where there could be some repairs to my armor, the Drones had damaged it in a few places.

I was the last Spartan to leave. I felt the urge to help with clean up.
It was two hours before the Vermilion contacted me.
"Matt, Joanna's gonna be alright... she's critical but stable."
Relief washed over me... I wouldn't know what to do if Joanna didn't make it... I would lose two.
Joanna and Jonathan have always been really close... if Joanna died... there's no telling how unstable he might become.
"Matt, I'm sending a Pelican down to pick you up... ONI just gave us a special assignment."
"Priority?"
"Immediate."
"When's my ride supposed to be... nevermind."
It was a newer Pelican... they were faster than the older models... more aggressive looking.

I boarded and the Pelican took off, taking only five minutes to reach the Vermilion.


15 minutes later: The Bridge.

The bridge was buzzing with activity.
"Good, your here. ONI has asked that we retrieve a very important package."
"What is it."
"We don't know."
Great.
"So let me get this straight, we're supposed to go somewhere and pick some imaginary package up?"
"Pretty much... where's your sense of adventure?"
"Down there with the remains of that drone queen."
"Well we don't have a choice, we answer more directly to ONI than the UNSC... if they want us to pick up kids from daycare we wouldn't have much of a choice."
"Where."
"Tantalus... its a long abandoned UNSC colony near Reach."
Reach... the spark of the human-Covenant war... the turning point.
"Lets get going then... I'll be in the crew quarters if you need me."

Alice:

"Cairo this is the UNSC Vermilion requesting permission to dock, we have injured aboard."
"Request granted Vermilion, proceed to dock twelve."
Vermilion pulled in and docked with the Cairo station, unloading the injured marines and a now concious Joanna.

"I really don't think this is necessary... I'm fine."
She was protesting the fact that I had chosen to exclude her from our first solo assignment.
"I'm sorry Jo, but your better off here... the Vermilion may be one of the most advanced human ships but we still don't have the appropriate medical technology on board for long term care. Matt made his decision... he doesn't like losing people under his command."
"But I'm still alive!"
"Only just, any later and we'd be prepping for your funeral right now."
"Good point."
"You won't be missing much anyways, were just going in for a pick up. Pretty basic but it comes straight from ONI on high priority... we really don't have a choice."
She still seemed disappointed.
"Alright, but you'll pick me up when your done right?"
"Of course Jo... Jonathan elected to stay behind with you so it shouldn't be too bad."
A smile came to her face.
"He'll meet you there."

Two medical technicians came around the corner.
"She's all yours."
The older one nodded "Don't worry ma'am, she'll be ready to fight in no time."
They both snapped a salute before taking her away.

Back to work.

Soren 'Kairom:

I stared from the Bridge as Sangheilos came into view. My mandibles formed the shape of a smile, the planet's massive fleet made me proud, I was one of the Sangheili that helped assemble it. I walked towards the hanger, a Phantom was waiting for me.

When I returned to my Family's keep I was instantly greeted by several Elders.

"Welcome Kaidon, We have awaited your return" One of the Elder's said. much to my displeasure the first hour of my return was discussing politics with the council. Afterwards however I was free to go about as I wished.

I made my way over to the Arena, I place where dishonored warriors fight for honor and glory in death. Sangheili Gladiators fought opponents one on one to the death, one every 10 cycles a special tournament was held in the Grand Colloseum. Thousands of dishonored Elites would fight, only one would be victorious. That one would be granted the right to fight in the Sangheili Special forces, a team of fighters sent on the most suicidal of missions. If that one survived three years, they were accepted back into Sangheili society and would return to their respected Family Keeps.

I stood there watch two combat with long energy daggers. The two seemed evenly matched, until one managed to impale the other in the wrist with their weapon. The other's dagger fell to the ground, a loss. The Sangheili dropped to his knees, honorably accepting defeat and death. He was beheaded by the one who bested him. The victor held the head high and proud, but I knew all too well that tomorrow could be a different result, and his head may be held high in the air like that.

"Dwelling on past memories"

I turned and saw Taso 'Kairom standing there in his robes. The Sangheili was old and wise, a retired veteran from the beginning of the Human-Covenant War. he had earned my respect since before I could remember, he was the one who trained me as a child.

"Hmm, don't we all?" I asked him.
"Yes, I suppose we do"

I knew what he was talking about. I was dishonored for crimes in my youth, sentenced to death or participate in the games were my options. For most execution was the honorable path, suicide was perfered. I chose to fight as a Gladiator, I wanted to die doing what I loved, fighting. I fought for two whole cycles until the Tournament finally came. I fought and won, did my three years with the special forces, and joined the Sangheili military.

I talked with Taso for a little longer before returning my attention to the games.

Richard:

The pelican shook as we tried to go planetside, but the bird held together. Once the pelican touched down, we sprinted out towards the the encampment.
I had brought along a grenade launcher, DMR, and assault rifle. Good for clearing out the baddies I guess.

"Sir, the Elite forces are coming in, they don't look to happy. Luckily, they don't have nearly enough ships to glass this planet fast, but they do have a shit ton of troops." a trooper had run up and filled me on what was happening. I nodded and turned to my squad.

"Everyone ready?"

Lights green. We were ready to do what we do best.

"Alright, Elite forces are inbound. We need to set up these defenses, fast. More Army Troopers are coming in, and ODST drop pods will be inbound soon. Set up turret defense points, here and here." I said pointing to different areas on the map.

"Make sure the LZ is always open, we can't lose this area. Close all gates and put barricades in openings. Save all ammunition crates, explosives and such in the back, except for mines and the like. Plant them quickly and rush back before they come. Nicole I want you to help with the evacuating citizens, make sure they get to the lifeboats safely."

I ran towards the an Officer in charge of Armored support, "tanks, warthogs, are they all ready?"

He nodded, "all of them, there Air Force is swooping down once the battle up there starts to clear up again."

"Good, alright, everyone get to it double time! We need to hurry before these bastards reach us."

They were all like ants, quickly doing their job efficiently. I too helped with all the work, placing some barricades and mines before they had gotten to us. The battle beyond had been going for half a day now, and it was now just getting dark.

We were all done, before the storm had reached us. The rain had started pouring down; tears of the fallen. We weren't going to let this planet fall. The Elites had finally reached the horizon, beasts of war ready to be unleashed. They hated us humans and any Elites siding with us. Well, hope they were ready.

Phantoms swooped by and wraiths following in the back of their army. Thats when it began, spheres of pure plasma launched towards us, some troops jumped away in time. Others were unlucky. They started bombarding us with their artillery, but thankfully some of the barricades held up saving some of our men and women.

Their forces advanced, getting closer until finally they charged firing their plasma weapons. We all took cover as we heard 'pops' and 'booms'. They were falling into our traps, dying unto the Earth with rain soaking up their blood. We looked over and fired respectively towards them killing some of their grunts and even a few elites.

This battle hadn't even begun; their forces were larger than ours. Probably the biggest force sent from the Fist of Sanghelios they've ever brought. Outnumbered. Outgunned. We were used to it, and it was time to bring the pain. ODST drop pods flowed through the sky, along side the rain like they were both forces of nature. They crashed into the ground and the troopers of hell came out starting our 'real' battle. As soon as they dropped down, us spartans sprung from cover tactically charging our enemies.

An Elite came to swing his plasma repeater at me, but I ducked and slammed my fist into it's gut, quickly taking out my knife to stab it in the jaw right when it's shields popped. The flesh was pierced easily, and I took it out to throw it at an unsuspecting grunt. I dashed forward, sheathing back my knife to charge another group of Elites.

There was a distraction, but a good one. Angels flew in bombing some of the wraiths, taking out a chunk of them thankfully. I couldn't dawdle on this though, sending my mind back to the battle scene.

Tantalus outer atmosphere
June 23rd
15:06 UNSC Standard Time


Vermilion ripped through the atmosphere of Tantalus like a knife... all was good.
"Entering final re-entry stage in five, four, three, two, now!"
Retro boosters along the front edges of the ship fired, decreasing our speed dramatically.

The surface of Tantalus was like the final hours of Reach, buildings lay in ruins, the landscape scarred with craters from explosions. Wreckage of a large Covenant cruiser off in the distance.

"We've got limited intel on Tantalus in its current state, Kig Yar have been spotted near the downed cruiser so expect hostile contact at the LZ."
Alice was relaying intel as I made may approach in a Pelican, Phoenix team with me.
"The package is... no this can't be right."
"It is."
"It can't be Courtney, there was only three nova bombs ever made."
"One was lost on Reach and the other was accidentally detonated, destabilizing an entire planet and cracking its moon in half... I know the stats Alice, I've run the odds multiple times. This one is just a shell, it was never armed in time."
"Alright... your package is a Nova bomb shell. From what ONI knows, it has all the components except the warheads so it doesn't pose a threat."
"Yet."


The Pelican touched down and we were running silent before we touched the ground.
The Jackals were too busy concentrating fire on the Pelican to notice us slip into the building.

It was like a ghost town, human skeletons in the hallway, dark spots and splatters along the walls and floors.
There was a fight here... and it looks like we lost this one.
"Where is this thing exactly?"
"A sealed vault near the armoury, built to withstand a nuclear bomb."
"Anything else?"
"Actually yes there's one more thing, you've got a rather large group of hostiles heading right for you."

"You heard the lady, you guys wanna sneak around them or go right through?"
"I say we blow em up."
"Destroy the xeno-scum!"
"Frank... this isn't the best time for that."
"I was being serious... killing aliens is serious business."
"Fine... I really don't care so I guess we got some killing to do."

Lights flashed green on my HUD and everyone took up positions.
Jason set-up some explosives rigged to a trip wire, and we waited.
A few seconds later the entire hall shook, chunks of concrete and bodies sent in every direction.
"Sweet!" Frank yelled out.
"Jason... how much did you use!?"
"About a pound."
"Save the rest."

More Jackals came running around the corner, energy shields up.
Jennifer fired one shot... killing the first five that were brave enough to fight us.
The shot ricocheted there energy shields.
"Nice shootin tex!"
More came around the corner, Frank opened fire with his assault rifle.
"I WILL RIP YOUR HEART OUT AND SHOW IT TO YOUR DYING EYES!!" He yelled as he dove from cover, tossing a grenade.
The grenade bounced across the floor, stopping at the feet of one of the Jackals... looking down at it right before it exploded.

We waited... only silence.
Missing both his legs, one of the Jackals was trying to crawl away.
I walked up to it and pulled out my magnum, firing a single shot into its head.

"Keep your weapons at the ready, were going silent."
The lights flashed green and we all vanished.

The walls, ceiling and most of the floor was plastered with bits of the Jackal internal organs, blood and body parts.
We pressed on to the command centre with no resistance.

"Alright, take up defensive positions while I get the access codes for the vault."
All green.
Jen took up a position for optimal sniper support while Jason sealed the doors we weren't using, Frank set-up mid range.
Alarms started going off.
"Fuck! Get ready guys!"
Apparently the electronic counter-measure software was still intact.

The first of the Jackals entered the room, Jen fired two shots and took out five.
Jason was using a DMR while Frank covered everyone with the Assault Rifle.
"First firewall is down."

"I'm afraid I can't let you do that, as AI for this facility I can not allow you access to the vault."
"Help would be nice Courtney."
"I didn't know there was anyone left here... even an AI... he would be crippled with rampancy."
"What should we do then?"
"Plug me in to the computer... I'll have a little chat with him."

I pulled the chip from the back of my helmet, inserting it into the computer.

"Wow... old tech... kinda scary."
"Just keep him distracted."
"My pleasure."

"That really isn't... oh... so thats what those look like."
"Courtney?"
"Just crack the code... I've got it under control."
"If you say so."
I began typing as fast as I could.

"Running low over here... Jason toss me a clip!"

The Jackals were pressing hard.

An explosion tore through the base... off in the distance.
"Oops... I think I overloaded him."
"I'm not even gonna ask... I'm in."
"Of course you are, that AI was the only thing keeping you out."
I downloaded the schematics of the base into my armour and pulled Courtney, putting the chip back in my helmet.
"Were moving out, toss a couple grenades in there and follow me!"
Two grenades bounced along the floor, exploded and took out one of the doors.

We were running now.

"Its should be up ahead... just on the... other... side of that... crater?"
A giant crater in the center of the base... the vault lay at the bottom of it.

"Any ideas?"

I grabbed a piece of scrap metal off the floor.
"Grab a piece a follow my lead."

I jumped into the crater, swinging the piece of metal under me before I landed.
Glancing behind me, the others had followed my example and were closing in.
"Interesting... I never would have thought of this."
"Well it was either this or walking."
I reached the bottom first, the others close behind.

The vault was half buried in the ground, the door in the air at a forty-five degree angle.
I entered the code.
The seals on the heavy blast door blew and I pulled it open to reveal another door.
This one seemed thinner than the first, so I punched it twice.
My hand broke through the door and I pulled it open.
"Nice touch, but its time delayed."
"So... were about to have company, we don't have time."
"I suppose your right... Vermilion this is Courtney."
"Go ahead."
"Package is secured, we need immediate extraction."
"Copy that ground team, Vermilion in bound to your position."

Vermilion ripped through the planets atmosphere.
Retro rockets fired, bringing her in as soft as a feather.
The loading bay lift lowered and we dragged the package on to it.

"Enemies in bound and they don't look happy!"
It was that crashed covenant cruiser, the Jackals must be using it as shelter.
"Confirmed, begin ARC charging sequence to fifty percent capacity."
"Charging sequence initiated, estimated time is one minute."

There was no way in hell I was going to miss this.
Me and my team sprinted to the bridge as soon as the lift was up.

"Did I miss anything?"
"Not yet... ten seconds. Prepare firing sequence and get us some distance."
Vermilion distanced itself from the crater, green lights began flashing.
"Firing sequence ready, optimal firing range achieved."
"Fire!"

The cannon charged the shot and fired... the sky dimmed, as if night was approaching.
There was a tremendous crack almost like thunder and everything whited out.
The ship shot backwards and the main engines fired to counter-act it, keeping the ship in place.

When the light finally died down and my vision returned, the cruiser had been erased from existence.
Leaving behind a second crater the same size is the one it sat next to.

"Ma'am, engineering just called."
"And?"
"There dealing with a small fire down there."
"Its nothing serious... engineering this Courtney."
"This is engineering."
"What's the situation?"
"There's a small fire in the outlet valve for the cannon, were trying to get it out but this thing just won't die!"
"Alright, calm down and listen carefully. What I want you to do is open the cannons outlet valve and do a dry purge test fire."
"Um... gimme a second... alright its open."
"Now I need you to disconnect the cannon from the arc generator."
"Done."
"Alright... stand by for cannon purge!"

There's was a low rumble from within the ship, seconds later a jet of fire shot out of the cannon.

"Problem solved, anything else?"
"No ma'am."
"Good, I'll make sure to get some ONI techs to look at the cannon when we get back."

I walked through a set of door, two Sangheili close behind me. They were my former lance-mates and good friends. Talos 'Chintar on my left, Ouranos 'Salren on my right. Both had fought with me during the Human-Covenant War before we were disbanded near the end. When I walked in I instantly recognized another member from my old Lance.
"Voron? what are you doing here?" I asked, generally happy to see him.
Voron 'Mantakr, I wasn't significant at all I noticed him easily. The Elite was huge, muscular, and strong, even by normal Sangheili standards. He was around 8'2", and strong enough to give a good Jiralhanae a run for money in strength.
"Good to see you Commander" Voron said to me in a deep voice, "There's something we'd like you to see"
He motioned his head towards a big computer monitor, at first glance it looked like a huge orb in the middle of space.
"A planet?" I asked, but as soon as the words left my mouth the bigger Elite smiled.
"No Commander, not a planet" He told me, "A Forrerunner Shield World"
His tone suggested he was amazed but I wasn't.
"We've encountered many Shield Worlds before, what makes this one so special?"
"Because it was sealed from the inside" He said, "Do you not understand what that means?"
I admitted I was in shock, perhaps if the world had been sealed from the inside then there was a slight possbility that a group of Forerunners made it there in time before...
"Where is it?" I asked a little excited.
"It's location is not far from the first discovered Halo Ring" He said and then suddenly frowned, "Unfortunately we cant seem to see a way to unlock it."
"Don't worry" I said, my turn to smile, "I know someone that might have the key"
I smiled, turned and left. The Oracle was still with Anno's Spec-Ops forces, It was time I payed them a visit, and informed them of our next mission.

Earth came into view as we pulled out of slip-space.
"Vermilion this is Cairo station, we have an ONI tech team that wish to board you to perform maintenance on you main cannon."
"Very well Cairo."

We docked with Cairo and ONI tech's came on board.



"Ma'am, urgent message from UNSC command."
"Patch it through."
"Vermilion this is Admiral Vincent Turner, were putting you on stand by as back up for a Spartan IV team that was sent to stop the invasion of New Madrigal by the Fist of Sanghelios. You may not be needed but due to your previous experience with them, you were first on the list."
"We will be ready when they need us Admiral."
"Glad to hear it, Shackler's Revenge will be accompanying you."

Alice turned to me.
"Make sure your team is ready for a hot drop."
"Were always ready."

I weaved in and out of enemy fire, dodging most of it. Getting into close combat was essentially giving me an upperhand in the fight, but they did ask for some lead. So I did, firing right into an Elite's jaw.

The next came running up, with a sword this time. Plasma skimmed across me, barely missing my neck. I took the advantage and swatted the sword with my free hand. It took 30 bullets of lead to the chest from my gun right afterward.

After a couple more skirmishes I got an incoming signal from the Admiral.

"Richards, there's a couple generators 3 clicks away from you; it's the only thing keeping most of the equipment up down there. If you can go down there and hold until back up arrives, that would benefit us greatly."

"Roger, just send a bird, things are a little hot down here."

"Permission accepted, sending a falcon there now."

Standing behind cover, the rest of my squad met up with me just in time for our Falcon to come in. It descended towards us, mowing down a pair of hunters before it landed. There were already a couple Army Troopers in there waiting.

"Let's move! We gotta get to those generators."

We waited for Anno and his troops to get to the Ship. There were several other ships in our fleet, we were going to make a blockade so we wouldn't be disturbed like last time. My three other companions stood patiently, they were all very dear to me, they were like brothers.
"Commander, there's a Phantom approaching" An Elite at one of the monitors reported.
"Good, send them the docking procedures" I told him, with luck that was Anno now.

Anno 'Rhculee:

We came up to the cruiser, our pilot obeying all docking procedures. As we passed through the field that kept the hanger pressurized, the Phantom was briefly thrown into a blue light. The Phantom haulted, tethers keeping it in place as we left, the lift ferrying us down safly. I was first, Vera following soon after. After the Sangheili exited the Phantom, we were followed by the Unggoy.

"It is good to see you again, Soren." I greeted.

"It's good to see you too Anno" I greeted back, then motioning towards the bridge, "I want you to see this"
He followed me back to the bridge, where the Ship Master and several other Sangheili were working. They looked at us and bowed their heads, showing respect.
"Bring up the target" I said to one of the Elites.
The Elite did as he was told, and a huge holographic Image of the Shield World came up. "What do you think?" I asked Anno.

OOC: I'm on standby for now Tomb, let me know when you need me.

"By the gods." I exclaimed. The shieldworld was beautiful, an emerald planet with vast seas and patchworks of land. It was very clear, in some areas, that there was Forerunner architecture intergrated with the land.

Vera came up beside me, gazing at the holographic representation with wonder.

"It's magnificent." She said.

"Yes, yes it is magnificent" I told Vera, "And that's where we're going"

I turned to see Anno, who still looked stun by the image that was before him. I placed my hand on his shoulder to get his attention.
"The Planet is locked down tight, we were hoping the Oracle would be able to translate a way to get inside" I said to him, "It was locked down by the Forerunners from the inside, if we can get inside the discoveries could be endless!"
I strode up the bridge towards the Ship Master's chair and sat down. "We leave as soon as possible, send work for any troops or equipment you require and have them sent here"
And with that I rotated the seat around and stared into the stars before me.

Troops were loaded onto the ship from Phantoms, with more and more supplies being flown in each second. There were Sangheili, Unggoy, Mgaelekgolo, and Huragok all boarding the cruiser. Vera and myself observed the newcomers, watching as prepares were made to set course for the shield world.

The other three Commandos and I stood patiently, observing Anno 'Rhcul's forces that gathered inside the hanger. Below I could see multiple Sangheili, Unngoy, Mgaelekgolo, and even a couple Huragok had boarded the cruiser.
"A deceant force" Voron commented, "I wouldn't advise sending them all in though"
I didn't know whether or not he was joking, it was hard to tell with Voron 'Mantakr sometimes. Talos, who looked like he was adjusting something on his gauntlet, simply replied "The more the merrier". Voron let out a deep chuckle, he had a good sense of humor. He stopped when Anno approached, most likely trying to be respectful.
"That's a deceant force you have there" He repeated.
"It is" Anno replied, glancing back at his incoming forces for a moment, "Are your's already in position?"
"No", Voron replied with a slight grin, I could tell he was waiting for something.
"Where are they?" Anno asked, sounding a little confused.
"Your looking at it" Voron replied, now laughing loudly to himself.
I decided to step in at this point, save Anno from Voron's horrible jokes. "It's a long story" I told him, "The short version is that a while back we were a highly secret Special Operation's squad, Commandos, We're used to smaller groups"
Anno nodded, telling me he understood. "Get your forces organized and meet us back at the bridge, we'll tell you the plan".




The bridge was filled more than usual, mostly because Anno had brought along some extra crew. Unlike before, all the monitors were occupied. The Cruiser was newly built, had some unique modifications added to it. There were of course, a handfull of other ships waited for our signal before jumping.
"We shouldn't be running into anything nasty while we're in there, but we're still going in prepared for anything" I told Anno, "I recommend you select only a handful of troops to go in, and hold the rest back as reinforcements if we need them, we'll work faster with less warriors"
I sat back into the Ship Master's chair and nodded at on of the Sangheili at the monitor, who gave the signal to the rest of the fleet to enter slip-space,
"Any questions?" I asked Anno from from my seat.

Regerus:

The clanking noise pursued as I walked down the metal hallway into the black market. It was filled with jackals; whom all stared at me with sharp intense eyes. Some stiffened, some just stayed the same, others shifted into a different position...a more cautious one. I walked up toa dealer, looking at the jackal straight into it's eyes; it shifted, like a greedy rat who was hiding something.

"Obviously, you must know I'm here to get something...something I can't aquire anywhere else."

It made a noise, a crackling one in resposne. It looked around nervously, and pulled out an elegant golden looking rod. I shook my head, "not that..."

Something shuttered in the back, a sphere shaped object, moving around. The jackal turned quickly, startled, and then ran back inside the room; closing the doors instantly. I grinned, "thats what I wanted."

The jackals stood up aiming their weapons at me, getting ready to blast us, but so we were equally as ready.

Titanus:

"I wouldn't do that if I were you" I said from behind the group of Kig'yar. I stood there, arms crossed and my two body guards' Brute Shots lowered. I could smell the musky sent of fear in the room, it radiated like a dying star and made me chuckle to myself a little.

"Listen here!" I shouted, my voice causing the room to echo, "We can do this the easy way, or the Hard way?"
Either way suits me just fine, I thought to myself.