Futuristic Project Ares, a Halo AU roleplay!

[Foster]

Anybody who has had the displeasure of working aboard a UNSC prowler will be able to tell you that for a ship on the frontlines they have terrible defences, meger weapon systems and demand undying patience from their occupants. Stealth was the name of the game for these vessels, shadowing larger foes in total secrecy until they had gathered enough intel to send in the big guns. The Blindness was no exception to these rules but today it was packing something extra so that it may pose a threat to the two huge ships currently dwarfing it. Spartans. Not far from the Blindness was a large ship of covenant origins that was now home to a crew of infamous Jackal pirates, purple hull glinting softly with hundreds of tiny lights as it drifted through space. Further out was a huge corvette, brimming with Covenant remnants, the buyers these pirates were here for. ONI’s plan was simple in nature, after receiving intel that these pirates were planning to sell some Forerunner weapons they had got their hands on to the Covenant they’d placed a prowler at the rendezvous in advance, waiting to deploy a team of Spartans to steal the precious tech before it ever even changed hands. But as was always the case things were never going to be quite that easy.


“Slight change of plans, Spartans. The Covenant have jumped the gun.”


Thanks to the polarised gold visor of his MJOLNIR it was impossible for Dean’s fellow Ares candidates to see the scowl of annoyance plastered across his face as he returned from the cockpit, powerful strides taking him across the hanger in a matter of seconds, weaving in and out between UNSC dropships and personnel toward his teammates. Being back with his own kind did raise his spirits a bit, no more funny side looks from those outside the program here, but it was difficult to dispel the sense of apprehension he had about the task they were about to undertake.


“It looks like the deal is already underway, Covvies sent a phantom to pick up the cargo a few minutes ago so we are going to have to make this quick. From what we understand there are two packages, one still with the pirates and the other which is about to be nestled safely inside that corvette. Same plan as before just with two targets.” Sitting down heavily beside the small pile of weapons that made up his gear he began making last minute checks, hands running expertly over his personalised spartan laser as they had done a thousand times before, glancing up only to talk with Rebeckah. “Reb I take it you and Argon want to handle the Corvette? I’d hate to deprive Allen of a chance to play with that much Covenant tech.”


The infiltration part of the plan was where things were going to be difficult. For your average marine nearly impossible in fact, but impossible was the everyday for a Spartan. ONI section three had been kind enough to provide Mercury and Argon with six of their newest creations, the ‘Cuttlefish’ light stealth craft. Barely big enough to hold a single Spartan 0 each, the tiny craft are designed to fly under the radar of larger ships through a combination of electric fields and active-camouflage panels. They weren’t perfect by any means but provided you could keep their speed down and avoided enemy contact until absolutely necessary each Cuttlefish would prove very hard to pick up in the inky black of space.


GhastlySquash Worthlessplebian Viper Actual Commissar Darman

 

[Viper Actual]

Drumming her fingers restlessly against the armor on her thighs Rebeckah, who was currently seated on top of a reinforced concrete-grey equipment crate with ONI's emblem stamped on its sides, sighed deeply. The downside of being stuck on one of the prowlers (or any other ship for that matter) was that during longer periods of waiting there was absolutely nothing to do. Before arriving out of slipspace Reb had made an attempt at taking a quick jog around the hangar but after a mere five minutes she had already nailed down every detail of her surroundings and grown incredibly bored.

Setting that aside she had joined her commander, Dean, in coordinating the planned mission. Sure, they had already been over the details like a gazillion times but at the very least the task served to keep her busy, focused and restrained.

Now she was back to her bored state. Whatever boost of adrenaline that had went through her body from hearing the orders to gear up had vanished hours ago. It wasn't about wanting to be sucked into combat- there were plenty of risks with that- but she'd much rather spend her time scouting the area of operations or dive into a particularly stubborn and difficult communications array trying to get it to work than sit around in some lifeless hangar waiting for the opposition to make the first move.

The mission itself was easy, even by SPECWAR-standards. A quick snatch and grab, really. We've read about ops more dangerous than this.

With any luck it'd take no more than forty, maybe fifty, minutes. Afterwards they might need to do a second sweep. The commander would want some post-action reports. Recovered and salvaged equipment would have to be inspected and logged. Potential PoWs would be interrogated, maybe even require some "motivation" beforehand.

Regardless, Rebeckah and her team were ready. They all were.

“Slight change of plans, Spartans. The Covenant have jumped the gun.”

Reb rolled her eyes and stood up, grabbing her helmet as she did. Finally.

With a stern look on her face and narrowed eyes Rebeckah looked at Dean as he approached. She glanced to her left and right momentarily to make sure that all her peers were as ready as she was, though her gaze didn't stay in one place for very long. One swift move was all it took to swing her helmet upwards and gently down over her head. She nodded towards Dean.

"Gladly, sir. Argon is ready to go when you give the word."

Rebeckah glanced at Naatan and Allen, nodding reassuringly and even though none of them could see it there was large smile plastered over her face. Showtime!

 

[Worthlessplebian]

In the hanger of the UNSC prowler, The Blindness, Spartan Kasper sat on a crate examining his equipment for the coming mission. A trade deal between Jackal pirates and Covvie remnants. Usually in these types of assignments, Kasper would take up the role of marksman with the SRS99-AM sniper rifle however this particular trade deal just so happens to be taking place in the cold vacuum of space so he opted to switch to a suppressed MA5D Assault Rifle. The reason for it being suppressed is due to Kasper's other specialization that being infiltration. The horned Spartan with the crimson Solar visor inspected his assault rifle in every which way, from looking at it at odd angles, checking the integrity of the suppressor, checking the magazine, and even using the optical scope of the rifle via the helmet's smart-link to ensure no re-calibration was needed.

He had completed his routine check up for his other equipment, his assault rifle was the last one. His other equipment is pretty standard for him and almost never-changing except for a few, very rare situations. A suppressed SMG, plethora of stun grenades to disorient hostiles, a combat knife located on his right forearm for stealth oriented executions and a kukri.

His Spartan-brother Dean, who also acts as Spartan Commander and Fireteam leader, returned from the cockpit, likely bringing bad news. Kasper stood up from the crate and stiffened up to address the CO. He had informed them that there was a change of plans. Kasper raised an eyebrow between his helmet. The change of plans being that now there were two targets. There are always variables in combat that cannot be accounted for and it seems this is one of them. Once the new information had been delivered Kasper had picked up his assault rifle and holstered it on his back.

Rebeckah and Argon would be taking up the Covenant corvette.

He glanced to Argon team. "Best of luck, Argon." He turned back over to his team, Mercury."I assume the buzzards have standard equipment, sir?"

 

[Kenshin772]

Aries leaned against a crate of munitions close to his Fireteam leader staring at his UGPS. He was going over the briefing something he had neglected up until now but the mission seemed fairly simple nothing Aries had to really get exited for. At the most this mission would provide some amusement in the shape of the Jackal Pirates, as Dean said in a joke back on Rapture "They're putting the yar in Kig-yar" the thought of the joke was enough to get a small chuckle out of Aries before Dean's booming voice brought him to attention.

“Slight change of plans, Spartans. The Covenant have jumped the gun.”

Aries fidgeted at the statement "Over eager zealots as usual, this should be good" he thought as he brought up his UGPS and began looking through the specs of the Cuttlefish that were provided for the team. As Dean went through the new Intel all Aries caught was;

"I’d hate to deprive Allen of a chance to play with that much Covenant tech.”

and Aries was half-mast Reb's confirmation sent him into orbit. "A-fucking-Firm, my Hack-Jack is all ready to go." Aries reported as he let the knife like implement flick out and then back into it's socket. "Just don't wreck your Cuttlefish Ma'am, Oni doesn't like us ruining their gear" Aries turned to look at Nathan and then back to Reb. before speaking to her through his helmet's inner comm linked directly to her commlink "We should tell Hotshot back there to hold back on the fancy flying" he whispered to his commanding officer.

 

[Commissar Darman]

Naatan was in heaven. Interfaced with his new toy. he was preforming a practical diagnostics on the Cuddlefish for the fifth time that day. he just couldn't get over the feeling he got when linked to the little thing. Unable to move his body. Naatans mind effortlessly navigated the neural network of the craft. Slowly he activated subsystem after subsystem until the vehicle hummed to life. As he commanded the maneuvering thrusters to take him around the small hanger. Naatan checked the fuel and ammo counters. they were meager. understandable but it still was disappointing. to somehow combine this things maneuverability with some serious firepower would have almost been a dream come true. But even ONI had their limits on what they can do.

Circling the Cuddlefish around the hanger for one more lap. Naatan weaved it around obstacles like a dance, Smooth and Graceful. Watching the teams leader enter the hanger. Naatan effortlessly brought the cuddlefish to land alongside the others. Quickly running through the shutdown procedure. Naatan slowly severed the connection with the craft. Honestly he hated the feeling. every time he cut the link to a vehicle. his own mind would feel so small and confined. But that was the price for being human he supposed. If you could call him human. Dismounting the Cuddlefish. Naatan Stretched out his limbs and he strode over to the group, curious about the bits of conversation he heard from the Cuddlefishes sensor package.. "Whats this about a change of plans?"

 

[GhastlySquash]

For Cadence, any ship was enough comfort for her as long as she could still fit through the hull. The food here was sub-par, but that was expected of a stealth ship. Not a lot of room for a kitchen, so the standard MRE would have to do. Still, it didn't stop her from singing a little song about space and adventure. In a way, they were hunting pirates like the ancient days of old. Although, if her history served her correctly, most of those pirates ended up being worshiped as heroes.

Was she a hero? To a degree, yes. Her DNA was made from heroes. So by default, she had a high potential of being the same. But then again, she was also known as the spooks of ONI. The team of super soldiers that made not just the Covenant disappear, but people too. And this was her family.

She figured Kasper would bring all the long-range weapons. He was always better at this stealth stuff than her. Still, Cadence wasn't going to let this get to her as she began to get suited. The armor always felt like a gentle cradle. It was something she was familiar with. If she didn't have it, she'd feel off. Nervous. Her face and frame didn't match. It was like a doll that had been stitched from older parts. Mixed and matched.

Now, however, she was comfortable. Her armor made her uniform with the rest of her body. To the marines on board, she was a Spartan 0. A spook. A tough and dangerous foe. She listened with a soft smile under the visor until the commander mentioned the change of plans.

Two targets and splitting up seemed dangerous. Even more so considering their mission. How well she'd be able to maintain stealth with her size was beyond her. But she was trained to erase her tracks. It wouldn't be difficult, and Kasper would be there to help. For the time being, Cade continued to stand at attention, her intimidating frame casting a shadow over Kasper.

 

[Viper Actual]

"Same to you, Mercury. Give the brass something to read about," said Reb while nodding towards Kasper, Cade and Dean.

Reb then turned towards Allen and Naatan, with the latter having just arrived in the nick of time following an impromptu testdrive of his Cuttlefish craft.
"I'll try, no promises though. Naatan I want you on-point for this. Wedge-formation. Once we've made contact with the hull it's time for Aries to work his magic."

Reb nodded once more. "Sounds good?"

 

[Foster]

With a tilt of his warmaster helmet Dean acknowledged Reb’s statement, satisfied that she and her team would be able to get the job done.


“Excellent, no need to keep these Covvies waiting.”


Sure he was the commander here but they’d all been through the same hell together and with that there came a degree of trust, there wasn’t a Spartan here he wouldn’t entrust with his life if push came to shove. With Reb at the helm Argon was a formidable force, with any luck they’d be in and out before the Covies even realised what was happening, nothing but empty cargo holds and corpses in their wake.

Satisfied that nothing was going to combust anytime soon Dean began packing up his gear, ensuring each bit of kit was firmly attached to it’s mag-holster on his armour. The only thing he didn’t holster was his trusty spartan laser, no, that would be riding shotgun just in case things got messy mid flight.


Kasper was next to perk up, the ever reliable crackshot of the lab grown killers that made up Fireteam Mercury. His line of questioning was straight to the point just like his shooting, something Dean had always respected about him. Cade, the gentle giant of a woman who completed the team, stood silently behind her smaller comrade, her imposing figure casting a vast shadow over him.


“A pair of front mounted MA5E/GL assault rifles and a single SPNKR rocket for emergencies, all the toys the engineers could fit on a little craft like this apparently.” Explained Dean to the two of them, his tone completely matter of fact. It was something that Lieutenant Commander Graves had installed in him the moment he’d been set on the path to leadership, it pays to sound calm. Especially if you aren’t. “More than enough for what we have in mind today though.”


Glancing at his tac pad Dean went about setting a timer that would then be uploaded to the HUDs of his fellow Spartans, a backwards countdown from 60 seconds that would tell them when to launch their Cuttlefish. His fingers danced across the orange screen embedded in his gauntlets with ease. Most kids got a gamepad when they were 15. Shattered Sky had seen fit to give him this instead and needless to say he’d had his fair share of practice with it since then.


Mounting up on his Cuttlefish Dean slotted his Spartan laser into the mag lock beside his seat before pressing the ignition, the small craft humming to life with newfound power. Even here inside the Blindness it’s stealth capabilities were at play, the panels of the vehicle shifting to match the grey of the metal around them and a small electric field playing havoc with the vision of all who tried to look at it. Dean had no idea how that worked, but he didn’t really need to either. Best leave all that complicated tech wizardry to the egg heads at Section Three.


For a few brief moments he sat there motionless, eyes staring out into the void of space that awaited them just outside of the cramped hanger they found themselves in. A thousand glistening specs in a sea of shadow. And now they sought to become just that, nothing more than a shimmer in the dark for the enemies of humanity to ignore.


15 seconds left now. The last members of Argon and Mercury were settling into their Cuttlefish now, making the final preparations to launch. Naatan went completely rigid on his ride, an interesting side effect caused by his armour. Dean imagined such a limitation on his movement would be annoying but he couldn’t deny the results. Spartan Z-036 was one hell of a pilot.

5 seconds remaining on the timer, the little green numbers dwindling before Dean’s very eyes.


“Wedge formation it is. Mercury I’ll take point, just keep it easy on the throttle and let the stealth tech do its job.”


Launch time. Six sets of thrusters flared to life, lifting each of the Cuttlefish steadily into the air and out of the hanger toward open space. The two groups broke off into their respective formations as planned before opening up toward their targets.


“See you on the other side Argon, happy hunting.” Said Dean over comms, a little smirk dancing across his face as he eased the Cuttlefish through open space. After waiting a few seconds in case of a response he switched to Fireteam chat to avoid sending any long range radio signals. The less the enemy had to pick up on the better.


The Jackal pirate ship was closer than the corvette so it didn’t take long for Mercury to close in on their target, their trio dwarfed by the size of the vessel casting a shadow over them. If the ship had picked up on them it showed no signs of it, it was floating gently through space, engine inert whilst it presumably waited for the Corvette to come pick up the second package. Who knows with these alien types. Getting in wasn’t going to be easy, combined they might have enough firepower to break the hull but doing so would give away all pretense of taking things quietly. That aside they would have nowhere to leave the Cuttlefish, leaving them stranded aboard the vessel. So that left the hanger that the Phantom had entered earlier. It was wide open and after utilising his helmets magnification feature Dean could tell that it wasn’t even that well guarded, a dozen Jackals scurrying around a parked Seraph. If they hit it hard and fast it was possible they’d go unnoticed by the rest of the ship for at least a few minutes. If not… well they’d improvise.


Placing a waypoint on Mercury’s HUDs in the middle of the hanger he led their formation straight for it, close enough to the pirate ship now that it would be unable to target them with its weapons even if they were spotted.

 

[Viper Actual]

Rebeckah allowed her team to get their opinions in though ultimately, as always, any decision fell on the already burdened shoulders of Dean. If they weren't ready yet they would be soon. Very soon.
With the commander readying his gear Reb followed, making sure to secure her silenced MA5K and sidearm whilst also going over the Cuttlefish one more time prior to jumping on. She had read the manual (if it could even be called that) hours ago and therefore knew everything she needed to know about the craft which, in reality, boiled down to basic operations.

She suspected that both Naatan and Allen had managed to make some much more in-depth inspections based on their respective skills and interests. Anything soaring through skies and space would always catch the interest of Naatan while anything remotely high-tech would always attract the curiosity of Allen. That in mind Reb was glad she had both of them with her for this ride. Knowing the Covies and how desperate many of the splinter factions were the fighting that was bound to happen would very likely be of the more intense-kind.

A mission perfect for a group of Spartans or some particularly hard-ass and suicidal ODSTs.

A sudden timer that appeared on Reb's HUD alerted her to the launch countdown and she was quick to jump on though as she looked over her shoulder she noticed she was in fact the last member of Argon to board her Cuttlefish.

Once the launch came she nodded towards Naatan. "Take point Ace, we're right behind you."

Following closely to Mercury, Argon's own wedge formation was quick to break off and steer towards their own target. As they neared the purple corvette covered in barely-visible hexagons and a vast array of alien gizmos, equipment and weapons Reb spoke up over the radio;

"Naatan. Take point. Allen. Find us a way in. I'll try to intercept their comms. Got it?"

 

[Worthlessplebian]

Kasper listened attentively to Dean's description of the weaponry on the Cuttlefish although he was not thrilled about actually having to fly the damned things. Controlling heavier vehicles were always a bother for Kasper, this extended to flying vehicles also, both in the atmosphere and out of it. If it were up to him, he would much rather held onto Spartan Cade while she flew the Cuttlefish. On the topic of Cade, she had decided to use her size to cast a shadow on Kasper. Kasper didn't mind his Spartan sister's unusual mannerisms, they were abnormal but also amusing in a way.

His thoughts wondered back to the mission. Establishing possible scenarios, answers to said scenarios, and possible counters that the enemy may employ. Kasper, in his mind, could never be a leader. He lacked something that he saw in Dean, something that he could never define. He had guesses, of course, maybe it's his penchant for lone-wolf missions, perhaps it was the inability to inspire others, or his mostly cold attitude to the world around him? Whatever the reason, Kasper felt the obligation to make up for his flaw by improving his skills with stealth, marksmanship and to provide tactical advice when possible.

His mind snapped back to reality when a timer appeared in the bottom, right corner of the HUD. He turned his head backwards and knocked on Cade's armored chest with the back of his hand. "They won't know what hit'em" A small smile formed underneath Kasper's expressionless visor. He walked out of the looming shadow and made his way to his designated Cuttlefish.

Kasper's eyes traveled up and down the machine that would carry them to the Jackal's ship. Despite the Spartan not being enthused about the space craft, he still climbed up and fastened himself to it. When the timer reached 25 seconds, Kasper began to silently count down with it while staring into the vast void of space. An old habit from when he was training on the range.

As the six thruster propelled the Spartans off the ground, most were stable, Kasper's Cuttlefish shook a little before stabilizing. With that, they departed and separated into their respective targets.

Kasper flanked Dean's left side in the wedge formation. He tried to maintain his position in the wedge as best he could but had a certain shaking to his flying.

He acknowledged Dean's marker on the hanger with a few clicks over the fireteam radio.

 

[Kenshin772]

Aries flinched as the alarm to mount up started going off. He looked between his two squad mates before he turned and waved his hand to Kasper as his own little 'good luck.' Mounted up on the Cuttlefish Aries closed his eyes as the craft was automatically loaded into it's launch pad and the Counter reached zero. With a very strong very sudden propulsion forward Aries's body shuttered as he was exposed to the shear G-force the the Cuttlefish generated even with it's inertial dampeners.

A few seconds later he opened his eyes to the Inky black of space, with a thought he activated his helmet's night vision giving him a slight green to his HUD; using the night vision function Aries maneuvered his craft into Argon's wedge coming up on the right of Naatan. Flying was far from Aries specialty but unlike Reb, he wasn't bad at it he could fly when it really counted; but he failed to do the more complicated maneuvers Naatan could do. These small craft however were easy to handle and he couldn't complain about it's Electronic Warfare capabilities.

Ding, Ding, That was the signal to adjust his course toward the Covie Corvette, Aries adjusted his course slowly to keep his position in formation but other wise left the flying up to an autopilot. Knowing what was to come Aries started spilling over the collected information ONI had on Covie Corvette designs he pulled out all the single unit Corvette classes in the database and left just the common classes. With less than a second to spare the Corvette came into view and Aries immediately began running it's silhouette, and of course didn't take long too find the correct class.

"Allen. Find us a way in." Buzzed Reb over the comm, there was more to her statement but Aries didn't catch it.

With a chuckle Aries sent the data he found over to Reb and pulled up a map of various maintenance hatches and external airlocks "Already done, just take your pick," He gloated "ONI doesn't have info on the interior so I'll need a direct hack once we're in for a map."

 

[GhastlySquash]

Cade was silent throughout the briefing, simply getting onto her cuttlefish and following closely behind Kasper as they took off into space. The thing about space was that there was almost no sound. The only sounds were the ones she imagined. And so, Cade began to sing. Softly, under her helmet so that her comms wouldn't distract her fireteam.

A soft tune sung for sailors about to embark on the great unknown. It was an ancient tune. But she liked the sound. For Cadence, music was something that didn't have a form or a shape. And yet, it impacted you all the same. Invisible, yet powerful in its own way.

Following Kasper's clicks, Cade maintained formation as they approached the hangar. She took a few deep breaths. Settle down. She was big, so being spotted would be her toughest challenge. Thankfully, to a pirate ship such as this, she doubted the sensors were anything but state of the art. Still, she kept herself prepared for anything.

A tune to keep sailors safe.

And she was sailing right into the eye of the storm.

 

[Foster]

Jackal’s were known for their keen sight and senses throughout the UNSC, those bulbous eyes making them the perfect race to be assigned as snipers within the Covenant. Many a soldier had lost their life to the pinpoint laser from a Jackal’s beam rifle and even Spartans had been known to fall prey to them occasionally. With this in mind Dean’s heart dropped when he noticed a single Kig-Yar stop mid task and gaze out into space, it’s eyes dead set on their formation as the Cuttlefish desperately tried to close the gap without the risk of being spotted. Under his armour the Spartan’s knuckles turned white as he gripped the crafts controls tightly, his every instinct screaming to engage weapons and make the first move. But he couldn’t, not until he knew for certain. The Jackal had no such reservations. In one fluid movement it drew and fired it’s sniper rifle, a single bolt of plasma energy intended for Dean’s head. Time seemed to slow as Dean’s Spartan augmentations pushed the limit of human reaction times, his hands wrestling with the Cuttlefish’s controls as he banked hard in an attempt to evade. The shot narrowly missed it’s intended target but still nailed the vessel’s right thruster which petered out pathetically, a few bursts of propulsion provided by it’s dying breaths.


“Coming in hard Mercury! Maintain stealth if at all possible, I’m going to try clear us an LZ.”


Dean’s craft veered awkwardly with it’s lopsided propulsion, relying mostly on momentum to carry it into the hanger now as it’s stealth functions also gave up and died. Not enough power to run the electrical field anymore and with the damaged panels out of action the reflective properties had been nullified so Dean was left riding a fully exposed, broken and limping craft right into the lion's den. He did have a plan but it wasn’t going to be clean. If nothing else he hoped to prevent the Jackal’s from spotting and taking out the rest of his fireteam, at least then he’d have fulfilled his duty as the commanding officer. The rest of the pirates were getting themselves together now, grabbing weapons and dropping the cargo they had been moving, actions that were now close enough to see without magnification. Not good. In an attempt to disrupt them Dean fired his Cuttlefish’s one and only SPNKR rocket, a lonely jet of crimson darting through the empty vacuum and into the hanger bay. Thanks to the horrible angle Dean was approaching at the rocket missed it’s mark by a wide margin, streaking over the heads of the enemy and into the back of the hanger. Behind his visor he winced, he’d been hoping to do better than that. But the rocket had still fulfilled its purpose, upon seeing the missile hurtling towards them the pirates had flung themselves to the ground in terror, desperate to avoid being blown to bits. Now he had a window of opportunity to perform an emergency tactical landing. At least that was what he’d refer to it as when the techies at Section 3 asked him about the state of their toy.


In reality what followed was a barely controlled crash landing as the one remaining engine on Dean’s Cuttlefish jetted it roughly toward the location of the cowering pirates who were only just now getting back into firing positions. Too late. The stealth vessel plummeted towards them only to smash heavily into the deck, crushing two Kig-Yar who had been too slow to move as it did so. Dean had bailed at the last moment, kicking off from the vessel so that instead of following its trajectory he skidded roughly across the floor like some sort of oversized hockey puck, shields flaring as they fought against the force of his impact. The momentum was enough to carry him several meters across the floor and by the time he came to a stop Z-013’s shields had been completely drained, the paint across his breastplate now scratched and worn. His training kicked in and instead of mourning the loss of his craft the Spartan scrambled to his feet, magnum in hand. His DMR was some feet away after being thrown free during the crash and his Spartan laser was regrettably still on the Cuttlefish. The screeches of Jackal’s drowned out the whine of his MJOLNIR’s “Shields depleted” message. Fuck. Not all dead then.


No sooner had Dean taken a step toward his DMR before several furious alien heads popped out from behind the wreckage, 2 wielding beam rifles and the others armed with handheld shields and plasma pistols. By diving backwards he was able to avoid being torn to shreds, narrowly escaping behind the side of the parked Seraph. After waiting a moment for his energy shields to begin recovering he poked back out and fired off a single round, the bullet tearing a Kig-Yar’s gun hand to shreds. There was no way to follow up with a kill shot though, a dozen shots aimed his way quickly forced him back behind cover. Time to call in the cavalry.


“Mercury two and three you are clear to open fire. Tear these bastards to shreds whilst they're still distracted.”


No point keeping up the stealth pretense now, he’d burnt that bridge the moment he’d crashed several thousand units of ONI cash into this pirate ship. At least his team would probably appreciate the opportunity to open up with their new toys a little.

 

[Viper Actual]

"There," said Rebeckah. Out of all the options Allen had marked one maintenance hatch in particular was now marked on Argon's HUDs. Located at the belly of the ship and next to some sort of coolant piping connected to the rear engines the radiation would be heavy enough to mask their presence on any sensors.

"Naatan. Take us there."

That he did. Almost as if waiting on the final order the Ace of Team Argon spurred off and followed up with an amazing display of zigzagging movements, rolls and banks to the left and right as he dodged debris slowly traversing through space. Reb and Allen weren't as skilled with the former settling for basic and slow rolls here and there to get to their target.

Unsurprisingly Naatan beat them all by a long shot and once the team was assembled below the hatch Naatan was already out of his Cuttlefish and hooking up its magnetic tether to the corvette's purple hull. A few minutes later the Spartans were assembled around the hatch, weapons ready, and waiting for their resident tech specialist to work his magic.

Reb gripped her rifle tightly and kneeled, which itself was somewhat comical as her magnetically locked boots kept her on the hull and standing upside-down. She watched the hatch and its minimal access panel which had been designed specifically for the Huragok-species, which were more commonly known as the 'Engineers' by UNSC and ONI personnel.

"Time to work your magic," she said while looking at Allen from under her visor.

 

[Kenshin772]

Acknowledging Reb's marker Aries made his way following Naatan's lead to the Maintenance hatch on his HUD. Once there he pulled up along the hull and attached his Cuttlefish's Magnetic Tethers, Shortly after he made his way over to the Hatch that was marked on his HUD. The hatch itself was fairly standard aboard Covie vessels it was designed specifically for Huragoks use only, most likely as a defensive measure to prevent unwanted infiltration. Unfortunate for this particular shipmaster it wasn't going to stop Aries.

With a flick of his wrist the Knife-like implement on his right arm flicked out of the gauntlet, "Knock Knock" With his witty remark the end of the Hack-Jack splintered into a few tentacle-like appendages that reach out and interface with the Hatch's access panel. Inside Aries's helmet his HUD was flooded with information laid out around him like he was in a VR Computer. With a series of thoughts and few virtual key presses Aries retracted the Appendages of the Hack-Jack and let it return to it's sheath in his gauntlet.

"Open Sesame" Aries Chuckled as the Hatch hissed with air from decompression and opened. Aries without a word took point and entered the Hatch's small airlock his M7 at the ready "I got us a map of the interior, but I need a real console to hack Motion Sensors." With Reb and Naatan behind him inside the airlock Aries closed the hatch behind them with a thought "No backing out now, I give it five minutes before they find us on the Motion Sensors." Aries droned as he opened the interior bulkhead revealing a small dimly lit corridor designed for the Huragok's physiology, the Night Vision of his Helmet illuminating all the different nooks and crannies. Aries quickly swept the corridor for the next 10 meters or so before he turned to Reb. "Clear, What's the plan Reb; Want me on point?"

 

[Worthlessplebian]

Kasper watched as Dean's cuttlefish crashed intentionally into the Kig-Yar's hanger. It seems as though their faithful leader had decided that a direct approach was the best choice for the mission, Kasper didn't mind. He was just glad that he could be off this deathtrap of a space vehicle as soon as possible. The horned Spartan detached his gear from the Cuttlefish's holding compartment then disembarked from the machine. He propelled himself off of it. Kasper leapt from the machine, just shy from the hanger's entrance. The craft crashed into the hanger's floor, screeching like a mythological banshee as it slid on the metallic floor. Kasper flew through the air like a pointed missile, heading towards the upper levels of the hanger. With a twist and turn of his augmented muscles, Kasper moved his legs in front of him.

The infiltrator slid across the floor, leaving a trail of sparks behind him. He grabbed his silenced assault rifle from his back then opened fire on two Jackals, who were in his path. They were still dazed from Dean's grand entrance. The assault rifle riddled them with holes as their bodies spasmed from the force. Their lifeless husks dropped to the side, as Kasper grinded to a halt on the floor. Right in front of another Jackal, one armed with a carbine.

"Oh..."

Kasper exclaimed as the vengeful bird raised its' weapon at him, firing. Kasper's personal energy shield flickered as it took the shots from the carbine. Then it broke. At that moment, Kasper swept his leg at the Jackal's, knocking it to the ground. Kasper dropped his rifle to the side simultaneously pulling out his combat knife sheathed on his right forearm. He spun the knife in his left hand, pointing it downwards. He pounced at his downed foe, stabbing it in the throat. It tried to scream in pain but instead could only manage a blood-spurting gurgle as its' life drained from its' eyes.

Kasper removed his knife from the alien's neck then sheathed it back onto his right forearm. He grabbed his assault rifle then dashed to an empty Covenant supply case that was knocked to the side. He backed up against it then reloaded his assault rifle. The armor's energy shield began its' signature chime, signalling that it was recharging.

 

[GhastlySquash]

Leave it to Kasper and Dean to make a loud entrance. Sighing under her helmet, Cade came in third, crashing into the hangar as she leapt off the craft, and onto a poor jackal hiding under some crates.

The resounding crack as her body, armor and all, crushed him was suffice to say the hostile had been neutralized. Grabbing her smg, she quickly fired at two jackals coming from the rear, aiming for center mass before looking for Kasper or Dean, who were currently fighting their own set of jackals.

Soon enough, this ship would be crawling with soldiers. There was no doubt in her mind as she grabbed one of the jackals and held him up as a make-shift shield, rendezvousing with Kasper as Dean sent over new orders on the comms.

"Copy." She nodded, watching Dean plunge his knife into another jackal.

"Jeez, that's brutal." She murmured, tossing the lifeless jackal-shield into an oncoming squad before mag dumping her last smg round into their chests.

 

[Viper Actual]

"Ever the comedian," said Rebeckah chuckling as Aries dropped a witty comment just as the hatch opened. She tightened the grip around her rifle and followed after him while Naatan watched the rear. As they cleared the airlock and most of the initial corridor there was nothing but silence. No metallic clinking, no witty comments and no tactical chatter. To Reb this was natural. After all they were Spartans. Unstoppable objects of hyper-lethal nature yet, at the same time, invisible ghosts that haunted the enemy and plagued them with nightmares of men and women of cold steel showing up out of nowhere.

These Covies are about to get a taste of the real deal.

When Aries glanced over his shoulder Rebeckah lowered her rifle and looked at him. "Negative. We're splitting up." She glanced between her two teammates. "Aries. Find a terminal or security station. Go haywire on their systems. Make them see ghosts. Once they're busy chasing down their own shadows I need you to locate a manifest or shipping log- anything that can tell us if there's any dangerous cargo onboard, where it is and, lastly, how to haul it out of here."

Reb paused and glanced over at Naatan. "Ace. Engineering. Jam their power supply and make sure that anyone who comes looking gets a face-full of lead. Once it's time to head out you're our lifeline. Stay close to this airlock and keep our escape clear, same thing applies should these Covies be tougher than we anticipated."

"I'll push into the ship, see if I can find a hangar bay. With any luck they haven't moved any potential cargo too far away from it. If there's enough time I might decide to pay the bridge a quick visit," said Rebeckah, finalizing her sentence with a brief chuckle and a grin underneath her visor.