Ashes of the Past (Open RP)

[CTWDaBearJew]

[Milky Way Scutum–Centaurus Arm: Shield 0409 "Elysium": The Cartographer: 101,230 BCE]

Standing before the numerous controls and displays Bridgebuilder of Living Suns watched as the last members of Elysium's inhabitants, his fellow Forerunners of varying caste and rate made their ways towards their individual cryptums. An irony of sorts, that only two of their number were Prometheans, the highest class of Warrior-Servants, who used the cryptum for self-imposed exile as punishment for failure or dishonor. Another irony, these cryptums were not for punishment or exile; but protection and preservation. They would deliver into what ever future came after the unspeakable action their people were about to undertake to protect the mantel.

One by one each of his companions entered their timeless slumber, he Bridgebuilder of Living Suns was all that was left; for he would watch the end. He remained in silent meditation as the the time neared, a countdown appeared in front of him.

"What is the status of this shield world?" He asked to the small unnamed Ancilla that would maintain the Shield during their slumber.

"Shield 0409 is secure within slipspace and is functioning at optimum performance; all nonessential functions have been ceased to further prolong this installation."

"Very good, prepare my cryptum. It is not long now,..." He paused to check the countdown once more, "I look forward to the timeless xankara." Builder finished, more for himself than the Ancilla.

The countdown arrived at zero and the Halo Array was activated by the IsoDidact, once known as Bornstellar Makes Eternal Lasting; the seven rings released their deadly pulses simultaneously. A mere flash and life across the galaxy with enough biomass to sustain the flood was destroyed.

Shaking his head, Builder placed his hands behind his back and walked the lonely path towards his timeless xankara, his final order.

"Wake me, when you need me."

* * * * *

[Milky Way Scutum–Centaurus Arm: UNSCS All Points North (Sahara-class Heavy Prowler) - Exiting Slipspace Two Billion Kilometers from XF-125 (Possible Trevelyan Type Planet): 2565 CE]

The far edge of the Scutum-Centaurus Arm was almost as dark as the void between galaxies, the only remarkable feature in lightyears was the planet two billion kilometers ahead of the UNSCS All Points North. Captain William Bryant sat in silent repose upon the bridge, watching as the planet before him grew larger and larger; still only the size of a tennis ball. 

Sipping from the cup of coffee in his hand, he shifted position; rolling his shoulders, the metal-alloy under-suit for the GEN2 Mjolnir armor creaking as he did so. Standing he drained the rest of the cup, "Rhadamanthus." He said into the empty bridge.

"Yes Captain?" The ships AI responded, appearing in midair at William's arm.

"Are we in luck?"

"From this range it is difficult to say for certain, but preliminary readings suggest the planet before us is much like Trevelyan was before it was revealed as a shield world." He responded, his deep baritone voice reverberating around the bridge. 

"I think it's time we share the news, also have Hyde and Moretti bring Nek up here as well, it looks like the space... Kig-Yar was right." He added tapping the small stainless steel coffee cup against his free hand; it would be a waiting game until they were closer to the planet before they would know for sure if what they were seeing was really another shield world.

Moving back towards the Captain's chair, William sat once more his attention fixed upon the ever growing planet before them.

What ashes of the past would they uncover.

Time would tell. 

[Faclan]

Chris Hyde - ONI Agent
Retrieving his new friends.

Clearing his throat a little over the comms Chris couldn't really help himself once the order was passed down. "He is a T'vaoan Sir, they tend to get hissy, literally, if you mess that up. But understood I'll bring him up to the bridge for congratulations. He'l likely be pleased that I'm not arriving to shoot him in the face." Tapping his ear again to turn off the comms Chris left the information center where he had been resting and headed down to one of the lounges where he had last seen Nek, the T'vaoan females, and the Kig-Yar. He was sure Mike, wherever he was resting too, would be there as well, eventually. Chris really should have gone to look at the new planet beforehand but he was busy looking over some of the info Nek had given them about the Kig-Yar people, and it was fascinating stuff especially about their relationships and family dynamics.

Understandable Chris was pretty pleased the way things were going now. The main fighting had started and all the races seemed content to just lick their wounds and leave each other alone. That by itself would have been enough but the Kig-Yar, or at least some of them as Nek had explained when he met him to discuss this location, we're willing to actually work with the post war Humans. The Sangheili seemed to be pretty peaceful now as well since the...unfortunate ONI business and Civil war had been sorted out. Chris would never understand how Hood had smoothed that massive hump out of the carpet but those were for pondering over when not on the mission as he quickly zipped down the small elevator to the correct floor and after a short walk entered the lounge.


Nek Dal - T'vaoan Independent Captain
Slightly nervous of the new surroundings but glad he's still got friends around.

Drumming his claws on the padded chair Nek sighed a little as he tried to lean back and relax, let his mane and furry collar be additive cushion with the padding already there. But he just couldn't relax in this human ship. He had been in similar before both during the war and after but each time he always had at least one gun on him or some armed Human watching him closely, but this time there was nothing. The four of them were just left alone in this room to wait. It was just...different. But he was roused from his ruminations with a light smack on his beak as Zahl smirked at him and sat down opposite. His nestmate had been pacing for most of the slip space journey but now that they had arrived she seemed content to finally sit down.

"Worried are we Nek?"

"No...well yes but for different reasons."

"Do you not trust your coordinates or Clan Iia's directions?"

"No, I'm just so used to the Humans not trusting us them suddenly trusting us enough to send a ship into our territory is unnerving."

"Well you shouldn't be worried, all those daring runs you did for supplies or to zip past battles and your worried about sitting in a comfy chair and waiting? pfft." She was bopped in the beak with a flung pillow as Nek weaved his head to the side and tched a bit. While it may not have looked it he still loved Zahl despite the time he had kept their children from him. The few years he had with them since he had finally earned his place as father evaporated all the bad blood between them as she just smiled at him and stood back up to go and look out the window at the blackness of space, the glow of a planet just starting to be visible off the screen.

He looked over at the other end of the lounge where Kex and Tel were currently seated together - it was good to still see them together too and Nek was quietly pleased they hadn't brought any of their children along for this trip - who knew what was on this planet these days.

He looked over at the door as Agent Hyde walked in and bobbed his head in his direction. That human was a good one who was genuinely pleased to be working with them and Nek shared the sentiment as they were all told a Planet had been found, but he seemed to be waiting for someone else to show up?

Cad - Kig-Yar Remnant Major
Fighting a losing battle.

The situation on the planet itself was far from peaceful with nice cushions as Cad staggered back as his shield flashed red from the barrage of needles hitting him. Two Unggoy either side of him fell as they started to fall back toward the purple pre-fab base they had set up. The Jiralhanae were too many and the Remnants skilled warriors too few. Unless some divine help came for them Cad suspected they would all be slain. He had heard cries of mercy from the far lines, but his side of the fort remained resolute as they ducked back into the base even if the please were heard and the Jiralhanae may have been accepting captives. Cad wasn't willing to take the chance when he could die on a planet of the Gods.

The Remnant crehe on this planet had been sent when their fleet had been discovered and they all scattered. Their fast made base and defense had been nothing to the prepared Jiralhanae forces and they had been overwhelmed almost instantly. The perimeter guards either cut down or captured as they were rushed and shoved back.

Reloading his Needler he laid a hand over his scarf as the shut doors were quickly being bashed open. Offering a prayer and requesting help as the remaining Remnant forces all looked up as their large central elevator activated and started to descend. Hope was there briefly before it was snatched as the Chieftain of these forces, hammer held high and flanked by his bodyguards, their weapons out and scanning, as well as a section of his overall force. The doors were smashed down as the elevator hit the floor, a moment of calm before the Chieftain roared for them to surrender or die....

Several of the remaining Remnant immediately dropped weapons and then hit the floor...But Cad just ducked down and screeches never as he and the remaining Loyal and righteous Sangheili opened fire on the Chieftain, who looked slightly familiar to the Kig-Yar, but the file and a half's worth of remaining fighters were nothing compared to the Jiralhanae forces. But it seemed they would rather go down fighting than giving up to be prisoners of war...

[BetaWülf]

Kex

Kex sat across the room from his Captain and good friend Nek Dal who was at the moment conversing with his mate Zahl. Kex sat in the seat next to his beloved mate Tel, both of whom held the others hand as they sat in relative silence together. It was interesting how calm they were considering they had tried to kill each other twice when they first knew one another, but after that initial clash it had been relatively smooth sailing for the two. They had seven children now, and would probably have a clutch or two more in their time.

"Nice to get out of the nest for once, don't you think?" Tel said to Kex with a small smile.

"Aye, though I worry about the children... more so for poor Patch though..." Kex said, how he managed to get poor Patch to agree to it was beyond Kex's understanding.

"You worry too much love, if Patch cant keep them in hand Vel certainly can" Tel said squeezing Kex's hand to make him feel better, Vel their oldest daughter, could keep her younger siblings in check.

"Poor bastard, I still feel guilty for getting Patch to watch them, that poor, poor bastard" Kex said with a sigh as he sat there with Tel.

Chieftain Garatus

Garatus roared as a few stubborn Remnant fools opened fire upon him and his force. They charged forward with the great wrath of the Jiralhanae upon their foes, Garatus at the very front with his terrible pet, a six eyed and six limbed mammal-like reptile much like and Earth Gorgonopsid, about the size of a Puma. Garatus swung his hammer downwards, careful not to harm those who had surrendered, and sent a shockwave at his foes, hurling the front most of them backwards. The Jiralhanae were overwhelming them, taking down only those who they had to and forcing the rest down. Garatus embedded his hammers blade into a Sangheili's face when he noticed a Kig-yar who looked familiar just before his own son Fenarius moved in to non-lethally capture the Kig-yar with two of Garatus's own bodyguards.

The rest of the fighters fell and Garatus stood before all his new prisoners, but as he stood there a Sangheili pulled a knife and lunged forward at Garatus's back. Garatus simply raised his fist quickly with his arm in an L shape and bashed the Sangheili in the face without turning.

"Now that I have all of your attentions," Garatus said looking over the group of Remnant fighters,"I'd like to inform you all that the war has been over for quite some time. I guess you fellows didn't get the memo, that's a term I got from my new Human friends, you might want to get some of those if you don't want to look like a completely idiot"

"Though I'd say you bunch think that looking like idiots is fun, all things considered. Now this is your lucky day, because any of you that show some cooperative spirit, that means smiles and a happy heart," Garatus said looking to the Sangheili who had tried to stab him in the back, "will get to live from this day forward until your hearts quit instead of being my dinner. Or maybe you'd prefer my pet here to do the eating?" Garatus said, at which point his pet bared its teeth a loudly snarled.

"File these bums past me, I want a head count and to get some names" Garatus said to his son who shoved the Kig-yar he had captured to the middle of the now forming line of captured Remnant fighters.

[MrKill]

Lieutenant General Johnathon B'Sheau Killinger
UNSCS All Points North
Sahara Class Heavy Prowler

John, a grisly veteran turned sixty, sat alone in a small office desk aboard the Prowler commanded by a Spartan 'Four'. Despite High Command protesting, John was able to convince the Navy and Marine Corp to send him in before the rest of the Marines arrived that accompanied his command. His home wasn't on this small prowler, it was on the newer Autumn class cruisers. Magnificent vessels, and even at Lieutenant General, John managed to find ways to keep him out of a desk job. If he fell into one, he was set to retire in a moments notice.

A long time had passed since the end of the Human - Covenant war. Now there were species on the Prowler he was, not long ago, fighting against for humanities survival. It would always be a bitter feeling, watching as those species helped or committed mass genocide of the human race. Billions dead, billions lost... and billions forgotten. A war that big had no memorials for every single fallen. War hero's, important figures and UNSC Military personnel were remembered... but all the planets, the people on those planets? Forgotten, swept under the metaphorical carpet. Despite what he felt about it, John couldn't even remember the names of the countless Civilians he had talked to during the years.

His eyes darted towards his uniform. The war ended in 2553, he had made Brigadier General. In 2558 he was nearly forced to retire before his promotion to Major General - occurring after the New Phoenix incident. Finally, in 2564, his likely final promotion to Lieutenant General was achieved. Though three stars on his uniform was nice, the burden of them were heavy at times. History, so much history, laid upon those stars. At times they felt overwhelming.

At sixty, however, John's body started to part ways in physical form. He wasn't built like a rock anymore, his stomach was more 'grown' and the wrinkles in various places were adamantly visible. His looks enforced his age, and he wasn't able to keep up with young Marines anymore like he used too. His family had also parted in their own paths. John saw them frequently, still, but they weren't as close anymore. Perhaps because the bridge that kept them together had passed on.

Beth was deceased.

Adrianna was enjoying the life of a parent, with a civilian life as a medical doctor. She had given birth to two boys and a girl - John's beautiful grandchildren.

Kyle, though, was still following John' steps. Recently, at thirty nine, Kyle made the rank Lieutenant Colonel with no intention on retiring. It made John proud, but he was proud of his kids regardless. Though John and his son were close, they rarely got to speak to each other. Kyle and his duties as a Regiment XO kept him busy - which John could appreciate.

The aged veteran sat back in his chair and listened to it hiss as it adjusted nearly instantly to his shifting body. John opened up a file, within contained a plastic sheet that replaced paper but had better qualities for it. This mission, if it was a 'shield world', was a potentially dangerous world. After the UNSCS Infinity located Requiem and reported the after math of their 'crash landing' John wasn't about to take any chances with this new shield world ONI found.

His command would be here in a day and would help the SPARTANs secure the planet if it was hostile. It had been a change of pace, and John hadn't seen combat since he was promoted to Brigadier General and sent on a 'victory' cruise of sorts to see what little colonies humanity had left. He'd likely not see combat, but the thrill of knowing he had the chance to show how - in his opinion - proper leadership was done chilled him to the bone.

John reached over and cradled his side-arm, an older M6D Magnum. He brushed the custom nickel ejection port with his thumb. Okay, he thought. Time to get to the bridge.

[Llau]

Mike Moretti
ONI agent

He was sitting in his room with a glass of scotch in one hand, and relaxing during his downtime, wearing normal black clothes, but was still wearing his holster gear around his legs, and armed with his pistol. One can never be too sure, even if it was peaceful right now. When the captain ordered him to go with Hyde to bring in Nek, he replied into the comms, "Well do."

He sat there for another minute, rubbing his free hand at his scruffy face where a very light beard has formed from not bothering to shave in a while. He leaned forward, taking another sip of the scotch before placing the glass onto his desk to get up...slowly. Great, he had a slight buzz, but he'll deal with it. He took a deep breath, sighed, and headed out of his room. He traveled down the narrow corridors of the prowler, and entered the elevator, and then eventually was heading down the hallway where the lounge was located down from. He saw Chris Hyde making his way into the lounge, and then Moretti jogged the rest of the way over, and patted the man's back.

"Hey, Chris," He nodded with a small smile at his friend, and then he looked over at Nek and the others, nodding at them.

[Armory]

The Judiciary of Fading Light
Milky Way Scutum–Centaurus Arm: Shield 0409 "Elysium": Observation Deck: 101,230 BCE
5 minutes until rings firing 

Life...life as he knew it was about to be extinguished. The Judiciary watched out of the observation room in silence, the monitor floating next to him as he looked at the stars above. The judge bowed his head staring at the floor "Sometimes I wonder if we've failed all of them" He muttered to himself as the monitor looked down at him. The massive forerunner looked almost forlorn as he stood there watching the stars and the shield world finally entered its orbit. He was silent as the computer cycled off to him that his brothers and sisters were entering their cryptums for the longest sleep of their lives. "So we have been defeated on all fronts and yet we still keep these creatures alive in our own installations. He clenched his fists as his armor made a grinding sound as it came together creating a spark or two before turning to the monitor, "How long until the rings fire?" He asked quietly to which the computer replied that there was only five minutes until the firing of the rings.

He remained silent before giving a slight nod. How did it all come down to this...he'd never know, the time of the forerunners he knew was ending. He eyed the stars as if searching for answers in the cosmos above as he linked the ring's firing to his HUD. This he would watch here from the deck as the galaxy was to be made barren, cutting the oncoming flood from their food source. He slowly tapped button on the observation decks bringing up a live feed of every single one of the rings finally finishing with a large feed of the Ark.

The Ark was the forerunners last hope for upholding the mantle and preserving the life of the galaxy. He watched in silence as the last few transports with two of each species were quickly loaded aboard the ark before eyeing the countdown wearily. What would come to pass would bring a odd sense of relief to the Forerunner. He watched as the numbers slowly ticked down. "It has begun..." He murmured as a bright white light flooded the observation deck. He was silent as the light began to fade from the observation deck as he closed his eyes. "It has been done" He finished simply before turning on heel and slowly making his way into the dark halls of the shield world to his cryptum before activating his com for the last time.

"Monitor prep my Cryptum..." He went silent for a moment before speaking once more "Let us hope we die heroes...or risk living to see us becoming the very monster we choose to fight..." He said finally before the line went dead as the Judiciary disappeared into the darkness.  

*****

LT. Victoria Hawkens 
Milky Way Scutum–Centaurus Arm: UNSCS All Points North: Exiting Slipspace towards XF-125: 2565 CE
One More Coffee Run...

Prowlers were usually small enclosed spaces, however the UNSCS All Points North was somewhat larger than most. She rolled her shoulders as if testing the joints of her armor before moving through the hallway. However every now and then her eyes would dart back and forth as if scanning the area for some sort of target before refocusing in front of her. It was her paranoia as a marksman that kept her alive or so the drill instructor drilled into the young recruit as soon as he got a hold of her. The spartan ducked under a low overhand before slowly making her merry way over to the coffee pot that seemed to be half empty from all the other crew members on board. She slowly pulled out the styrofoam cups being careful not to apply to much force. When she had first joined up as a Spartan she managed to crush one of these cups as she went to take a sip sending hot coffee all over her lap, that was not a fun experience. She paused before pulling out more cups and slowly started pouring the dark liquid into them. Might as well get extra's for her strike team as a token of good will before this mission she thought to herself as she slowly press the tops down on them. 

She quickly made the adjustments to the cup to make sure they wouldn't spill over before getting one of the cardboard carrier units. The mission ahead was not going to be a walk in the park according to HIGHCOM, they'd be blind when it came to mapping the planet and would have to have utmost communication to keep in touch and the job of spotting threats at a range would probably fall to her, after all she was the one staring through the high powered scope and capable of dealing death with the pull of trigger. She gave a snort at the thought before placing the coffees into the cup holder and picking it up and moving out of the the small coffee station space quickly.

She moved a brisk pace making her way through the corridors of the prowler in silence, having to step out of the way every now and then for the ships technicians to pass through. The spartan passed through the halls as she crossed her path past multiple small offices that housed the ONI agents and other personnel. She continued pushing onward until reaching the stair well leading up to the bridge. She quickly made her way up the stairs as the two marine guards quickly stepped aside and saluted as she passed. The spartan gave a slight nod of acknowledgement before moving towards the door to the bridge. The door gave a hiss as it opened up and she moved into the bridge before seeing the Captain playing with the steel coffee cup in his hand before she slowly placed the drinks to the side before grabbing up one and setting it down in front of him. "How long until we deploy?" She asked simply as she moved over to grab her own coffee taking a sip of it.  

[Guardian Cat of Yappa's]

Sergeant Drake Fields,
Milky Way Scutum–Centaurus Arm: UNSCS All Points North: Exiting Slipspace towards XF-125: 2565 CE

An Old confused Veteran.

Sergeant Fields had spent most of the trip sitting in his cabin, wondering why he had been pulled out of his Spartan team for this assignment. At 44 years of age, he was probably one of the oldest Spartan IV's in deployment, he was mostly likely the second oldest on this ship. He chuckled as he remembered that his old CO, Lt. General Killinger, was on board. The man was almost sixty years old and yet one of the deadliest men he knew wondering the milky way. His presence confirmed his belief they were chosen for their combat experience for this strike team. 

He spent a few hours pondering these ideas, before he heard a heavy thud outside his door. Though the thud wasn't someone knocking on his door, since no one asked permission to enter.

"Probably one of the younger recruits being antsy." he mumbled to himself.

His armor, battered and scarred, was a visible sign of his experience. He had been one of the first marines to enlist into the program, and he saw action in both Battles of Requiem because of that. He smiled as he picked up his helmet, the scout helmet burned just above the right eye, sliding it over his head before he stepped out of his room. The door opening and closing with a hiss followed by the metallic thud he had grown so used to.

He made no attempt to hid his presence as he made it to the bridge, overhearing the other spartan's question for the captain. A chuckle escaped his lips as he turned to the eager Lieutenant,

"In a rush for some combat ma'am, or you just want to get back to your normal deployment already?" 

[Zero The Hidden]

Reclamation from Endless Void
Milk Way Scutum-Centaurus Arm: Shield 0409 "Elysium": The Cartographer: C. 101,230 BCE
Getting ready for bed

[5 minutes until firing]

The Warrior-Servant watched silently as the presumable last of his kind stalked the paths towards their designated Cryptums, splitting as the trails branched off in different directions down different halls. The Forerunner's ascendancy had been halted in it's place, crippled by the Flood epidemic consuming the galaxy. Yet, Reclamation from Endless Void was wise enough to discover that his species's advancement was over long ago - left behind by the corrupt. 

Two other of his kind remained, daring enough to view the end of all life, eradicating the Flood for a new sprout of life to be introduced in a time better than now, and for one of them to hopefully uphold the Mantle in its proper place. 

"Promethean, we must hurry! You wouldn't want to be late for curfew, would you?"

Reclamation from Endless Void shot around, his eyes immediately meeting the lone lens of an Oracle hovering just a foot away from his face. Storv was a one of a kind Ancilla, designated specifically to him while enclosed in a lesser version of the Installation Oracles. The bot was fast and smart, if 'smart' could be used to describe a piece of technology - as well as a smarta** at times as well. 

"No, I wouldn't. Though I cannot watch the End?" The Promethean didn't wait for a response, "Perhaps you are right though, is my arsenal set? Have you readied my Cryptum?" 

"Oh, well why of course! Your assortment of possessions are prepped and in top condition, and your Combat Cryptum is set for activation. I suggest you hurry now."

"Yes, I understand. Thank you, Storv."

"It is my bidding to serve you, no need to thank!"

Endless Void turned back to where the others were previously prepping, only to be met with a cold emptiness that hit him right in the chest. The only sound that remained was the faint click of each moment winding down towards the firing of the Rings. They were all gone, save the others still on the deck who wanted to witness the End. It was a respective choice, though the Warrior-Servant need not to do such a thing. 

The Promethean glanced around him once more at his company before stepping down from the lifted floor and onto standard level. Storv followed close behind as Reclamation from Endless Void followed his own path to his designated Cryptum.

A bright illumination of white erupted behind him as he strode down the artificial trail, giving not even a single look back. They were alone, and soon will he as well.

[Faclan]

Chris Hyde - ONI Agent

Hoping the birds won't be spooked.

Nodding at Mike he patted his arm before turning back to the room full of birds. So nice that none of them were trying to kill each other now, the Kig-Yar were even allowed to still be armed. Such things Chris had doubted he would ever see in his life time and yet here it was as he nodded at them and gestured to the hallway.

"The Captain would like you to see what we found with your information Nek and company. Hopefully this is the start of a great relationship between the Humans and your group Nek." He waited for Mike to add anything if he wanted to before gesturing them to follow. The leather jacketed T'vaoan bobbed his head at this and agreed as they all started to make their way toward the bridge. Mike leading with Kex and Tel, if he remembered correctly, behind him and followed up by Zahl and finally Nek who walked backwards to talk with Chris as they went. By now of course Chris had as much command on the Kig-Yar language as he did with the Sangheili language but Nek seemed content to talk in English as they went.

"Thanks for trusting me enough to help out your organization. Perhaps this maybe is the start of a more unified system where we don't need to fight anymore."

"I sure hope so, I often worry that my agency is plotting some nefarious...but with the new head I worry a little less and just try to look out for building bridges rather than collapsing them with you still on it."

"...Thanks I think? Ah the bridge, ships bridge that is." Nek finished as he turned back to face the front as they all arrived at the bride. Chris nodding at the Captain, assembled Spartans, and even the old Colonel that had decided to come along with them as Nek and the other Kig-Yar tried not to look to much out of place.

Nek Dal - T'vaoan Independent Captain

Trying to keep a friendly disposition.

Squeezing Zahl's hand as they arrived at the bridge, as she looked a bit nervous, she just nodded and moved off to the side as Nek stepped forward to take in the view better. There were several Spartans around as well as a very old looking man who Nek could tell was important since he had more Stars that the Captain as he bopped his head up and down and tapped the end of his beak as he bowed his head at them - trying to appear friendly around all these killing machines.

"Greetings friends. Good to see you are all well and the mission is going well so far." He did a good job to keep any kind of hesitation or fear out of his voice as he clasped his hands in front of him and tried to at least may eye contact with each helmet or set of eyes so he would seem more friendly. It may make some of them nervous that he had his magnum on his thigh if they hadn't seen the Kig-Yar on the ship beforehand but he sure seemed like he was sincere about it and wanting this to go well.

Cad - Kig-Yar Remnant Major

So its come to this...

Despite the three Jiralhanae that descended on him Cad kept resisting, but his strength was nothing compared to the Jiralhanae and his helmet was smacked off his head as he was boffed and told to be still. Watching hazy shapes move around he grunted as his arms were jerked behind him and bound up as his saber, shield, and Needler, grenades and extra ammo canisters were swiftly removed from his person and he was left completely disarmed. He kept his head held high, with the one loyal Sangheili who had survived as well as the remainder of the Remnant looked at the ground and just walked as they were shepherded outside.

By now Cad had realized who was leading these Traitors, his former Battle-Brother Garatus...a small part of him was glad that he had survived the end of the Human-Covenant war - when they were separated - and also lived though the Sangheili and Jiralhanae war apparently. He had kept his chieftain status just as Cad had remained a major. But now Garatus was here, collapsing the last few outposts of the Faithful as he was pushed along with what remained of the Remnant forces. But most of his mind was filled with rage that he had betrayed him once and was now doing it again. He had no doubt over what was going to happen; they would be sent to a prison briefly before they were executed...if only he had been killed in the battle - at least then he could have met his end with Honor as he was stopped by one of Garatus's troops and told to give his name. Still with his head high he responded nice and loud.

"Cad, proud Major of the Faithful." He was shoved forward as the name meant nothing to the ape. Pushed ahead again he was soon outside and in the beautiful day on this planet. Forced down on his knees in rows with the remainder of the Remnant forces Cad could see a pile being made of slain fighters as Garatus's forces moved around slowly to keep an eye on them. Cad just kept looking forward as the last few Remnant were marched out of the base - the Traitor likely to come out last with his pet and son.

Fenarius had overheard the Kig-Yar however and knew the name from somewhere, and once most of the Remnant forces had been escorted out of the base he moved over to his father, saluted, and reported a mission success but also if the name Cad meant anything to him?

(Hope the small power play with Garatus's boy was alright.)

[BetaWülf]

Chieftain Garatus

Garatus watched with crossed arms as his prisoners were marched out into the lovely sunny day outside, a cool breeze gently blowing past. He thought for just a moment that he heard a familiar voice, but decided he was hearing things and dismissed the thought from his mind. Once everyone was marched out Garatus went to follow but was stopped by his son Fenarius just as he was stepping through the doorway to the outdoors.

"Chieftain, we have successfully..." Fenarius started but was cutoff by Garatus.

"Don't call me Chieftain, it is... too formal for family" Garatus said.

"As you wish, father," Fenarius said, "I was wondering something"

"What were you wondering son?" Garatus said, uncrossing his arms and turning to Fenarius.

"Does the name Cad mean anything to you?" Fenarius asked.

"Yes...." Garatus said,"Why do you ask?" Garatus said in a dangerously low voice.

"One of the prisoners, a Kig-yar said that was his name. He was one of those "blindly faithful to the Covenant" types father" Fenarius said.

Garatus's head turned slowly, his nostrils flaring widely. His eyes fixed upon one Kig-yar who held his head high still, Garatus's eye twitched slightly. He shoved forward past his son as he let out roar and tromped over straight to Cad. Garatus stood over Cad now and looked down at him.

"Long time no see, Cad" Garatus said as he squatted down next to Cad, "we need to talk"

Garatus waved Fenarius and one of his Pack mates over and the picked up Cad by the arms and carried him over to where Garatus now was. They were out of sight of the rest now and Cad was set down in front of Garatus who recrossed his arms. Garatus grunted and Cad was unbound, Fenarius barked and the other Jiralhanae took a walk, leaving Cad, Garatus and Fenarius alone.

"I see you haven't changed much over the years, friend" Garatus said, expecting Cad to probably have a snippy response about Heresy, same old, same old.

Security Officer Kex

Kex and Tel stood along with others as the Human male called 'Chris' entered to retrieve them. Nek and Zahl trailed behind to talk with Chris while Kex and Tel were following the one called 'Mike' more closely. Kex looked back at the other talking, and wondered maybe if they should speak to Mike to be polite.

"Hello Human Mike" Kex and Tel said in eerie unison, a complete accident of course, "You're ONI, yes?" Tel asked.

(Sorry for my Kex post being short )

[Llau]

Mike Moretti
ONI agent

He stood there, waiting for Hyde to finish speaking to the birds, and then shook his head when his friend glanced over at him to see if he had anything else to say.

"Nope, I'm good," He nodded, smiling a little and then he and Hyde led the group toward the bridge. He looked behind him when Kex and Tel called out his name at the same time...it was kinda creepy, but equally amusing to him. He chuckled slightly, slowly down so that he was walking in between them.

Moretti nodded when Tel asked if he was part of ONI. "That's right," he asked, "What's up?" 

[BetaWülf]

Kex

Tel shrugged "Just curious, all humans look the same to us," she said before Kex loudly coughed into his elbow,"no offense intended of course" she finished at Kex's not so subtle hint.

"Tel is... newer to English than myself, I believe she meant to say we have a harder time telling the difference of primates from one another, compared to our fellow reptiles" Kex said trying to be more polite and hopefully salvage the situation.

Kex laughed quietly and rubbed the back of his neck, this was going well. He had learned English over the years from Nek, and was the one who finally convinced Tel to learn it too. She was easily frustrated by it, but learned it fairly well.

[CTWDaBearJew]

[Milky Way Scutum–Centaurus Arm: UNSCS All Points North (Sahara-class Heavy Prowler) - 1.5 Billion Kilometers from XF-125 (Possible Trevelyan Type Planet): 2565 CE]

The hiss of the door at the rear of the bridge was all the indication William needed, he leaned back into the captain's chair; his eyes still fixed on the displays of the planet. Though he did his best to not look, mesmerized by them. A small styrofoam cup was placed on the armrest of the chair, he looked up to find another of his team Lieutenant Hawkens delivering the replacement cup. "Thank you, Lieutenant," He said as he traded the metal cup for the styrofoam, he took a quick sip before answering her query. 

"We'll start the ground phase of this field trip once we have decent surface scans, which..." He paused and looked towards a display that showed their current distance to the planet, "Should not be too long after we arrive."

"Correct Sir," The ships AI responded, "I have taken the liberty of launching a number of the ship's compliment of clarion drones to establish a preliminary picture." 

Picking up his coffee William turned to look as another member of the team arrived, their senior Sergeant: Sergeant Fields; his query drew a chuckle from William, "I think were all a bit antsy to get off this boat for a while, yes Sergeant?" 

This hiss of the door indicated another entry this time, the fabled Lieutenant General Killinger; a Spartan if only in reputation. "Sir," He said standing, a small sign of respect to the flag officer despite being on his, William's bridge. "We're just waiting for Mike and Hyde as well as their 'friends'." He added looking around the bridge for a moment before pacing towards the front viewport into space. 

The bridge was silent for a few moments the door hissed once more and the ONI Field Agents arrived with the T'vaoan informants. William did an about face to greet the arrivals, as weird as it was for him that they were standing on his bridge; let alone his ship and weren't dead or in the process of being killed. He returned the small head nod, "Thank you for coming Nek it looks like your information was accurate as promised, a good beginning I would think?" He asked almost rhetorically, "

"Captain scans are complete, as suggested this is a Trevelyan like planet; it shares the same anomalies with the pre-battles of Onyx Trevelyan: no detectable tectonic activity, an unusually strong planetary magnetic field, and slightly higher than normal background radiation." A holographic representation of the planet appeared in the middle of the bridge.

(OOC: Have fun with what's there kids ^_^) 

[Milky Way Scutum–Centaurus Arm: Shield 0409 "Elysium": Bridgebuilder of Living Sun's Cryptum: Date Unknown]

Builder stried, it was not his physical body, but his mind as he withdrew slightly from his meditations; he reached out with his mind ever so gently, accessing the Shield's local domain. The real domain that had served the Ecumene, which had held millennium's worth of their collective knowledge and history had been shattered by the firing of the Halos.

A local domain had been established on Elysium before their firing, protected by slipspace; a means for them to communicate if they so wished. 

It seemed fewer of his comrades chose to access the domain now, when ever now was. He eased his mind into the collective and sent out a gentle query; he desired companionship for a few brief moments before he returned to his own thoughts. 

[Faclan]

Chris Hyde - ONI Agent
Information requesting.

Smiling at all assembled Chris chuckled a little at Nek's friends English troubles as they tried to recover from it. He mostly stayed quiet though and watched the Bridge before he snapped his fingers a little as he remember to ask Nek something important. "Nek, ever been down to the surface before? So we have an idea of what we can expect?"

(Short cause had to leave D:)


Nek Dal - T'vaoan Independent Captain
Blip on the Map?

Nek couldn't help but snicker a little to himself as Kex and Tel made slight fools of themselves with the English. He was rewarded for this action with a solid cuff around the back of the head from Zahl as she waggled a claw at him once he turned around. Dipping his head a little he accepted her victory and then straightened up as he turned back to the assembled Humans and smiled at the Captain and Chris.

"Thank you, I'm glad to see the information is leading you to the right location. And I do indeed hope it is a good start to relationships between our people - I think I speak for all Kig-Yar when I say we don't want the Infinity to come over and pay us a visit." He had a little nervous laugh after that before coughing a bit and clearing his throat as he moved over to the holographic display of the planet. Nodding at Chris's question as he looked over the display. "I've not been down there but one of Nest Iia has and she reported that the surface was mostly grassland with a few abandoned Covenant bases on its surface. We think he was a temporary base during the war before the troops there were extracted."

He stopped and squinted as he moved closer to the display and erred a bit as he cheeped quietly to get the Captains attention as well as the AI's attention. He was surprised the AI hadn’t pointed it out but there were some shapes on the display that looked a lot like ships...well one ship and something that may have once been a ship – had it been shot down. "What are these? They look like ships...perhaps someone made it here first?" He asked as he pointed at the shapes, his claw passing through the hologram a little as he waited for the Captain or AI to respond.

(Hope that’s alright.)


Cad - Kig-Yar Remnant Major
The Slow Collapse.

Keeping his eyes straight ahead as Garatus thundered over to him Cad only moved his eyes to look at the heavily armored Chieftain before him, and the hammer over his shoulder, before he was told they needed to 'talk'. It surprised Cad that Garatus hadn’t just reached down to snap his neck with one hand or grip his skull and crush it but no he wanted to...talk? Cad was sure this would be about his current loyalties but now, after all this time, all the battles and prayers and injuries...doubt was forming in his mind about all of this. The Gods seemed to not care about him or any of the other faithful as they had constantly left him to fend for himself when times were desperate. Even now, surrounded by those few still fighting for them they had done nothing...Was it all for nothing?

His interior crisis only manifested itself on the outside by Cads middle distance stare and silence as he was carried over to a more secluded area. As he was unbound he just sat down and looked at the ground between his feet as he sat in silence. His mind casting back through his entire soldiering career as he thought about times when the Gods had really been looking out for him...and it scared him that nothing was coming up. Blinking a few times he slowly looked up at Garatus before he just sighed a little and his beak fell back to looking at the ground.

"Lies...all lies." He cheeped, barely audible, as he sat there – definitely not the snippy zealots response that Garatus had been expecting from his old friend. They had been separated for years after the Covenant collapse...and they seemed to finally be taking its toll as for once it looked like Cad had lost his fire and drive to fight as he sat back against the stone he was near and was mostly limp as he kept looking at the grass as his entire world started to collapse from this tiny doubt. His eyes starting to get a bit of a watery look to them.

(Going to try a different angle with Cad this time P: Now I'm all sad.)

[BetaWülf]

Chieftain Garatus

Garatus stopped his pacing as the quietest of words left Cad's beak, his keen predatory hearing barely picking up the faint sound. Cad was... realizing the falsehoods? Never in a thousand years had Garatus expected that reaction, and knew Cad's Zealotry would prevent him from faking such a thing. Fenarius cocked his head to the side as the Kig-yar's eyes started watering and was unsure what was happening as Garatus had... never detailed in the past between himself and Cad. Garatus grunted to Fenarius who nodded in response before taking his leave, walking back to the rest of the pack.

Garatus leaned his Gravity hammer against a wall before sitting down beside Cad, he wasn't exactly the best at comforting people, the only times he had done so really was when his children's pets died and the like. He attempted to comfort Cad... somewhat rigidly at first he put an arm around Cad's shoulders.

"It'll get better with time, friend, you know. We were all lied to, but not about the Gods. They are real enough Cad, just the words of the Prophets weren't the Gods true intent. I don't know if any of this getting to you, but I hope it helps" Garatus said, hoping his words would help his dear friend.

[Faclan]

Cad - Kig-Yar (Prisoner)
Surrendering for once.

Blinking a few times Cad managed to keep himself from breaking down into tears as everything he had known became false and lies. But he wasn't focusing on what was going on around him as his eyes maintained their watery appearance but didn't do anything more than that. He didn't notice when Fenarius left him and Garatus alone and barely made any movement at all when Garatus sat down beside him - the ground shaking a little as the large ape with his full Chieftain armor sat down beside him. His feet did twitch when an arm was draped over his shoulders. Cad nearly being forced to the ground but Garatus stopped before the weight became too much for the smaller alien.

He was still silent and mostly limp when Garatus tried to comfort him with words, but he did perk up a little when Garatus admitted that the Gods were real enough...then Jul had been right about finding the Gods warmaster in the shield world. Cad had been scouting out the planet when the interaction had apparently taken place and after that had never seen the God himself despite how much he had tried to desired too. So they were real...but that didn't change the fact that he had followed a false Prophet, literally, and done horrible acts in their false name. Even if the gods did exist they had surely left and damned him because of it...

Grunting he turned to look at Garatus and extracted himself from Garatus arms as he moved off a little before shifting to his knees before Garatus with his back facing his old friend and hands behind his back. "I accept the punishment for my years of horrible acts and blindly following down the wrong path. Execute me or imprison I...I'm just done with it." He said simply as his beak still rested against his chest, he was either deep in thought or depression as he knelt there.


Garatus likely getting a message from his warriors asking what is to be done about the captured Remnant forces? The Remnants barely functioning ship had been destroyed by the Jiralahanes vessel and the ships brigs would barely be able to hold them all.

[RiddL]

Skai (Wolf) Blacklock

UNSCS All Points North
Sahara-class Heavy Prowler

Skai stood in the ring with boxing gloves on facing the 4 marines in the ring with him, he ducked under one punch, parried another, dodged a third and finally countered the fourth, hitting the marine in the leg hard enough to put him out of the fight, but soft enough not to break it, either way, now it was three on one.

He still wondered about his uncle Kai, from whom Skai had taken his nickname from and remembered that someone his Uncle served with, Lieutenant General Johnathon B'Sheau Killinger, was also serving aboard the All Points North and thought that he should meet him before the mission was over. 

He thought about this as one of the marines hit him across the face, snapping him out of the thought and back into the present, the marine let out a savage laugh at his success of hitting a Spartan and it was Immediately washed from his face he hit in the chest, knocking the wind out of him and dropping him, two against one. 

Now both the marines had determined looks on their faces and attacked at the same time, trying to drive him into a corner. The first kicked at his legs as the other tried to hit him in the face, Skai parried the punch and kicked him behind the knee, he grabbed the other marines leg with his spare hand and, once he kicked the first marine and used his other hand to hit him in the kneecap. Both men dropped to the floor groaning. "Thanks for the practice guys" Skai said with his unnaturally deep and melodic voice.

"Rhadamanthus." Skai said on the way down to the armory, "Yes Sergeant Wolf?" Came the AIs voice, "How long until we get there, I'm running out of marines who want to spar with me." Skai said with a little humour, "Just under 2 Billion Kilometers, and as for the marines, maybe you shouldn't hit them at hard" Came Rhadamanthus's voice again. Skai sighed as he entered the armory, he grabbed his blades and inserted them into their rightful sheathes, he also flexed his wrist and the blade that had been inserted into his forearm shot out and glistened with out a sound as it had been well oiled, finally, Skai went to cleaning his guns, including his uncles old M6's which had been a gift for him when he had been accepted into Spartan IV training. He grabbed his helmet and tucked it under his arm and quietly made his way to his way to the bridge. He slipped in quietly and unnoticed, he leaned against a wall and listened quietly.

[Armory]

LT. Victoria Hawkens
Milky Way Scutum–Centaurus Arm: UNSCS All Points North: 1.5 Billion Kilometers from XF-125 (Possible Trevelyan Type Planet): 2565 CE
On the bridge

Victoria paused for a moment as the sound of the deck doors gave a slight hiss as the opened to reveal another Spartan entering the bridge by whose ranking insignia's seemed to be a Sergeant. From what Vic had read during her short briefing was that the mans name was Drake Fields, the man was a old war hound and had seen action all the way through the Human-Covenant war. She took a sip of her coffee before sliding his towards him. She overheard him say something about her either being ready to blow somethings head off or ready to ship back out to her old post before she gave a slight chuckle herself before shaking her head slightly.

"Neither Sergeant Fields just getting an idea on the deployment in the how and when category. Though in all honesty I'm hoping this planet stays quiet considering the last one humanity visited did not go to well for us. The last thing we want is the same thing going on here." She said grimly before looking at the holographic image that showed the planet in silence as she heard the Captain say a few things about getting off the Prowler which in general she did agree with. She had been stuck in cryo for the last few weeks even before the mission during transport aboard the All Points North and then was shoved back into cryo for the slipspace to the planet. All in all she could feel herself slowly getting restless aboard the craft as the weeks past though she did her best in the passing days to prevent her restlessness from interfering with duties however now she could help, but felt eager to stretch her legs again. 

The sound of the door brought her back from her thoughts as the newest entry to the bridge emerged. The man appeared to be just an ordinary aging man who had seen his better day, however he was in reality a testament to both duty and honor as well as being a living legend. She gave a salute before passing another styrofoam mug towards the General offering if he wanted any. She then turned to the data on screen in silence before moving over to sit in one of the side chairs before rolling the thing over to the display looking at it intently. Its surface seemed so peaceful.....the sound of the door opening once more made her turn around in the chair. Two ONI agents moved inside and with them came the T'vaoan's. She watched the bird like creatures move onto the bridge before looking over at Captain Bryant face as he appeared to still taking in the fact that he had these creatures about his vessel, and that they even if they were, lacked the key factor of being in a body bag.

She could hear the AI list off the planets status as she half listened before one of the T'vaoans began to speak. However the talk was cut short as he pointed out the appearance of ships on the hologram which radar confirmed. She gave a frown before moving over to monitor eyeing the vessels that appeared on the holographic image. This would not be good if those vessels turned hostile as the prowler was built more or less for stealth not battle. The sound of the deck doors made Vic give a quick glance over her shoulder to see another member of the strike team enter, Skai was his name she believed. The lieutenant made a quick hand motion directing him and those to the coffee if they wanted it before before moving her eyes back to the monitor, this situation wasn't a good start to the mission.

*****

The Judiciary of Fading Light

Milky Way Scutum–Centaurus Arm: Shield 0409 "Elysium": Judiciary of Fading Light's Cryptum: Date Unknown....

Waking up....


The Judge's mind was that of a inky void until the tugs of reality started to pull him back into thought and out of his deep trance like meditation. It was a strange sensation...something of that found in surreal dreams. It started as if something had threw a lifeline into the darkness, a faint light that in every way while dim seemed somewhat warm an inviting, however the Judiciary knew exactly what this light was. He reached out with his mind gasping hold of it as he could feel a rush of thought return to him as he enter what could only be called the collective...a place of infinite knowledge.

One could feel a strange emptiness inside this place now as it was nothing but a void other than the two minds locked inside it. However the Judge felt unusually detached as if there was something scattered about this place now. He mind however soon snapped back into focus as he could feel another's presence here.

Yes this Bridgebuilder was awakening and that brought the Judiciary to send out what could be best described as a silent greeting which in their forms of flesh and blood would be a simple nod of the head of acknowledgement and respect.   

[BetaWülf]

Chieftain Garatus

Garatus sighed at poor Cad, he must have been in anguish from his mental trauma caused by his realization. Garatus then informed of the prisoner situation, not having enough room for all the Remnant scum in the brig. Garatus thought for a moment on what to do... an idea popped into his noggin and it was one that would resolve the demand on imprisonment space.

"There is nearly always a chance for redemption Cad," Garatus said gently slipping plasma powered restraints over Cad's hands, cuffing him in the front instead of having his arms behind him to show trust,"your time will come friend."

Garatus ordered the Unggoy and Kig-yar separated into two pairs of three small groups, the first one made up of the most Zealous, and the other two of the more normal ones. The Kig-yar were nearly all of the crocodilian subspecies Garatus noticed, maybe they were more common now since the other subspecies were used more by the Covenant during the war? Regardless, they could be useful unlike the pigheaded Sangheili who would most likely start killing themselves for their own perceived failures. The three groups were all put together, each separated by about five feet and a Jiralhanae guard.

"Now, I know what you all are thinking, 'oh gods, this is the end!' but no, it isn't" Garatus said to the groups,"most of you are in this for the money(or were bought), and don't care about the journey. Any of you willing to work for me will be freed and pardoned, becoming part of my crew. Any who side with me will be treated fairly, get paid and can jump ship at the nearest outpost once I'm done here" Garatus said.

The two groups of non-zealous Kig-yar and Unggoy instantly jumped at this, many hands waving in the air and yelling about how they didn't want to be Remnant fighters anymore. The more zealous groups sneered at their kinsmen, but didn't notice a few of their own as they slipped into the crowd of nonbelievers as their zeal had only been an act to get better treatment from the Sangheili. The group of new recruits were all unbound and put to work as the Jiralhanae's ship was brought into the general area. The lack of space had been resolved partially, and their crew was stronger for it.

"This offer extends to you too Cad, you can reclaim your honor, redeem yourself in the eyes of the Gods by serving aboard my vessel and combating the Remnant and all those who still blindly follow the Prophets lies" Garatus said, putting his excitement into his words to hopefully entice Cad's sense of brotherhood they had before.

[MrKill]

Lieutenant General Johnathan B'Sheau Killinger
UNSCS All Points North
Sahara Class Heavy Prowler

Killinger returned the greetings from the crew when he entered the bridge, replying to the pleasantries and salute the best way he knew how, honestly. His salute was sharp, practiced and professional despite a ragged stance. His tone sounded serious, his mind focused on combat rather than hello's. The Veteran Marine scratched at his white goatee. He'd long since lost his hair, a natural thing in the human body, but somehow his goatee remained intact. He hadn't shaven for two decades, but trimmed it frequently.

John watched the holographic projection and immediately starting thinking of the best way to deploy thousands of Marines in a moments notice. Many people disliked the 'split and conquer' type of tactic but truth be told it was doable, almost regulation, when you have multiple regiments under your command. At a company level John understood the dislike, but Regiments had their benefits too.

Regardless, without a point of origin they were looking for, John couldn't deploy his troops reliably anyways... not that they were here for him to deploy. They were still inbound, so the Marine Flag Officer had to shut up for a while and just listen to what the Captain of the tin can had to say. He took a sip of the coffee and listened.

[Guardian Cat of Yappa's]

Sergeant Drake Fields,

Milky Way Scutum–Centaurus Arm: UNSCS All Points North: Exiting Slipspace towards XF-125: 2565 CE



An Old confused vet.

Drake smiled as the captain addressed his response to the Lt. Memories of old C.O.s entered his mind, as a particular one walked onto the bridge. The old habit of saluting him kicking in. Drake, in a relaxed form, stood there and put a salute up to his forehead as he addressed a close friend.

"Officer on deck,  good to see ya General."

A relaxed look sat on his face, knowing that there were two hardened war veterans in the room, made this op a bit safer to him. He smiled as Kill returned their salutes, in his normal way. He returned to drinking his coffee as he leaned up against one of the walls. Enjoying the quiet before the storm that was sure to come from a high risk op like this.

[RiddL]

Sergeant Major Skai (Wolf) Blacklock

Skai nodded to the lieutenant and went about pouring and extra strong batch of coffee, he smelled the strong aroma of the coffee and gave a small smile as he took a small sip of the hot liquid. He looked about and saw the man his uncle had told him about, Lieutenant General Johnathon B'Sheau Killinger, a hero and living legend in his own right.


He was combat ready, drinking coffee. He then walked up to the lieutenant, "Thank god there's coffee and thank god where nearly there, I think every marine on this vessel brave enough or dumb enough to spar with me has learned that I specialize in CQC." He said in his deep, beautiful voice trying to lighten the mood on the bridge a little.

He looked at the lieutenant general, "My uncle once told me stories about him during the battle of Refuge, we have a hero on board and I don't even feel worthy to be in his presence, I even saw Sierra 117 when I saw the Infinity last, and that image is burned in my mind forever. My uncle would have loved this." He put his forefinger to his lips and muttered "Rest in peace uncle" He looked at the lieutenant and realized that he had said that out loud. He smiled at the lieutenant and took another sip of his coffee, drowning the thoughts of uncle away in the strong blend of coffee.

(OOC: Thought i would try and get this rolling again, If changes should be made let me know, I will change them immediately.)

[Mr.Pooks]

(OOC: This is my first rp post so if there is anything you would like me to change/fix just let me know!)
Creator of Slumber's Guardian's
[Milky Way Scutum–Centaurus Arm: Shield 0409 "Elysium", time unknown]
Status: Waking Up, Evaluating Situation

Creator was accessing the local domain when an ever so slight tug, made itself apparent. He had been asleep in his cryptum for as long as he could remember, and had forget the feelings a body had. It was a strange sensation, being tugged not physically but mentally, Creator realized he must be waking up. He accessed the local domain once more and said his goodbyes, only the essential personnel would be awakened to evaluate the situation. He withdrew from the domain and was plunged back into his body once more.

---

Creator awakened, the HUD lights in his combat skin registered he was awake and immediately flared to life. His body was stiff but he could move, he shifted his arm and tapped a holographic display. Instantly the Cryptum's entrance opened and Creator moved awkwardly out of it. He came out into a large circular room with a big display table in the middle, he looked around and noticed nobody else was awakened. "Curious." he said quietly. He walked up to the display slowly and spoke in a commanding tone of voice "Status of Elysium?." The response was instantaneous, "Elysium functioning at optimal performance, multiple slipspace ruptures detected within this month." He studied the image of Elysium that had appeared while the report was given, there was a small ship accelerating towards the planet and it looked virtually harmless compared to the great ships of war created by the Forerunners. He now understood why he had been awakened.

Creator had studied the ship and had come to the conclusion that it was not made for ship-to-ship combat, he had then noticed another ship and what looked like the wreckage of another, he quietly studied them until he decided on a course of action. He then slowly lifted up his left arm and with his free hand pressed a small button near his wrist. A holographic image sprang up and waited for a command. His fingers danced their way elegantly through menus as he finally found what he was looking for, the Sentinel Command Interface. He accessed a smaller menu and entered an amount of three-hundred. He pressed confirm and started issuing priority and secondary commands to his sentinels. When he had finally finished, 3 minutes had passed. He had ordered three-hundred Guardian Class Sentinels to gather near the portal to the surface, once he gave the cue they would split and half would go to evaluate the planet and defend the entrance and half would go to study the ships. But he had other matters to attend to first.

After ordering his Sentinels, Creator had called for his Ancilla. Moments later a small monitor had come drifting down from a Monitor vent in the ceiling. "Welcome back master.", his Ancilla greeted. "Thanks Khorsor.", He replied. "I need you to go with the sentinels, try to  contact that odd ship that just jumped in." The Ancilla agreed and went to where the sentinels were gathered, Creator had just issued the command to go forth when he heard a soft noise. He turned around to see BrigeBuilder and the Judiciary emerge from their Cryptum's. "Welcome back.", he said excitedly. He was no longer alone.

*Note 1: By odd ship I mean the prowler.
*Note 2: Sentinels will not attack unless the are provoked or believe the situation is dangerous, they will mainly be curious
*Note 3: Sentinels have strong beam weaponry and shields



   

  

[Faclan]

(Skipping Pooks for now)

Cad - Kig-Yar (Prisoner)
Quiet compliance.

Looking down at his arms as they were moved in front of him before cuffed Cad just nodded at Garatus's promise of redemption - Cad's eyes now clear of the water as he just seemed lost in thought as he was nudged along back to the remainder of the Remnant force. He stood a little behind Garatus as he delivered his edict on the lives he had control over, if he was still fully in the moment he would have likely commended his old comrade on showing mercy to those misguided fighters who had injured and possibly killed some of his own. But it was a good strategy as the Remnant force was pretty much reduced down to just Sangheili, a few religious Unggoy, and a handful of angry Kig-Yar who were more interested in the killing than the religion.

The new crew mates of the Jiralhanae ship quickly filled into the large spiky vessel to receive their assignments as Cad was left outside with Garatus, his son, and the remaining bound Remnant. Grunting out of his thoughts, and middle distance stare into the ground, he turned to look at Garatus as he was given the chance to be unbound and serve with his old friend again...But it was too soon as he sighed and shook his head and looked back down at the ground, rare that he wouldn't make eye contact, and responded.

"...Maybe Brother, but not yet - there is a lot I need to ponder and search my soul for...Whatever soul I have left." At least he hadn’t said no and had called Garatus Brother again so they were making progress as the few loyal Remnant growled and shifted as the Jiralhanae guards kept a close eye on them.

(After you reply BetaW we may want to wait till the ONI arrive so Garatus can try to explain the situation XD.)

[CTWDaBearJew]

[Milky Way Scutum-Centaurus Arm: UNSCS All Points North (Sahara-class Heavy Prowler) 500 Million Kilometers from XF-125 (Confirmed Trevelyan Type Planet): 2565 CE]

William turned to look at the holographic display, before he could say anything the ship’s AI Rhadamanthus spoke, “He’s correct they are vessels, specifically of Covenant specification; they appear to be corvettes. One of which is no longer operable.”

“Indeed,” William replied, “Nice catch.” He added sarcastically.

“I can’t do all the work around here,” The AI retorted.

Chuckling William looked back to the members of the expedition assembled on the bridge, he knew the AI was only being playful; he’d known they were there, he just wanted to make sure they had been paying attention.

“We’re going to assume the worst then, that they are members of the Covenant Remnant and have already found the entrance to the shield world itself.” He turned and manipulated the holographic display, “We will achieve a standard high orbit, at that point we will head ground side along with the General’s men, will deploy groundside using our two pelicans.” He said and then pointed at the members to be going ground side.

Zooming the map in further, “We will set up a small FOB/OP here;” He pointed to a small hill, “ the Marines will secure that position while the rest of us scout the crash location and the position of the other still active vessel. Where we will ascertain this groups intentions and whether or not they have breached the shield world.”

“What we find out will dictate our actions from there, General you’ll be coming with us the whole way; Sergeant Major,” He said looking towards Blacklock, “Your job is to keep the General in mint condition, Sergeant Fields our resident spooks and Nek Dal are your responsibility.”

He turned his attention to Hawkins, “Lieutenant, you’ll be on point once were in the suck, anyone else I haven’t named will be running support or interference as needed.”

“Any questions?”

[Milky Way Scutum-Centaurus Arm: Shield 0409 “Elysium”: Bridgebuilder of Living Suns’ Cryptum: Date Unknown]

Builder felt the mind of another touch his own, he replied with a mental nod of his own. He waited for a moment, before send a gentle query into the darkness. “Has it been long enough? Is it safe to leave?”

[Armory]

LT. Victoria Hawkens
Milky Way Scutum–Centaurus Arm: UNSCS All Points North: 1.5 Billion Kilometers from XF-125 (Possible Trevelyan Type Planet): 2565 CE
On the bridge

Hawkins kept herself focused on the controls as the Prowler's A.I started making the calculations to what in hell they were up against. The silence seemed to hang suspended throughout the bridge like some sort of cloud. Vic couldn't necessarily blame anyone aboard as it was situations like these that could put the best of the best on edge. She could remember back in her marine days when a enemy convoy decided to pass over a bridge that she and some marines had taken refuge under.

They were thigh deep in water and couldn't make a sound while the vehicles thundered over head with everyone of them praying to god no one decided to look under the bridge they where crossing. Suddenly a voice broke the silence as the Sergeant Major spoke up trying to ease the tension with a bit of conversation. She listened quietly as he told his story about his sparring match with a grouping of marines. The Lieutenant gave a small smile before shaking her head. 

"Now now Sergeant let's not take apart General Killinger's boys before drop we're going to need every marine we can get and the more you put in the med-bay means the less we have operational, however if you looking for a spar I'm sure any Spartan here would oblige you next time around."

The lieutenant took a long sip of her coffee before taking a mental note of the grouping around her that would be the official scout party. It would be an odd group to take down into a combat zone to be honest. It would be good to work along her fellow Spartans and see a legend in action as well as to see how ONI operatives handled operations. However the wildcard in all of this was defiantly the Kig-Yar, they had yet to prove there loyalties and to this Spartan operator that was a warning light to not fully trust them. She could hear the Sergeant Major reminiscing over the time he met Serria 117.

Now there was a man who had transcended legend as just about everyone who came to serve in the UNSC had heard of his feats. She also caught the last little bit of the Sergeant reminiscing before standing up and patting him on the shoulder giving a slight squeeze as if trying to bring comfort. People lost there lives in war...it was a grim fact that haunted every solider...no one was invincible not even the legendary Spartans. Vic with that slowly made her way over to the console in which the A.I had brought up the holo map. However before she could examine it the Captain started the briefing. Confirming her instinct there would be more to this mission than they originally thought...oh joy.

The Judiciary of Fading Light
Milky Way Scutum–Centaurus Arm: Shield 0409 "Elysium": Judiciary of Fading Light's Cryptum: Date Unknown....
Awaking the sleeping giant

The Judiciary was silent as he heard the secondary Builder make contact with the bubble of thought. Such greetings did seem to bring a sort of pseudo warmth to him, but nothing more. He began to work on freeing himself from his coffin like prison that had held him in place for who know's how long. The process would take time, but soon he would be free. The Judiciary looked at the other two that sound beside him in this thought space in silence, they were, but ghostly apparitions, somewhere between the living and the dead. It was a strangle query to think of, but securing his thoughts on a matter like that would be trivial at best. The Judge then hear the Bridgebuilder speak his words seemingly echoing to ask the question of how long had they been pried from the world. Then slowly after many moments of silence the Judge formulated a response. 

"I do not know for how long we have rested, though I myself have not been notified of the status of our safety." The Judiciary finished his mind pulling back and returning to working on releasing himself from his prison though lingering to listen to the Bridgebuilders response.   
 

[Faclan]

Chris Hyde - ONI Agent
Small talk with the birds.

Nodding and saluting the Captain as the plan for their operation was laid out he shook his head at the query for questions and instead turned his attention to Zahl, who if he remembered was Neks Mistress, as she had been slowly moving from her original spot to look over some of the far screens. Frowning a little he excused himself from Mike, Kex, and Tel as he moved over to her. She seemed a but confused and also afraid so why not try to help her out a little. They needed to work together after all so may as well try to get her more at ease around all the humans.

"Problems Zahl?" CJ asked in their language as she looked over at him and weaved her head from side to side, showing that she was sizing him up and also what would be considered a shrug as she finally replied.

"No, your ships are just odd," she replied, leaning against the wall as she narrowed her eyes at him a bit. Chris kept having to remind himself that she was a pirate for a long time and still held her favorite blade across her back as he asked her what she meant. "Too many screens, not enough color, too many entry points. It would not do well against a boarding party. They would be able to flood the bridge and the screens would not provide cover from our shots."

"The C-10 of course not." Chris responded, making Zahl's feathers raise a bit that he knew that as he continued. "But the ships AI would just seal the sections your little party is in, and then you would be trapped and at the mercy of the Captain." He smirked a little as she cheeped quietly and tapped a claw against her beak as she seemed to be thinking of a retort for that, looking over at Kex and Tel and she asked if they had any counters for that strategy?

Nek Dal - T'vaoan Independent Captain
Trying to find out information.

Nodding as the AI responded Nek kept looking at the little holograms of the ships as he hummed a little. still standing beside it he looked down at his tac-pad and began typing away as he cheeped a little and shook his head. He needed some more information to figure out what the ships were - he needed a screen or the AI info. Looking around at the stations he stopped to hear the captains plan and just nodded as he 'uh-huhed' before looking back around at all the screens and then shaking his head. All the humans were busy doing stuff and wouldn't probably give him the time of day anyway....so that left the AI - they could do multiple things at once right? Clearing his throat a little he moved over to the AI's little pedestal and decided to try his luck.

"Rhadamanthus? That's your name right AI?"

"Yes Kig-Yar, what is it?" There was some aggressiveness there...then again they were programmed to serve Humans and kill Covenant when they were on their ship - as Chris had pointed out as Nek tried to reply levelly.

"Could I have some information?"

"Depends what it is?"

"Its about the ships down there don't worry, not this vessel as I'm sure that is locked out to me because I'm an Alien."

"That's correct, good that you don't try to ask for it or I would have to ask for you to be arrested and thrown into the brig or out a airlock."

"How...pleasant. But can I have the radiation and other readouts about the active vessel?" There were some blips as the information was uploaded to his tac-pad. Thanking the AI before carefully backing away he started to look over the data on his arm as he tried to reference the other info he had in his head to guess what vessel it was. It would take him awhile to piece it together but if they knew who was down there it would give them an advantage.

"I'm ready to head down Captain," he said to William as he kept sifting. "Trying to figure out what faction has that vessel down there."

(Hopefully good, leaving Cad for now.)

[Llau]

(OOC: Sorry for not posting in here for a while. So busy with my other writings. )

Mike Moretti
ONI agent
The Bridge

Smiling slightly, he looked at the two aliens, and shook his head. "No offense taken, guys," He replied, glancing around as they entered the bridge. "The feeling is mutual with some of us not being able to tell the difference between you aliens, either." He chuckled lightly, and stopped; nodding at everyone who was already in there, waiting for them.  

He stood there, hands clasped loosely behind his back, while his brown eyes stared at the interface with the blips on it. He silently, but correctly guessed what the blips were of before anyone even mentioned it. 'Covenant...great. Just what we needed.' He thought sarcastically while he continued to listen in on the conversation. 

Once the Captain finished the briefing with "Any questions?" The field agent spoke up. 

"Captain Bryant," He saluted the man, and continued, "I have been studying Forerunner technology for a good while now. Since their technology is sort of similar to the Covenant's own technology, I can use my hacking skills when needed. So, if you want any information while I'm down there with the rest of the team, just say the word, sir."

While waiting for a response, he glanced over at Chris, who was talking quietly to Zahl, and then focused his attention briefly at the interaction between Nek and Rhadamanthus as they spoke about information on the blips. He made a mental note on wanting to know which Covenant faction was down there as well, and once they were finished here, he could concentrate on that before gearing up.

"Nek," he whispered quietly, "I can find out as soon as I'm done talking with the Captain here. Just give me a couple of minutes. It won't take me too long to find out." he lightly tap his TAC-PAD that was strapped to his arm, which if one would look closely at the screen, he already had the information started. 

[BetaWülf]

Jiralhanae Chieftain Garatus

Garatus sighed and patted Cad gently(even by human and Kig-yar standards) on the shoulder before looking down at his old friend,"Take all the time you need brother, I'll have a cot set up for you in my quarters" he finished before stepping off to speak to Fenarius.

"Son, have these creatures start setting up camp. I want it to be our style, none of that Sangheili nonsense. Those reptiles wouldn't know which end of a shovel to use, and don't let them boss the lesser species around" he finished before letting out a small roar at the Sangheili, a Minor flinching at the powerful sound.

Garatus left his son to take care of them, while he went to to inspect the wreckage of the Remnant vessel. It was mostly a smoldering mess but there was a decent amount left and conference type room had broken off and the camp was being built around it. Garatus kicked a small chunk metal out of his path as he walked up to the hull and pulled out his combat knife and carved a warning to the Remnant in the written language of the Jiralhanae. It was basically 'the Jiralhanae tolerate no disobedience, Remnant scum' but more offensive.

"Salvage the valuable parts, and any supplies you can find. The tribe will prosper and all shall share in the wealth" Garatus said before walking back to near where Cad and Fenarius were at.

Kex

Kex and Tel were both glad they hadn't offended the Human named Mike, and Kex chuckled at his comment though Tel couldn't comprehend how it worked in reverse for Humans."We are pleased you are not offended" Tel said with a smile, and Kex nodded in agreement. They both watched as everyone interacted, heads bobbing as they did so and took everything in. Kex inaudibly(to Humans anyway) hissed when the AI threatened Nek, how dare that piece of hardware threaten his Captain!

He stored his hostilities for the moment as he and Tel were asked about possible counters for the corridor sealing by Zahl.

"Well, some space worthy suits and tethers would keep a boarding party in place if someone were able to try to vent them into space, and some high grade welding tools could get through those doors in a bobbing or so" Kex said, thinking of other ideas,"Once that was done, the usual tactics would work" Tel finished with a nod to Kex.

"Not that we would try it of course, at least not here" Kex said, the ending of his sentence being rather quiet but audible to those he was speaking with.

[Faclan]

Chris Hyde - ONI Agent
Comparing boarding offense and defense.

Chris now fairly closely mirrored Zhal's body posture as she stood there. Both with arms crossed, legs straight, leaning slightly back but with head forward. With a Human skeleton it was a pretty painful position but it served the purpose of making the female T'vaoan focus on him as she nodded at Kex and Tel. "Good on you, what do you say to that Human?"

Chris replied, still keeping his position, by looking at his Tac-Pad as if it were a watch as he nodded and held up his hand, thumb out and his other four fingers flipping up and down together - the sign for fifteen as he nodded. "IF," he made sure to emphasis that. "You had sealed suits and clamps to keep you on the deck, as you can see there are airlocks on both of the walls outside the bridge, so its a big if that you wouldn't be left floating in space. I would give you fifteen seconds to be able to get the bridge door open before a force would be mobilized to stop you. Do you think you could get through in fifteen seconds?"

She hissed at him again and pulled out her long, an old fashioned metal blade, but made from incredibly strong material - which caused a lot of tensing before she headed for the door and held it as a kind of crude measuring tape against the door thickness as she muttered a few things before looking back over at Kex and Tel. "Four (Kig/Covenant unit of distance measurement to be inserted here), think a decent laser drill could get through in under...ten?"


Nek Dal - T'vaoan Independent Captain
Chatting around.


Looking up from his research as Zahl went about her usual work of having the last word he sighed a bit as he turned to Mike as he walked over to him. "Shes not going to stop until shes right - that's why she was such a good raider. Determination and ingenuity...I believe you would call her a vixen." He smirked a little at this as he watched her argue with Hyde, as she had so many times with him before he would submit the argument - Mike likely catching it before Nek blinked a few times and fully turned to look at him.

"Mmmm? Oh, no that's fine I think I have enough. I don't want to give your AI a reason to try out all the ways he likely knows to make me dead...probably have an entire directory for that." He muttered and with that he looked back down at his own pad as the AI looked over at Mike, gave quite an evil smile, and nodded before returning to smiling AI mode and looking around.


Cad - Kig-Yar Prisoner
Watching a contruction...and maybe tossing aside a very person artifact.

Grunting as he was patted Cad looked up into his friends face...looking for awhile before managing a small smile. "We'll see if time heals all wounds Friend..." With that Garatus left and Cad moved back to the rock he had been shoved against before as he hopped up on it and sat down, crossing his legs underneath him as he rested his hands in his lap. In his new position he watched Garatus bark out orders, mark the remains of Remnant ship, and start to set up a camp before starting to walk back.

Looking down at his chest Cads eyes rested on his scarf...a symbol of his faith. A faith that he had been blinded by for....maybe a decade now. Frowning down at it he reached up to grab it and with a few tugs it lay to rest in his hands as he looked over it, turning it over and such. It was pretty clear that was debating getting ready to throw it aside as his single row of hair spines rattled a bit, Garatus returning to his son and old friend.