If it floats...[Closed RP; Fade, BetaW, Winter, Kill]

[BetaWülf]

If it Floats...

(Outer UNSC Colonies, the time is 12:37 AM)
(Several UNSC Frigates are engaging in a scouting run due to rumors of Covenant activity)
(Likewise, a pair of SDV-Class Heavy Corvettes are looking for reported Humans in the area)
(Neither group has encountered the other just yet, but they will soon)

Kig-Yar Shipmaster Mag Rog
Manifest Destiny
Search and Destroy

Mag sat in his command chair, sharpening his blade prosthesis as he normally did before combat. The unnerving sound keeping the Bridge crew on their toes, they were more prone to notice small anomalies if on edge he found. So he kept on running the stone across the blades' edge, he'd never trust a machine to sharpen his prosthesis weapons. Despite his love for his vessel and technology, he ultimately felt the best results came from people.

Mag decided a break was in order, so he set his sharpening stone to the side. He carefully picked up his tea that was sitting on the arm of his chair, having finally cooled enough to be drinkable. He had always liked tea, but he found it more and more necessary the older he got, helping to clear out his sinuses and lungs. It was also a form of stress relief.

Currently he was on patrol with another SDV-Class Heavy Corvette, the Divine Intervention, Captained by a... Sangheili. Mag never trusted them, they were nearly all egotistical tyrants with an unearned and unwarranted superiority complex. He tried to at least tolerate them, but... it was difficult at times. Especially when they tried to exert control over him. He abhorred such treatment. He hadn't actually met this Trierarch, so he was still willing to give him a chance to prove himself to the elder Kig-Yar.

"Trierarch of the Divine Intervention, this is Shipmaster Mag Rog" Mag said in his normal, albeit gruff voice "We've yet to note any disturbances in the area, but will continue searching unless there are results on your end?" Mag said quizzically, hoping there was something at least to investigate in the vast boringness that was space.

[Washington]

Sangheili Trierarch Alei 'Felvaree
Aboard the Divine Intervention
Standard patrol, not-so-standard allies

Completely lossed in thought, Alei 'Felvaree patrolled the invisible line he created in front of his command seat. Nothing mattered at that moment except the well being of his men and his ship, and in preparation of a possible battle in the near future Alei wanted to double... no, triple check that the Divine Intervention was in working order. Only a few cycles ago had Alei 'Felvaree been granted this marvelous vessel of Covenant perfection, and no combat would jeopardize this ship or its crew under Alei's watch.

"Commander", Yulmi Karothee declared, interrupting Alei's train of thought, "you have been pacing ever since we exited slipspace, is all in good order?"

Alei halted his movement and took in a deep breath, followed by the slow secretion of Carbon Dioxide from his lungs. No , Alei though, nothing is in good order! Alei felt a chill run up his spine, his brain flushed with all the consequences of space combat. Combat on the ground held one simple variable, only one conflict, your skill, and your opponent's. If Alei were to fall in the field against adversaries more efficient than Alei, then the Trierarch ' death would have been honorable and something Alei could embrace, but in space all was different. Alei could dodge the detonation of an enemy - tossed grenade, he could leap to avoid fire, he could advance towards an enemy position on the ground. All that mattered was Alei and his enemy. Space was a whole new monster though, Alei had to rely on, not only himself, but also his crew. The safety of Aliens soldiers and vessel, rested solely upon the strength, determination, and gut instinct of the weakest link aboard the SDV-Class Heavy Corvette...

Trust had to be complete if all members were to survive a conflict, and so trust is what he would give.

"I am ready for battle and my head is clear", Alei replied to Yulmi, "let us advance and eradicate all hostiles." 'Felvaree took a few steps towards the front of the ship and rested his large hands on the shoulder of his Helms and Navigational Master, R'eefa Stalee. "R'eefa, is the path ahead as clear as the path of the Great Journey" A slight smirk appeared on Alei's face.

"So it is, Commander" replied R'eefa, "May adversity never falter either route!"

Alei chuckled, he had already introduced him selves to his crew, but Alei was still barely grasping their personalities, and the only thing that bonded all of the souls on-board was their eternal hate towards humans, and their unrelenting faith in the prophets. All would change in due time though.

"Commander, our accompanying Corvette Manifest Destiny is attempting to hail us." Yulmi shouted over the minor chatter present in the hull.

"Patch it through" Alei 'Felvaree replied. The sound of minor conversations among the crew within the bridge was suddenly interrupted by the voice of Alei's fellow commander.

"Trierarch of the Divine Intervention , this is Ship master Mag Rog. We've yet to note any disturbances in the area, but will continue searching unless there are results on your end?"

The other commander seemed to growl over the communications, perhaps a bad day? Alei turned to Yulmi and whispered "Is all clear?"

Yulmi nodded.

"All is clear on this side" Alei replied to the other Shipmaster, " I will continue scanning, though. I suggest you prepare for battle, hostile enemy ships seem to appear in space from nowhere when one's eye drifts away from sensors for but a second. Since our scouting party is small we must be the ones who initiate the assault on the heretics, not the other way around."

Alei patted Yulmi on the shoulder twice and then raised Vern 'Talcee, the ship's Internal Security Specialist, on personal communications. "'Talcee, make ready in troop who may be utilized in combat operations, we must be prepared to engage at a moment's notice!"

"Yes commander" was all Alei heard in reply.

Alei was as ready as any commander could be, but would it be enough?

[MrKill]

Lieutenant Commander Day 'Sunshine' McAver
Paris Class Heavy Frigate, UNSCS Horizons
Bridge
Non-Playable Character

Lieutenant Commander Day 'Sunshine' McAver, a career Navy man demoted from Captain to Lieutenant Commander after a Non-judicial punishment (NJP) for assaulting a non-commissioned officer, arrived on the bridge of the Paris-Class Frigate he was assigned to as his last duty before retirement. McAver would be discharged with no benefits for what he had done, striking a Marine Staff Sergeant under his command for slandering a Navy Officer that had died hours before. He was forty one now, and was back at the rank he had earned when he was twenty eight. Four years in the academy on Luna, graduated with the rank of Lieutenant Junior Grade at 22. Earned a full Lieutenant rank by twenty five... three years later, Lieutenant Commander; over the next eight years he had earned his rank of Captain and had settled there for nearly four or so years.

"XO, report." Day said.

"Little to report, sir. Sensors picked up a cargo barge enter the system without a UNSC friend or foe tag. Unmanned and running a low heat signature." The XO reported.

"Independent?" Day asked.

"Belongs to a local company, "Sierra Exports", and likely just came from an Inner Colony."

The Lieutenant Commander put his right hand on his chin. "Cargo?"

The XO brought up his tactical pad and read off the list of items the Tac Officer was able to download from the computers database. Food, medicine, general supply, ammunition for civilian grade weaponry. Mostly '.308' being sold by a sporting good store for hunting or target practice. The most 'exotic' item on the list was a box of Brandy from Earth dating back to the 1980's. Worth a pretty penny.

"Quite a shame we can't take it, huh, sir?" The XO asked, identifying the raised eye brow as indication Day had seen it.

"I don't care much for beverages like that." Day replied, "I'm more interested in why a colony like this would need so much food and medicine."

The XO was slow to reply. "Well, sir, the Covenant were reported in the area. ONI suggests that they were either already here or on the way, so they must have ordered additional supplies like that in preparation to defend themselves."

Day thought it was logical, and dismissed the case. "Good point, XO."

The two eventually broke off, the XO heading off the bridge to catch some sleep. He had a deal with the XO, for the most part. The CO would take a twelve hour shift from 12:00 AM to PM and join the XO for the final legs of his shift, the XO would return the favor on the end leg of his shift. But, Day was a little late this time around. He stopped taking formality seriously knowing as soon as they got back to Reach or Earth he was going to be retired from the Navy entirely.

It was visible, too. Lack of energy, very little excitement for his career. He kept it closed, though, and tried to remain as professionally as he could. It was a... personal professional problem. It did, after all, have to do with his profession itself. Regardless, Day McAver would find something in the civilian life. Far as he knew, the trades were still a pretty high demand. Perhaps he could be a plumber, plumbers were always needed no matter where you went. Shit, figuratively and literally, gets stuck in the weirdest places.

"Anything on sensors?" Day asked.

"No sir."

"Keep an eye out."

[edtosivaree]

NPC: Fola 'Vuramee
Ship: Light Corvette CNV Divine Truth

Fola 'Vuramee was not pleased. After years of hard work and dedication to become a Ship Master, the first thing he is sent to do with his new ship is a scouting run. Granted he was only given a Light Corvette, it still bothered him. The only thing that he didn't mind was the fact they sent him to reinforce two other ships. There was at least some glory in that. Especially as they were both Heavy Corvettes. He wasn't told very much other than their current station, and so that was where he was heading.

"Ship Master, we shall be leaving the Void in less than a rook" The ships Master of Navigations informed him.

"Understood. Upon reentry, I want the two ships we are here to support hailed" He returned sharply. He often never bothered addressing the individual Officers when giving orders. Why even bother, the one who could perform the order should do it. Once out of Slipspace, he signaled once again to open up COM's with the Covenant Vessels within the system. Closed channels of course. He waited a moment before speaking.

"Hail Divine Intervention and Manifest Destiny. I am Ship Master Fola 'Vuramee of the CNV Divine Truth. I have been sent here to support your ships in any way I can. Please provide me with the current state of the Mission as soon as possible, and may we all further our path along the Great Journey" He stated, sitting back down. "Master of Navigations, move us into a loose support position of the closest ship to our position. Ensure we are just within weapons range so that we may provide support quickly without being in danger ourselves, and vice versa" He ordered, before going silent. There was little for him to do but wait now.

((So Kill ultimately said I could join in. I'm not just inviting myself))

[Remnant]

[OOC: Sorry for the delay. Real life issues kept me away from my computer. Will have it over thanksgiving break, but when school starts again, it gets taken away until the following weekend, or if my grade in Math comes up at school.]

Lieutenant Commander Zachary "Zach" A. Douglas
Paris-class Heavy Frigate, From Ashes
Bridge

"Steve, anything new to report?" Zach asked his XO, as he walked into the Bridge. The Bridge Officers present were at their assigned stations, hard at work. Shameek, the Weapons Officer, however, appeared to be absent. Most likely at the armory, Zach thought.

"Eh. Nothing much. Cargo ship entered the system, on route for the planet in-system."

"Anything from Horizons?"

"Nope."

"Alex, hail Horizons. See if they've got anything to report about the rumors of Covies in the area." Zach said to Alexandria Floyd, his Communications Officer.

"Understood, sir." She replied back.

Zach took a seat in his command chair, and stared out into the empty space that laid just beyond the windows. The void was an endless ocean of darkness. It hid a great many secrets, both dangerous and harmonic. Covies being one of them. There have been reports of Covenant in the system, Horizons and From Ashes had been sent to investigate. Whether these reports were true or not, remains to be seen.

[BetaWülf]

Kig-Yar Shipmaster Mag Rog
Manifest Destiny
A New Arrival

Mag waited a moment for a response, clicking his claws as he did so. When the response came through he listened intently, he chuckled to himself. While Mag had been a Shipmaster for decades, a Sangheili Shipmaster of a Corvette was on the greener side of things. Kig-Yar had little room for promotion within the Covenant, especially the Navy. Except for those damned T'vaoan, reaping the rewards the hard labors of the Ruuhtians brought to fruition. Bastards.

Sangheili on the other hand utterly dominated the Covenant in all things, save for the Religious might and political tyranny of the Hierarchs. While a Kig-Yar Shipmaster might dream of being given command of a Frigate in the later years of their life, a Sangheili could dream for such grand things as command of Destroyers, Cruisers, and Carriers. But Mag loved his ship, he was content with it even if he wished for grander things for his species in the long run.

"Ever vigilant we guard our posts Trierarch, I began preparations for possible combat when we first left our fellows to scout this space" Mag replied, as he was doing so he was informed of that a third Covenant vessel had arrived. A Light Corvette.

Mag was unsurprised as he and the Divine Intervention were hailed by the newly arrived Divine Truth, fairly standard procedure. He listened as the Shipmaster Fola 'Vuramee introduced himself, stated his purpose for being there, and requested a briefing on the Mission at hand.

"Greetings Shipmaster 'Vuramee, this is Mag Rog of the SDV Manifest Destiny, your support in our hunting is appreciated" Mag said, his voice gravely but genuine in its appreciative inflection, "We've yet to find any definitive signs of a Human presence, but there very well could be some of their ilk lurking nearby" Mag said, a hiss escaping his beak at the end of his sentence in reference to the Humans. He had no love for this enemy, not like the others he'd faced over the years.

[MrKill]

Lieutenant Commander Day 'Sunshine' McAver
Paris Class Heavy Frigate, UNSCS Horizons
Bridge
Non-Playable Character

"Sir, the From Ahses is hailing us. They're curious if we know anything about ONIs projections of Covenant ships in the area." The communications officer reported. Lieutenant Commander McAver stood up and strode towards the empty tactical officer seat. The junior officer had stepped out for a moment to use the rest room, and given that this was only a patrol, McAver didn't see the harm in leaving a station temporarily unmanned. He took a seat at the console and typed a quick response and sent it to the From Ashes.

In the message, he sent an attached report indicating that a nearby UNSC Colony World with a low population and almost no civilian infrastructure had been located by the Covenant and promptly evacuated before the Covenant got close enough to display their weaponry. That evacuation route lead here, following the Cole Protocol, to a larger more industrial and civil populace. That's how ONI knew, McAver assumed, that the Covenant would show up - and they did.

UNSC Listening Posts, also known as Remote Sensor Outposts, had detected slipspace anomalies. Beyond that, there was no information. That's why they were out there scouting for the Covenant fleet. The Paris Class Frigates were fast, manoeuvrable and fairly adept at the role for the tasks at hand. With the message sent, however, the Lieutenant Commander returned to his command seat and reclined, crossing one of his legs above the other.

[Washington]

Bump?

[edtosivaree]

Fola 'Vuramee recieved one responce from the Kig'Yar no less. His reports told him that a fellow Sangheili was in control of the latter ship. He would have to remark on his failure to respond. "I was told there were two ships I was reinforcing. It does not look as if there was a battle here. Why do you think he has remained silent?" he asked in a mocking tone. He hailed both ships. Both ships were responcible for answering.

"Regardless! Ship Master Mag Rog! Let us carry on this job with or without our Comrade. I will be sure to mark his failure to acknowledge in my logs" He stated, hopfully conveying to the Kig Yar that there was no problems between them. An orderly Kig'Yar was better that an unrelyable Sangheili.

[Remnant]

[OOC: Hey guys, sorry for the delay. My activity on this site has dropped tremendously, but I plan to rectify that. Alas, real life must always come first. On the bright side, my life has been getting back on track. ]

Lieutenant Commander Zachary "Zach" A. Douglas
Paris-class Heavy Frigate, From Ashes
Bridge

Zach reviewed the report Horizons had sent him. Inside it contained details on a lowly populated colony, with hardly any civilian infrastructure, that had been evacuated due to a Covenant presence that found the world. The colony had been evacuated to the planet they have been currently patrolling. Remote sensor outposts had detected a Covenant presence in system, and had sent the two ships to investigate.

"Hey, uh, Commander? Getting blips on the radar." Allison Jackson - the Navigational Officer - spoke up.

"Covies?" Zach asked.

"Dunno. Could be."

"Alex, hail Horizons, report our findings."

"Aye, Commander." Alex said, sending a report of the blips on the radar to Horizons. She also took the liberty to ask if they've found anything as well.

[Washington]

Sangheili Trierarch Alei 'Felvaree
Aboard the Divine Intervention
...an anomaly...?

Alei 'Felvaree stood directly behind Yulmi Karothee watching the holographic display of space nearby. The lights danced and weaved around the center of the display, which obviously represented the Divine Intervention. Two blue dots also stood near his own, one moving relatively parallel, and one trailing behind, which Alei hadn't yet seen. All of them were close by and held the same color on the monster, so he assumed they were friendly.

Alei moved his hands behind his back and began to tap his fingers on his palms, he was anxious about this mission, something that always overtook his mind during the calm before the storm, but he tried his best to mask his concern. Alei rolled his neck and shook his head to clear his mind of any useless thoughts of worry, and then attempted to refocus his mind on the task at hand. He looked, once again, at the sensor display in an attempt to make out if the situation has changed since before. As he viewed the monitor, he noticed that Yulmi paused his movements for a second, and then started to input commands on the console at an accelerated rate.

"Is something the matter", questioned Alei, "it seems that we have been floating out here for a year." [ooc: xD]

Yulmi seemed concerned, which was unlike his usual calm and collected stature. He rose his left hand to his mandibles and cleared his throat, and then used the same hand to point towards a blip on the display.

The point was red, and had the hieroglyphic symbol of "heretic" on it, which could only mean one thing...

Alei took a step away from the sensors and abruptly looked to his right.

"Alei 'Felvaree, an ally Light Corvette is attempting to--"

"R'eefa, put this ship to Combat Alert Alpha, I want you to hail our allies immediately once you ensure our ship is perepared!" shouted 'Felvaree, cutting his Communications officer off before he could finish.

Alei looked behind him and say his close friend, Zelia Shangzullee, standing guard at the entrance of the bridge. Alei thought of how devastating he was in close quarters, and gestured for him to come over.

"Zelia, prepare two Type-25 Troop Transports for battle, and choose soldiers willing to lead a boarding party against the human ship."

Zelia nodded, and then quickly fled the room.

"Shipmaster, the Divine Intervention is at combat readiness, and I have communications raised between the Manifest Destiny and Divine Truth. R'eefa stated rather calmly.

"Fellow Shipmasters", Alei stated over intercoms, "my ships' sensors have picked up the mark of a potentially hostile ship near the edge of our sensor's range, I emplore you to check as well. I have already sent my troops to prepare a boarding party which will be ready shortly, I would like to have all venues of attack open for this confrontation. Shipmaster Rog, I advise that we move together and get close enough to fatally damage the ship, while the. . .", Alei couldn't recall the name of the third assisting vessel, mainly since he hadn't yet heard of its entrance yet. R'eefa quickly noticed Alei's hi situation, and pointed to the final ship's name on the Communications display. . . . Ah, Divine Truth runs interference on any other potential ally's it may have. Does this sound resonable, comrades?"