Mission 9.5 - The RAD Ark Rodeo

[Faclan]

Sheeps feeling a bit under the whether and also pretty busy so I'll be working on heading up this mission

Keep in mind you are welcome and slightly encouraged to play the opposite side that you normally do. Also keep in mind that this is separate from the normal Covenant force that nearly all PCs are in and also separate from the 'main' UNSC force that their PCs are in. The outcome of this mission may come up in Mission 10 or the like but best to think of it as separate for now. The old interest check thread will be there if you wish to ask questions or discuss this thread

Story and setting;


December 2nd, 2551

A mostly unnamed remains of a early Human and Covenant battlefield. Back when the UNSC had more ships to spare and so threw a lot of vessels at the Covenant rally point. Reports from the time say it was around forty UNSC vessels against twelve Covenant vessels and a fueling ship. The fueling ship was nuked by a charge of longswords after the battle had been going for an hour and the resulting detonation obliterated a majority of the Covenant ships - the UNSC already heavily flagging from the far superior Covenant vessels. This detonation also heavily irradiated the area and all the surviving vessels starting to be badly affected with their systems, Human and Covenant, starting to shut down. Forcing both sides to limp away and since then the battlefield has been forgotten.

Until now - 7 years later.

Both a Covenant scouting force and a UNSC supply vessel received a faint transmission from the forgotten hellhole several days ago - and could barely sense there was a intact vessel in there. Passing the message and info onto their superiors so now a ship from each force is on route to check out the location;

Phoenix Down. Power 10%, engines none functional, doors and atmosphere unstable, crew 10%. Cargo secure. Secure and safe. Need pickup. Power 10%. Message repeats. Pickup. Phoenix Down.

Confusingly for both sides this was broadcast in both Sangheili and English - making both sides more eager to find out what is happening.

Each side popped up on opposite side of the irradiated location, and the mass of wreckage and radiation made it so both vessels are unaware of the other.

Players can expect a bumpy ride on the way to the large listing Ark ship, and once safely aboard they will need to remain in sealed suits as the ship has very little atmosphere and the radiation is still a danger to unprotected individuals. Gravity is also very light so careful teamwork and maneuvering will be crucial. However, both of these issues are possible to fix to varying degrees. Radio communication will also be poor the more of the ship is in between the sender and receiver. Possible stealth options.

Both sides will be sending around twenty individuals over toward the Ark.

- Human Players;
Your objective will be to find out why an Ark ship is out in the middle of former battlefield and even more so because its full of deadly radiation. If the crew cannot be saved the vessel will likely need to be set to self destruct in case there is dangerous information on its computers. Secure and purge gents!

- Alien Players; Individual players need not agree with the vitriol of the briefing.
The Heresy of this cannot be understated noble warriors! A Human design of vessel with Sangheili language is just bleeding out the untruths and lies. However the wreckages and interference means that long range plasma bombardment is not an option. As such you will be sent to find out what is causing this issue and purge it.


** The Covenant Transport will be carrying a bomb for the holy purging **


Mini character Sheet; Doesn't need to be super huge - both teams will also be sending science personal and not just combatants because both are unaware of the Heretics/Alien bastards. You may play either.

[b]Name:[/b]
[b]Sex:[/b]
[b]Age:[/b]
[b]Species:[/b]
[b]Rank:[/b]

[b]Equipment/appearance:[/b]
a

[b]Skills:[/b]
[b]Vices:[/b]

You may include a little history if you wish.



My sheet; Human Marine

SPOILER: Click to show

Name: Ollan Sira
Sex: Male
Age: 27
Species: Hooman
Rank: Corporal

Equipment/appearance:
Dark tan skin and brown hair, tough features and hands from years of wearing protective working gear.
M7 SMG and magnum, tool kit in place of MA5 ammo mags - carries Pick Mattock.

Skills: Skilled with machinery, above average melee skill, strong.
Vices: Impatient, overeager to shoot first.

Born on a mining colony Ollan grew up learning how to operate machinery and to the sounds of cracking rock. But when the Covenant became a closer and closer threat the colony was evacuated and relocated. The young lad joined up almost immediately because he loved working the large drilling machines and wasn't going to do farming or sitting on his ass complaining. Has a heavy hatred of the Covenant for taking away his and his parents former life and forcing them to do jobs they were unskilled at.

Ollan Sira - Marine man
Pelican 'Delta 711'
Time to crack this mystery boulder.

At least the Pelican they were using had a Troop Deployment box on it so they didn't have to try and stand during all the shaking. He didn't want anyone to flop into his lap today - not enough choice cuts for that. And people falling on each other had a chance of damaging their protective suits - and judging from the brief briefing the Captain had given them that would be bad. He really wasn't looking forward to this since Zero G had a habit of making lots of people panic and the science types he doubted even had a lot of training in this. He really didn't even know why they were here. This wasn't some science field trip this was a damn rescue operation.

Just give them an AI instead of these dead weights...

But orders were orders and if the ship was as badly damaged as the repeat message said they may be needed he had to admit. May need to override some doors as trying to blow up every bulkhead would take too long and potentially really screw them if they structurally screwed the vessel. Bleh...but that's why he wasn't the plan man and was just here to make sure that stuff went over right and everyone ended up safe.

Glancing down at his helmets HUD he was pleased to see it was all still green and everyone else was busy doing their pre mission checks as they were strapped into the seats. Some doing little nervous tapping, some checking weapons, and a few looking like they were asleep. Good, everyone was ready - it should be simple anyway. Just needed to be mindful of the ticking clock they all had.

[Tyl]

SPOILER: Click to show

Name: Ivy Fourscythe
Sex: Female
Age: 23
Species: Human
Rank: Lieutenant

Equipment/appearance: Ivy is a pale skinned woman with silky beach blonde hair. She usually keeps it in a haphazard bun, but when loose it falls neatly around her head just above her collar line. She has soft lime green eyes.
Armed with a M6C/SOCOM pistol, a smart link Laptop, 5 extra magazines, and her wit.

Skills: Talented hacker, Computer analyst, decent shot, and a quick speaker
Vices: Direct, heartless, and a bold.

Ivy was born on earth, in a military family. Her father was an ODST and her mother an ONI scientist. She got her mothers skill with a computer, taking up coding at 10. In highschool she took JROTC and was part of the computer coding club. As she readied to graduate she would begin looking into signing up for the war, but due to a ROTC scholarship she would be sent to college. Dodging the majority of the war while in college, she would enter the service as a Lieutenant.

Ivy Fourscythe -
Pelican 'Delta 711'
"Entering the mausoleum."

Ivy checked the straps that held her in place again before opening her Laptop. She didn't like flying, and would rather focus her attention on her screen. Sadly she was not allowed to tap into the pelican's systems to watch the navigation. She had to rely on the information she had already gathered. The data from the the ship and the briefing helped her plot out a course on her computer.

Why did I volunteer for this mission? She asked her self with a small smile from behind her biosuit's helmet. Oh that's right I didn't. She looked about at the rest of her 'team'. A few devil dogs, and some soft shell techs thrown together from the crew. Some looked about impatient, others were doing routine checks on their gear, and others were carefully collecting some sleep. Her eyes locked back on her screen and she began coding to ease her mind.

[McStubbsberry]

SPOILER: Click to show

Name: Scott Machesky
Sex: Male
Age: 25
Species: Human Marine
Rank: Lance Corporal

Equipment/appearance: Scott stands at about six feet tall and weighs one hundred and sixty two pounds, considered lean for his height but is very toned. He has sandy blond hair and light blue eyes. Scott's nose has been broken a few times, resulting in it jutting to the left. On this outing, Scott is equipped with an M90 Shotgun with 10 extra slugs, the M6D service pistol with 2 clips, and 4 blocks of C-12 charges.


Skills: Demolitions, first aid, welding
Vices: Lazy, alcoholic

Lance Corporal Scott Machesky
Pelican 'Delta 711'
A boy has the right to dream

Scott stared blankly at the person sitting across from him. The tedium of checking and rechecking his gear made the Marine's mind wander. The environmental suits left a lot to the imagination. Was that some dude sitting across from him? Or was it a woman? Petite with blond hair and blue eyes, or maybe red hair and green eyes with a few freckles? I do like the occasional red head. He thought to himself as he closed his eyes.

Flying through the vacuum of space didn't bother Scott. The endless void where creatures wanted him dead didn't frighten him. Knowing that his life and those around him were in the hands of someone he never met did unnerve him a bit, however. I need a beer. Scott checked his straps again along with his firearms to ensure that they were in proper working order. There is nothing worse than a Marine who is unable to kill his enemy with swift and deadly force. Although, Scott's style is more along the lines of ending a fight with a large bang. Despite this being a rescue operation, the Lance Corporal hoped for some action along the way.

[tento125]

SPOILER: Click to show

Name: Kav'ra 'Te Loknee
Sex: Male
Age: 39
Species: Sangheili
Rank: Major


Equipment: Type 51 "Covenant" Carbine plus 6 extra "clips", plasma pistol, type 1 anti personal "plasma" grenade, energy sword

Appearance: Kav'ra's red armor somewhat hides his dark brown skin underneath. He also towers at 230 centimeters and weighs at 168 kilograms.

Skills: Cunning, calculating, level headed
Vices: Doesn't have the vaguest idea on machinery, personal honor above everything else.

 

Sangheili Major Kav'ra 'Te Loknee
Aboard phantom
En route to the ark
Cleanse the heretics!

Kav'ra checked his weapons one last time before looking out towards the troops under his command: 2 standard lances, 20 holy warriors of the Covenant. Ready to serve the prophets' will. He then focused on his mission at hand: to investigate a crippled human ship that is transmitting messages requesting aid in Sangheili. This was completely unacceptable! Hearing this, Kav'ra was the first to volunteer to undergo the mission: to uncover the blasphemy and to destroy the offending human ship. As reward for his eagerness, Kav'ra recieved overall command of the operation over his other Sangheili major counter part.

Normally, such operations would be much better done via a plasma bombardment from afar. Quick, efficient, and minimal losses. However, the debris field that litters the entire area around the offending ship renders such option moot. Thus, destruction of the ship must be done the hard way: plant a bomb at the center of the ship and blow it up.

Speaking of explosions, Kav'ra's mind suddenly turned towards the massive anti matter charge that he had brought along with him to detonate the human ship once he had finished investigating the source of the blasphemy. To help him succeed in the latter task, he managed to procure a huragok engineer to help understand the origin of the heresy and make sure it doesn't happen again.

Kav'ra was soon snapped out of his thoughts as the phantom landed on one of the ship's many hanger bays. Kav'ra instantly hopped down, being the first to do so, before the rest of his troops followed. Once he was sure that everyone had disembarked, he issued his first orders of the operation.

"Set up defensive positions" he barked. Although he was told that the human ship was supposedly empty, he didn't want to take any chances. "Do not bring out the anti matter device unless I say so. We shall scout out the ship and sniff out any cowardly humans still hiding. But first, we escort the huragok to the bridge. We may soon find out the reason behind this heresy. Glory to the Covenant!" he rallied before mentioning the huragok to follow and taking his lance with him to the upper decks of the ship, where the foolish human vermins normally position the ship's bridge at. 






(OOC: first time rping as the covies. Apologies if I got anything wrong) 

[Faclan]

(Still feel free to join people, keeping the Human troop leader unnamed in case someone wanted to be them.)

Ollan Sira - Marine man
Pelican 'Delta 711'
Much less rush rush than normal.

Looking back at the people who would be heading on this sojurn with him Ollan found himself sitting across from the Demo of the group, extra help in case the doors that were claimed to be faulty needed help. He gave the other Marine a little wave as he tilted his head and depolarized his visor. Giving the man a smirk as he motioned to the explosives on his chest - his HUD displaying LC Machesky. The Pelican rocking as it avoided some debris.

"Packed enough boom did you Matchbook?" (Hope that's cool Stubbs - maybe Matchlock instead if you'd prefer. ;D). "Expecting all the doors to be locked down?" Talk made the work days go better at home even over the roar of the coreing machines. That was until he looked to his immediate left and say LT Ivy sitting there, looking at him for causing some noise. Opps.

Flicking his head back the other way to re-polarize Ollan went quiet again, which turned out to be fortuitous as the Pelican soon touched down. But instead of rushing out in a stream of glory and hoo-rahing their CO instead called for everyone to file out orderly. Delicate operation and all that.

The humans would find themselves in a hanger, with the doors that would normally seal this hanger open. And seemed to be stuck like that. Well the recording did say it was having door and power troubles. However the atmosphere did look abnormally thick. And one of the eggheads was seemingly looking it it as (s)he? waved a scanned around. The proper marines and ODST's quickly moving to watch the doors before they started to move through the ship.

[McStubbsberry]

Lance Corporal Scott Machesky
Pelican 'Delta 711'
Into the Maw

The Marine across from Scott caught his attention with a simple wave as his helmet depolarized revealing a darker skinned man. Just about the complete opposite of what he had in his mind's eye. The motion of the Pelican stirred Machesky up even more. "Matchbook, huh? I'll definitely take that over the nickname I got with my unit." The Marine chuckled, leaving his face concealed behind the visor. "Honestly, I packed pretty light for this outing. I'd rather have brought a full backpack of C-12, but I figured the ship wouldn't take that kind of beating." 

As the Pelican touched down, the Lance Corporal unstrapped himself from the most uncomfortable seat in the known universe and followed the instruction of a more quiet disembarkation from the craft. Scott found himself in the hangar, sparse and barely lit. The Marine quickly switched from his shotgun to his service pistol as it would be marginally better in that situation. As some sort of scientist waved around a device, Scott's training kicked in. Where are the exits, are there catwalks, if he were to setup an ambush, where would he stage? Machesky scanned the hangar, searching for any form of movement or anything that seemed out of place. Despite that, there was nothing. It seemed dead, just a chunk of metal floating through the endless vacuum. There was something, or someone here though, or there would be no distress signal, no need for this mission.

[BetaWülf]

SPOILER: Click to show

Name: Lovidicus(Loh-vid-ih-cus)
Sex: Male.
Age: 28.
Species: Jiralhanae.
Rank: Captain.

Equipment/appearance:

SPOILER: Click to show

Lovidicus generally wears the full body armor styled by the Vheiloth, and carries a Gravity Hammer(awarded to him for excellence in service to the war effort) and Spiker rifle as his primary weaponry(as well as a combat knife and grenades). His skin is a medium gray in color, and his eyes are a bright orange. Most of his skin is covered in tattoos or various forms of scarification.

Skills: As a Captain, he is a well trained soldier and leader, but he excels in the fields of marksmanship and unarmed combat.
Vices: He views most of his Covenant compatriots as inferior just as far as species in general go. Lacks compassion for most other people, even some of his Jiralhanae brethren.

Jiralhanae Captain Lovidicus
Boarding the Wreckage

Lovidicus and his Pack stood near the back of the Phantom, watching. The Sangheili were taking the lead as per usual, but Lovidicus saw this as an opportunity to show Jiralhanae excellence in the field. And the likelihood of the distress signal's source shaming all the Sangheili aboard and abroad was simply one of the reasons he loved his job.

"Let's get to it" was all he said to his subordinates as they disembarked from the Phantom, in the wake left by the zealous reptiles.

Lovidicus barked and his Pack fell inline behind him, "we're searching this irradiated dung-heap for the source of the transmission, and blowing it to the three moons secondarily" he said to the other Jiralhanae. "The five of us will be on the hunt; I doubt we'll encounter many survivors if any but don't let your guards down" he said to his troops, ignoring the Sangheili for the most part.

Lovidicus took the lead, accompanied by his four subordinate Majors; drawing his Spiker rifle and keeping it at a low but readied angle. The interior of the corridor was dim, but the Jiralhanae took no issue from it; they could see in the dark. They proceeded onwards undeterred.

[Mr. Prezident]

(OOC: Sorry if I am rusty but I thought i might as well start shaking it off haha)

SPOILER: Click to show

Name:
Zix
Sex:
Male
Age:
23 (human equivalent)
Species:
Ruutian Kig-yar
Rank:
Minor


Equipment/appearance:

Type 51 Carbine
Type 33 Needler
Two Prox. Mine

Zix is of average size for a kig-yar, with bluish-gray skin and bright orange eyes.  He wears a necklace of exotic colored fibers around his neck.


Skills:

Skilled combatant
Cunning
Vices:

Hateful and arrogant
Lone wolf

Zix is an ex-mercenary turned soldier.  While he will tell others he "didnt get paid enough", he left the mercenary forces after a bout with another kig-yar that ended in him being targetted for assassination.  He joined the military for security as well as his occupational abilities.

Kig-yar Minor Zix
In a rotten mood...

Zix shifted uncomfortably in his suit.  He always preferred as much freedom of movement as possible, but his armor felt oppressively restrictive.  He wished he could rub his necklace to relax himself.  He leaned against the side of the phantom, behind and away from the rest of his Lance.  He didn't want anything to do with a bunch of skiddish Unngoy and Kig-yar; hanging around with them was a good way to get killed.  He had an idea of his own, and hopefully years of boarding actions as a merc would serve him well here.  If not, better to die on my own than with these idiots.  Zix pondered as he watched one Unngoy shake almost violently in anticipation.

As the Phantom dropped off its compliment of troops, a Sangheili Major started barking out orders as usual.  Zix scoffed as he moved ahead of the other troops, eager to put himself away from the others as a 'scout'.  Leave it up to Sangheili to charge headlong towards their death.  Zix  got a glimpse of their initial deployment before he skittered down a hallway, seeing that at least the Jiralhanae were intelligent enough to let the small-brained lizards get themselves killed first.

the Kig-yar focused on his own objectives as he put distance between him and the rest of the Covenant.  If he could find a good ambush point, he might be able to kill a fair number of humans and slip away.  Maybe even get a bonus.  He knew how the Sangheili appreciated valor in combat and he would enjoy using that to his advantage.

SPOILER: Click to show

Name:
Dietrich Hardin
Sex:
Male 
Age:
20
Species:
Human
Rank:
Private


Equipment/appearance:

M7S SMG
M6D Sidearm

Dietrich is decently built, with dirty blond hair and deep blue eyes.  

Skills:

Fairly optimistic and cheerful
decent marksman
trusts his instincts

Vices:

Inexperienced soldier
relies on his "gut feeling" too much

Dietrich is from a modest family on Earth.  He lived a simple life and got by fairly well.  As he grew older, he started to get restless.  He tried several trades from manual labor to mechanics and other things.  Finally, he set his sights on the Military.  He was in good shape and an intelligent person, so they made sure to recruit him quickly.  With that said, the UNSC got him into a lot better shape and enhanced his leadership abilities.  He was a good shot and had the capability for NCO position, but he was comfortable as a private.

Pvt. Dietrich Hardin
Anxiously waiting for orders

Dietrich whistled a low tune as he duadruple checked his armor and weapons.  He couldn't help but be a little nervous, he wasn't an experienced soldier and he wasn't an expert in Zero G combat either.  He found distracting himself was the best way to keep his mind from racing.  After the briefing, the private had gotten a bad feeling about the whole mission.  A random distress signal after seven years of silence from this area, and who knows how many channels it could have been broadcast on?  He sure didn't like it, but it seemed that the retinue he was a part of were calm and prepared.  It helped Dietrich be at ease.

As they disembarked from the Pelican, the Private stopped his whistling and searched his surroundings.  An eerie silence purveyed the area, and Dietrich really started to dislike the scenario.  No greeting party, friendly or otherwise.  He had to wonder what the hell was going on with this ship.  He gripped his M7 tightly as his eyes scanned the room repeatedly.

In a low voice, Dietrich chimed in despite himself, "I dunno, this place is creepy...no friendlies, no tangos...am I the only one getting bad vibes about this?" He said to no marine near him in particular.

[Tyl]

Ivy Fourscythe
Pelican - Delta 117
"Boarding actions"

I wonder if the shipboard AI is still active? The lieutenant pondered before a voice broke her focus. Her eyes fell on the culprit, one Corporal Sira. He caught her glare and seemed to go quiet, turning away from her. Shortly after the pelican touched down almost sending Ivy's laptop unto the floor of the troop compartment. She quickly grabbed the corner and closed the top.

"Touch down complete." She sighed relieved having finally cleared the ship graveyard. She turned to see the Devil dogs already unbucklinf and watched the commander give order to carefully disembark. She saw a few of her science team look at her and she nodded. She unbuckled tucking her laptop under her left arm and drawing her Magnum into her right.

She quietly disembarked the marines having already scattered about. A few of the science team quickly took out scanners and began checking the radiation. Ivy ignored this issue, knowing the suit to be resistant and capable of holding some oxygen in case of leaking atmosphere. Instead she was more focused on getting one of the doors opened. She knelt down by the opening mechanism and tapped the buttons to no avail.

"Guess it's the hard way. Corporal Sira come here." She called to the marine who was nearby. "Take position I'm going too try my luck in opening this door." She said ad she began using her tools to take the panel off the wall. She didn't check to see if he got her order and assumed she could rely on him.

OOC: Hope that's okay Faclan.

[Faclan]

(If/when people start moving throughout the ship in groups I'll PM you specific things that you may see, or feel free to have 'oddness' in the hallways and rooms you find. We can always edit . There are three doors out of each hanger. Just take a bit to get to places like the bridge and the like. The 'baddies' will soon show up people though for more to interact too ^.^. Its perfectly fine Tyl . I know I can't stop you all from looking at the sections without your name on it but...hey I mean its your life <3 - Also seems like you got some glory seeking Troops tento125 ;D)

Mr. Prezident (Zix);

SPOILER: Click to show

Thankfully for the Kig the big 'door open' button worked enough for him to wriggle through and get himself into the hallway proper. Now mostly separated from the other Covenant forces Zix found himself in a pretty standard looking hallway. But a bit oddly all the fire extinguishers were not in their stations on the wall. And there was a...big arrow on the floor. It looked like it was burned into the floor. It was pointing toward a small door that read 'maintenance' above the door. If the Kiggle could read English that is.

BetaWülf (Lovidicus);

SPOILER: Click to show

The second door was easy enough to brute (GOD IM FUNNY) force open with five big strong handsome furballs on the case, and with the now fully open door able to be moved through the mini pack would trudge through it to find themselves in a hallway that just after they entered took a right angle right. And after turning the angle they would almost run into a Human body hanging from the ceiling, well the upper half of one...With a single Sangheili leg attached to the middle of it. Would have probably been easy to smell if they could.

tento125 (Kav'ra);

SPOILER: Click to show

The Huragok seemed to be having a bit of trouble moving through the thick air of this place but for now he(it?) informed the Major that he was still feeling fine despite the extra work needed to move. Thankfully he was able to get the door open pronto without having to use force and the Majors group was soon moving through the third and final door. Perhaps with some force left behind to make sure the transport stayed in one piece and the explosive cargo stayed safe. The group would find a seemingly normal hallway - at least judging by their human ship interior experiences. However it was a bit strange that the Humans would put framed paintings on their walls - that seemed like it would cost a lot. The paintings pretty normal things like rolling hills, the ocean, and portraits of Sangheili...wait what?

Ollan Sira - Marine man
Mystery Ark Ship
I mean we are on a time limit.

"I'd rather have it damaged than us getting stuck Match, I'll stick by you man." Ollan would respond much quieter over comms after he went quiet to Machesky. Before it was off and stand around watching the hanger.

The eggheads were still waving their sensors around as Lt moved over to one of the three doors out of this place. Some Marines watching each door as himself and a three others moved over with her to check out the door. He didn't check to see if Machesky was going with him but he would probably be needed to get the other doors open.

Standing at the side as the LT had asked him to do he watcher her half paying attention as she took out a little datapad and slotted it into the door panel. At least it was Human stuff and not alien doo dads. The panel seemed to be lit up a tiny amount and after some work from LT 4S it opened up a little bit. A few inchs. But then stopped. Shrugging Ollan took a step back and clipped his SMG onto his chest before pulling out his pack mattock and giving it a little spin. "The message said the doors were unstable, we can probably pry our way in." Not asking the LT if it was ok he slid the adze end into the door and start to jimmy it back and fourth. Thankfully for all the humans the door started to slide open. And once it was around six inchs apart he and another Marine, perhaps Ivy, were able to each grab a door and pull them open enough for people to slip through. Nodding at the work Ollan returned the tool to his back and took a half step through it before looking back. "We are on a time limit after all LT, with the air and all."

* All players - this happens just after my post and the actions I told other people *

The science individuals on both sides will let it be known that the thick air that is in this 'low atmosphere' environment is some type of very dense gas. It has some oxygen in it but a small amount of it. Not enough to keep active for more than a few minutes of needed. But the other particulates in the air seem to be sticking to the sensors but it doesn't seem corrosive due to the fact that the walls are still pretty clean. It is also not flammable which is good so IF weapons need to be used everyone won't die. There are some unknown items in it however.

Also the following will play over the ships speakers, first in Sangheili and then in English. It sounds VERY different than the initial broadcast that brought people here. Much less robotic and more overeager game show type of voice.

"Heeeeeeey everyone! Don't be trying to leave now! We got soooo much more to do here!" This played once only unlike the repeating message - that if anyone checked the repeating message would have now stopped. The red emergency lights on the ship are now on - even though the repeat message was warning people about low reactor levels.

[BetaWülf]

Jiralhanae Captain Lovidicus
Peculiarities

Forcing the second of the three hangar doors open was fairly easy for the Jiralhanae given their natural physical strength, and it didn't hurt that it was designed by and for a much punier species as well. Lovidicus was of course taking the lead, as letting a subordinate go first was both cowardly and weak in the eyes of the Jiralhanae. They had neither earned the privilege nor deserved the risk involved in that ordering of their hierarchy. They weren't far down the corridor when it crooked straight to the right.

As he rounded the corner, Lovidicus came to a dead halt, one of his Majors lightly bumping into the Captain before stepping back more cautiously. Lovidicus normally would have growled at his underling, but he was too focused on what caused him to stop. It was like some obscene attempt sculpting, the upper half of a Human hung limply from the ceiling; the severed leg of a Sangheili nailed crudely to the center of the other's chest.

If it wasn't for the EVA suits Lovidicus and his comrades could have smelled such a thing easily from a distance, but given the protection needed against the radiation their acute olfactory senses were rendered moot. The Captain's head shot a glance upward when an obnoxiously happy voice started speaking over the internal communications system of the vessel.

"So it's a game then, ey?" he said looking back at his warriors, "let's have a little fun then, shall we? Whoever kills the fool on the other end of that transmission gets paid shore leave to Teash for a month" he said, they all looked between one another with mischievous grins.

They each raised a forearm with more serious looks upon their faces, ramming their lower limbs together with a nod each. They let out a unison of howls before breaking their huddle and proceeding down the corridor with a determined pace. Lovidicus said "Let's hunt" over his shoulder, turning his head back forward with a primal look of excitement taking his features.

[Mr. Prezident]

Kig-yar Minor Zix
"Scouting" ahead

Zix surveyed the area cautiously, everything seemed calm for the time being.  As his eyes wondered down the hallway, his eyes fixed on a large red marking on the floor.  He had dealt with humans enough to know it was human letters scrawled below a giant arrow.  Unfortunately he had never bothered to learn it like some mercenaries and pirates, but he knew the layout of human ships well enough to surmise it was probably some sort of storage area.  He briskly followed the crimson arrow.  The arrow led him to a rather small, unassuming door.  He was slightly disappointed, but decided he might as well see what was inside.  He briefly searched for the button to open the door and pressed down on it.  To his surprise, several crates felt right on top of him.  Fortunately it wasn't enough to do any damage, but it rattled the Kig-yar.  Hissing and flailing violently, Zix got the boxes off of himself.  Just as he did so a voice crackled to life over the intercoms.

"Heeeeeeey everyone! Don't be trying to leave now! We got soooo much more to do here!"


Maybe I will start by flaying you alive, Zix thought to himself irately.  As he refocused himself, he saw that in the closet there had been three Human swords behind the crates.  Tapping the visor over his chin, Zix forgot about his anger for a moment.  He thought it might not hurt to have a melee weapon in these close quarters, even if it was primitive Human ones.  He placed two of the human swords on the magnetic latch on his back.  The last sword he took in one hand, placing his Carbine with the swords on the magnetic latch, and grabbing his needler in the opposite hand.  He took a deep breath before sauntering down another hallway leading forward.

[Faclan]

(Till people meet up we can have the little solo parties have some fun :> Don't be afraid to post, don't wait for people.)

Mr. Prezident (Zix)

SPOILER: Click to show

After extracting himself from the boxes and finding the gift laid out nicely Zix found himself back in the hallway. Still with all the fire extinguishers not in their holders. However he would notice that all the similar doors like the ones he just entered had what looks like blast doors over them. And perhaps more worrying the door he entered this hallway through from the hanger had a blast door over it too. Seems he was separated from the group and there was only one way forward now. His quick Kig eyes probably catching the ships cameras slowly panning to follow him inside their little protective cases.

(Like this Watching always )

BetaWülf (Lovidicus)

SPOILER: Click to show

Just after the team powwow sessions the pack would hear a clang behind them as the blast doors from the hanger to their hallway slammed shut. Seems this game was one for them to play alone without the assistance of the lizards in the other room. Not a problem though as Lovie Dovie and his boyz we're clearly more of a match for anything this mystery voice would throw at them. That is of course until they continued, either not caring or having dealt with the blast door shutting them off, and heard a loud click.

(Not all the blast doors have shut everyone else, just the ones in the hallways the chicken and apes are in ^.^)

[Llau]

SPOILER: Click to show

I'm back, feeling better after my time in the hospital, but still recovering, and I have an urge to RP again. Someone new?! No...>.> Are you not surprised that I'm using Mike for this?! :V

Lieutenant Commander Michelangelo Moretti
Section Three Tactical Field Officer
Aboard Prowler Silent Sanguine - Bridge | December 2551 | Neutral Systems | Safe observation distance from the Ark |
Up To No Good...As Always



A pair of brown eyes stare intently at a screen as it was broadcasting a live security feed of the two groups arriving at the seemingly abandoned ship they were observing. Once again, he was put in command of a mission, and with the same ship he used a month ago. Moretti's eyes darted from the feed showing the whole ship to another screen showing where the aliens were able to dock to, and then at another screen showing the group of humans who also ended up taking the bait. He frowned slightly as he stood with his arms folded in front of his chest. Furrowing his eyebrows slightly, the Lieutenant Commander reached his hand up and lightly tapped his bottom lip with the tip of his index finger, while he thought about the UNSC personnel who arrived. It was a toss-up on who would pick up the faint radio transmission they had set up inside the derelict ship they were using for another of ONI Section Three's black operational experiments that weren't sanctioned due to how illegal they were. Section Three didn't care who would arrive, just as long as they had multiple test subjects in order to do this experiment.

He peered down at his TAC-PAD and pressed a few buttons to bring up a message box to communicate with his superior.

<<Subject Group A is inside the Ark. A variety of Covenant Species this time; unlike the first group who were tested on before I arrived, who were all Sangheili (If you can recall.). We also have a Subject Group B now as well. All human. UNSC Marines.>>

<<Interesting turn of events...proceed with the testings, Lieutenant Commander. Keep all communication signals from leaving the Ark. We don't want the UNSC learning what is happening as much as we don't want any Covenant from finding out.>>

<<Fine. I will inform MIMOSA of the update.>>

Once he finished communicating with his superior, he walked over to the holo-table. He stopped for a moment behind the communications station, and peered down at a young Lieutenant sitting in the seat when he heard him let out a sinister chuckle. The man seemed to be a lot more eager to be here than Moretti, giving the fact that he let out that laugh after speaking into the headset. The man could send messages to be heard inside the Ark, and the apparent boredom was causing him to be a bit creative with them.

“Having a little bit of fun there, mate?” asked Moretti.

The Lieutenant turned around and looked up at him in surprise. “What? Oh, uh...sir,” he began, “Yes, sir. I am. Sorry, but I'm just so bored sitting here, blocking communications and sending boring messages inside that dead ship for these stupid aliens, and now the UNSC showed up. I guess you don't care if they are UNSC?"

"Collateral damage, Lieutenant..."

"Oh..." He gazed silently up at Moretti before sighing. "Look. I just wanted to have a little fun to keep myself from falling asleep.” As an afterthought, he quickly protested, “I mean...you probably would do the same thing, Lieutenant Commander, from what I've heard about you.”

Moretti grinned a little, thinking, 'I'm sure you've heard of a lot of things...'

He clasped his hands behind his back, and responded coldly, “What I do is my own business, but this isn't my free time, nor yours. Get yourself a stimulant so you can stay awake, and act professional while you're on duty, Lieutenant.”

“Y-yes, sir!” The Lieutenant swallowed hard, turning back around to face the screen and continue working at his assigned duty.

Frowning, he breathed in an annoyed sigh as he carefully eyed him for a few seconds before continuing his walk over to the holo-table in the middle of the bridge of the Prowler. Just before he stopped to stand by it, he called out to the ship's AI, Anansi.

“Anansi,” he ordered, “Contact Doctor Das and tell her to report to the bridge so I may speak with her.”

“Yes, Lieutenant Commander Moretti,” replied the AI calmly.

Moretti peered down at the digital 3D model of the Ark's layout, gazing at the bleps on the map - green and red to differentiate from the humans and aliens inside the ship. He stood there, wondering which group will get to the reactor room first, or to the bridge, or when they will encounter each other. Will they join forces, or will they try to kill each other? Either way, if they don't kill one another, what's lurking around there will. He grinned darkly a little. This will be better than his last mission. 

[McStubbsberry]

Lance Corporal Scott "Matchbook" Machesky
The Ark Ship
Don't Tread On Me

Satisfied that there was nothing in the room with the UNSC strike force, Scott scanned the Marines to find Corporal Sira. Despite the suits, the Corporal was spotted quickly heading towards one of the few exits of the hangar. As much as Machesky would like to tag along with his new acquaintance, the Lance Corporal noticed a small group of lower enlisted personnel were heading towards what Machesky considered door number two on this fine adventure. I need a promotion. Scott thought to himself as he trailed the Privates.

By the time he arrived at the door, the Privates had slide half of the door wide enough for the fire team to squeeze through. Scott was still the ranking Marine among the motley crew. "From here on out, radio silence Marines." The Lance Corporal ordered. He absolutely hated the idea of leading, but Scott didn't have much of a choice considering the circumstances. There was too much that could go wrong on this derelict ship and an experienced Marine was a necessity. The Marines acknowledged Scott's command with a simple, "Aye, sir," as Scott shimmied between the opening in the doorway, the task was only made more difficult by the bulky environmental suits.

With his service pistol still drawn, Machesky scanned the narrow hallway for any sort of movement while the rest of the fire team maneuvered through the doorway. Despite poor lighting conditions, Scott could make out a blast door towards the end of the hallway. A Marine appeared to the right of Scott with their assault rifle aimed down the corridor, giving the Lance Corporal confidence to switch back to his shotgun and to begin a slow advance towards the blast door with what sounded like a few other Marines behind him and hugging the walls. As the fire team neared the blast door, Scott noticed that there was an adjoining hallway that broke off to the left. Machesky stopped just short of the corner and the other Marines followed suit just behind him. It was apparent that the blast door was locked down with no obvious control panels to open it. Although just one block of the C-12 would have been more than enough to blow through the door, the tight confines of the corridor would mean that the team would probably be wiped out unless they returned to the hangar, that wasn't an option.

Scott tapped the wall behind him, signalling to the Marines to stack up behind the Lance Corporal, after they were in position, Scott turned around the corner with his shotgun aimed down range. As he stepped around, there was a very audible squish under the boot. Immediately, Scott lost traction and dropped harder than a sack of potatoes to his back. "Shit!" The Marine yelled as he went down. 

Instinctively, the other Marines rounded the corner to cover the team leader. "You alright, Lance....?" The Private trailed off as he saw the hallway. "What the Hell happened here?" The hallway was covered in a thick coat of blood, the floor and walls were caked with it and the ceiling dripped with splatters of blood as well. Despite the low lighting, it was obvious that the blood was human. It appeared that there was something in the blood as well. Intestines, lungs, hearts, and other body parts littered the floor. Multiple people had died for this level of carnage.

With his backside covered in blood, Scott got back to his feet. "There's no signs of battle here," he said to no one in particular. "I don't think the people these parts belong to were killed here." Despite being mostly crushed, Scott could see that he slipped on a liver. Almost ironic considering his was probably in really bad shape. "Keep moving forward, Marines, and watch your step. 

[BetaWülf]

Jiralhanae Captain Lovidicus
Tricks and Mockery

Lovidicus paused for the briefest of moments when he heard a subtle click. A trap was springing. The sharp bark of one of his Major's causing him to turn in time to watch them disappear into a hole in the floor. Lovidicus dove with his hand outstretched, but not in time to catch his subordinate. He growled in anger as he watched his Warrior slide away and out of sight.

Before he or his remaining warriors could react, a second trap went off, coating those standing in pink dust. A much finer layer drifted down to Lovidicus' prone form.

"Do you think this is funny you depraved creature?" the Captain snarled up at the intercom, promptly getting to his feet.

"Brother, can you hear me?" Lovidicus shouted.

"Yes Captain" the soldier, named Krotak, shouted back.

"Are you injured? Can you climb back up?" Lovidicus inquired.

"My arse is going to bruise, but otherwise I'm fine" Krotak replied "I think I'll be able to climb up after I inspect this chamber" he concluded with a growl.

"What do you see down there?" Lovidicus asked.

"They're... watching us... all of us...." Krotak said, distantly.

"Who?" Lovidicus inquired.

"I... do not know, but... there are Humans here as well as our Soldiers" Krotak said "the room below was... filled with screens, showing us, our brethren, the Humans too... we're being stalked, Lovidicus" he said, his expression pleading and dire(though Lovidicus could not see it, he could hear it in his voice).

Krotak explored the small room, filled with monitors showing the several groups of allies and enemies moving throughout the ship. Amongst the many interfaces was a large red button next to a microphone. It wasn't hard for Krotak to figure out, since it wasn't that different from native Jiralhanae technology.

He pressed the button, and the microphone crackled to life. He grinned.

"Soldiers of the Covenant, beware! There are filthy Human warriors aboard this vessel, and some twisted entity is manipulating the internal systems of this vessel like some twisted hunt... where we are the prey!" Krotak said over the intercom, but in his native language so the Humans couldn't understand due to lack of translation in the transmission(to them it would sound like verbally structured barking, grunting, growling and roaring).

[Llau]

Lieutenant Commander Michelangelo Moretti
Section Three Tactical Field Officer
Aboard Prowler Silent Sanguine - Bridge | December 2551 | Neutral Systems | Safe observation distance from the Ark |
Warning: Boredom Can Lead To Madness.



While Moretti was waiting around, slowly starting to become more and more bored by the minute, the Lieutenant carefully listened to the angry sounds coming from one of the Jiralhanae. He shook his head a little, turned to find where the Section Three ONI Officer was, and managed to get the older man's attention.

“Lieutenant Commander Moretti,” he exclaimed, “One of those ugly apes spoke into the intercom.”

Moretti gazed over, frowning a bit. “And did you have the translation software translate what it could of the Jiralhanae language? ONI has been gaining intel on their alien language just as much as the other Covenant species.” He gradually approached him again, hands clasped behind his back.

“Not yet, sir,” he admitted quietly.

“Don't be incompetent, Lieutenant,” warned the Tactical Field Officer, Shaking his head, he added, “Anansi. Translate the recent transmission from the Jiralhanae.” He glanced back over toward the screens to watch the aliens, but focused his attention on the one who spoke into the intercom upon reviewing quickly of which one did speak to them.

“Translating, sir,” replied Anansi. While Moretti was looking on at the screens to watch what would happen next unfold, she finally finished translating most of what was said. “Translation completed. Unfortunately, ONI's current understanding of the Jiralhanae language isn't at one hundred percent - yet. Not even at fifty percent, sir. All I could translate for you is, he is speaking to us, but does not know who we are, and questioned the Communications Lieutenant if it's funny. I assume he means of the situation the Covenant has found themselves in.”

Moretti chuckled lightly, glaring down at the Lieutenant. “I don't even know how you even graduated OCS, mate...can't even follow simple orders.”

“I won't do it again, sir,” replied the Lieutenant fearfully. “Sorry, sir.”

Moretti slightly tilted his head, thinking about what he should or could do to him if the younger man pissed him off. “Save your apology,” he muttered, “I don't need it, or want it. All I want is for you to do your job correctly.” While adding, “Now, get up and give me your headset.”

The Lieutenant quickly nodded and moved out of his way, and then waited to give the Lieutenant Commander his headset until Moretti occupied the communications seat. Moretti reached out his hand and took the headset from him and put them on. He made it so he could see the security footage of the group of aliens on two different frames side-by-side on the large monitor in front of him. He then brought back the translation program below the videos in a pop-up window. ONI had gathered a group of Linguists, Hyde being one of them, to help create the software, which is still on-going and being updated. So far, Sangheili language was 95% completed, while Kig-Yar and Unggoy were around 70%, and Jiralhanae was around 40%. The last he checked, the disgusting flies, the Yanmee were at 2%. He grimaced in disgust at the thought of the Drones, before going back to what he wanted to do; rather, say.

First, he replied to the Jiralhanae Captain's question through the intercom. “In the matter of fact, furball. I do find this bloody hilarious. It's going to be a party.”

The Lieutenant sighed. “Don't know why you bothered to say anything back,” he muttered,“They probably don't even know English.”

“The intercom should have its small screen turn on automatically to show translated text...you would have known that if you bothered to pull your head out of your arse and listened.” Moretti muttered back as he moved on to the camera that showed the other Jiralhanae in the small chamber it fell in. He looked on, and then chuckled to himself when he heard it speaking into the intercom to warn the other Covenant species of who else was on the ship, and about the 'malicious entity manipulating everything on board.'

He spoke into the speakers around the chamber, speaking directly at Krotak after the program gave him a rough translation of what the alien said. “You're right,” he explained, “This can be considered a hunt, but I'm not really manipulating everything from where I am. I'm more so...overseeing things. Observing.”

A pause.

“Also, warn your friends and the other humans all you want. No one will be able to help you. Your allies can't help you, nor hear you. Everyone is going to die, and die painfully. You're also not going to get out of this chamber alive.” He smiled. By now, the bottom of the opening the brute fell in had closed and locked. Nothing is going to get in or out ,or break it. He typed quickly several lines of code into a narrow window on the right side of the screen, waited, but not even a second, there was a reply.

Moretti smirked a little. “I wonder how long it would take for this caustic gas to kill you? It certainly won't be a very pleasant experience for you.”

He watched as a greenish gas started to appear from vents along the walls, the floor, and the ceiling.

“You think that's kinda overkill, sir?”

“If you think this is overkill, then talk to the nerds who are testing all of this, and complain to them, mate,” Moretti suggested, staring at the screen in amusement, as the doctor who he ordered to the bridge entered.  As much as he wanted to see the Jiralhanae to suffer an agonising death, he needed to talk to the scientist, and continue his duties. He stood and went over to the holo-table to have a conversation with the doctor as she waited for him there; looking back at him with a cold, bitchy expression. 

[tento125]

Sangheili Major Kav'ra 'Te Loknee
Aboard the Ark
Searching the ship
HERESY!
Tags: BetaWülf

As the major led his troops further into the human ship, his suits sensors suddenly warned him of dense gas of unknown composition, which, had he not sealed himself in side of his air tight suit, he would most likely gag. Immediately, Kav'ra was on guard. Something wasn't right. He had expected that with the extensive damage done to the ship, it would've been filled with holes, sucking out any air inside. Guess he was proven wrong.

What worried him the most though was the fact that the Huragok that he brought along was visibly struggling to navigate through the dense gas. Ever since they had encountered the gas, the Huragok was having trouble keeping up with the rest of the lance, but he (or it, Kav'ra really had no clue) signaled that he should be fine. Kav'ra didn't protest but kept that in mind in case he met any hostiles.

As they came through a third door, they were met with yet another long hallway, something common among vermin vessels. What was unique about this particular hallway though, was the fact that the hallway was lined on both sides with paintings, and beautiful ones as well, Kav'ra was forced to admit. The paintings were mostly of landscapes: hills and sunsets, beaches and oceans, and lush green forests. Kav'ra had found himself admiring these human artworks, even though such acts can be seen as heresy by some of the more strict Sangheili.

"Major you have to see this!" Kav'ra heard one of his Lance's Unggoys shout out further down the hall.

Kav'ra sighed to himself quietly before walking up to the gas sucker "Speak your mind"

The Unggoy made no sound but instead pointed to a particular painting hanging on the wall. It was simply a beautiful piece of art, just like the other pieces found in this art gallery. What stood this work apart though was that it showed a Sangheili portrait?

"What heresy is this!!" Kav'ra bellowed out. He reacted out of instinct as he ignited his energy sword and sliced through the offending portrait. It was after the act that Kav'ra realized what he had done. The two halves of the portrait were on the deck now, the smell of burning canvas would radiate throughout the room had it not be for the present gas. 

Before he could do anything else however, the ship's intercom suddenly came to life as a voice sounded out "Heeeeeeey everyone! Don't be trying to leave now! We got soooo much more to do here!" 

Everyone stopped what they had been doing to look up to the speakers, faces full of confusion. Kav'ra slowly walked up to what he assumed to be a microphone and shouted out "What ever game you are playing vermin, it shall end soon" He then turned his attention to his lance "Let us continue our path" he ordered "We have wasted enough time here"

Grunts of approval from his men soon followed, but soon after they had left the gallery, the voice of a Jiralhanae sounded over the same intercom as earlier.

"Soldiers of the Covenant, beware!" the voice of the over sized ape started "There are filthy human warriors aboard this vessel, and some twisted entity is manipulating the internal systems of this vessel like some twisted hunt.....where we are the prey!"

Kav'ra almost completely forgot about small Jiralhanae pack that had tagged along with his troops. At first, Kav'ra had thought of them as unnecessary baggage, but now? the vicious barbaric furballs could turn out to be useful after all.

"Captain Lovidicus?" Kav'ra said into the battlenet. "I presume it was one of your fellow brethren on the ship's speakers just now?" he asked before continuing. "If so, we need him to relay the position of the human vermin and to better coordinate our forces" he finished before switching to broadcast on all Covenant battlenet channels.

"Holy soldiers of the Covenant! The humans think that they can control us and think that we are now their prey! Let us show them the price for their foolishness and make them realize, we are the true hunters and they are the prey" he finished before receiving a roar of approval from his lance as they moved deeper into the ship to find the ship's bridge and to finally put an end to this blasphemy.

[Faclan]

(General announcement peeples, gona take away the 'radios no work' problem for now so you can have more chit chat between people. I'll be mentioning this in the OOC thread so people know in case they skip this post :> )

McStubbsberry

SPOILER: Click to show

In addition to the roaring and Jiralanae speak coming over the speakers as the team moved down the blood hallway they would spot tripwires in the hallway. Thankfully their careful moving while watching their steps let them see them without triggering any of them. Well done Humans. Getting past without slipping however is another matter but teamwork let the ones that did be caught before triggering anything. Thank goodness for that lower gravity. Once at the end of the hallway there would be a doorway on either side of them. One marked 'maintenance' and one marked 'armory'. The names crudely painted on the doors in what the Humans would guess is Sangheili and then English below that.

tento125

SPOILER: Click to show

Storming deeper into their hallway the Sangheili would find nothing else untoward on it until they reached the end of it. It would come to an abrupt end it what looked like a makeshift full hallway blockade of Human metal. And on the right hand side of the hallway would be a door with 'armory' written on it in Sangheili and English. While on the other side was a small hatch with 'engines' Written on it, again in English and Sangheili. The Sangheili would probably have to crawl to make it through the hatch if they decided to go that way.

[BetaWülf]

Jiralhanae Captain Lovidicus
Rage Against the Machine
Tags: Llau , Faclan , tento125 .

Lovidicus looked up when a Human voice spoke to him over the intercom in response to his question. He barely understood any of the words, but a written translation appeared on a monitor. Lovidicus did little more than growl in response. He worked towards prying the hatch open that Krotak was trapped beneath, but to no avail.

---

Meanwhile, Krotak looked up when a Human voice started speaking to him, and him alone.

“You're right,” the Human explained, “This can be considered a hunt, but I'm not really manipulating everything from where I am. I'm more so...overseeing things. Observing.” to which Krotak scoffed.

“Also, warn your friends and the other humans all you want. No one will be able to help you. Your allies can't help you, nor hear you. Everyone is going to die, and die painfully. You're also not going to get out of this chamber alive.” Krotak turned when he heard the hatch seal and click, presumably a locking mechanism. Before the voice spoke again, he heard claws scraping the lid, unsuccessfully it would seem.

“I wonder how long it would take for this caustic gas to kill you? It certainly won't be a very pleasant experience for you.” the voice continued, causing Krotak to frown.

The Jiralhanae Major turned this way and that, his face paling as he watched a green gas drift into the room from the many vents all throughout the chamber.

"No... not like this" he uttered quietly as his skin began to burn.

---

Lovidicus' eyes widened when he heard a scream from the chamber, obviously Krotak. He stood swiftly. "Stand back" was all the Captain said as he took the hammer from his back.

He wasn't fool enough to use the hammer's gravitational technology, but it was still a gigantic hammer. He beat on the door repeatedly as the screaming continued, growing more intense with each hit on the hatch. After a dozen or so hits with no real effect, Lovidicus activated the hammer's power and drew back to swing.

"NO! DON'T!" Krotak screamed. A small gap between the hatch and it's fittings had been caused by the pounding it had taken from the hammer.

"Hold on Krotak, I will free you!" Lovidicus roared back.

"No! Don't break the seal any further... lest the rest of you share my wretched fate... I must die for you to live" Krotak said, a pained groan taking hold. "I'm being... broken down... gas... caustic...." was the last thing Krotak mumbled before an audible slumping sound was heard.

Lovidicus' jaw was slack, quivering ever so slightly as he gasped in short succession as shock took hold. A tear streamed down his right cheek. He turned slowly to his three remaining Majors. He stared for a long time, before returning his hammer to his back. He remembered that the Sangheili Major had sent a message to him over the localized battlenet.

"He cannot respond or do much of anything, Major 'Loknee... he's dead" he said, his voice low and... nearly shaken, which Kav'ra should know as incredibly unlike the Captain if he'd ever read his personnel file. He was a seasoned veteran who had served in some of the bloodiest conflicts the Covenant had seen during the War and earlier. "They sealed the room he was in and... melted him with caustic gas...." Lovidicus said.

"My Pack will keep right as best we can so we might rejoin with you and your soldiers, but I recommend we head towards the reactor room Major to better assess our situation" Lovidicus said, all of which could be heard by any of the Covenant soldiers within the ship, though he was still speaking in his native language to try to make it harder for the non-Covenant individuals to understand their plans.

Lovidicus looked up at the monitor, "You're going to your 'hell', Humans, I hope you've made your peace with that before I kill you" he said, in Sangheili so they would understand him more clearly this time. With that said, Lovidicus and his three remaining Majors continued onward into the vessel.

[McStubbsberry]

Lance Corporal Scott "Matchbook" Machesky
The Ark Ship
Do you want to play a game?

The four Marines made it through the booby trapped slip and slide of a corridor with most of their dignity still intact, no thanks to the environmental suits. At the end of the hall, there were two doors marked with red paint that appeared to be chipping away. It also looked like it was slapped on by someone in a hurry. The first set of letters were completely alien to Scott. Mostly because it was alien, but below that, it read 'Armory'. What the hell is this? Press 2 for English? Scott thought to himself. To the right was 'Maintenance' which was down an incredibly narrow service shaft. The Corporal turned to the Marines behind him, finally getting their names. PFC Seibold, PFC Rawlins, and PVT Touch. Really, Private Touch? That poor kid must of got smoked in Boot Camp. 

"Alright, can any of you think of a good reason why we should hit maintenance?" Scott called out to his troops, they might be young, but one of them might have a better idea than the Lance Corporal. None of this sat right with him. 

"Sir, there might be a chance we could get the air scrubbers running again." It was PFC Seibold. "I work on the tanks, I don't know much about ship mechanics, but if I can get it going, we can ditch these suits."

Lance Corporal Machesky didn't even consider that. It was a long shot, but could be invaluable for the long haul. "That's probably the best idea I've heard all week, Private. Alright, we'll hit that, but first let's hit the armory. Between that shit we just walked through, the jackass on the comms, and not to mention the wild beast yelling right along with him, we're going to need some more firepower. Any objections?"

"No, sir!" The three Marines said in unison. 

"Good, let's go." The Marines pried open the door to the armory without much resistance and quickly fanned through the room. Everything was in its place, rifles with rifles, sub machine guns, shotguns, sniper rifles, it was all here. "Grab ammo and anything else you might need, Marines. There is nothing I find more disgusting than an unprepared Marine." Something is wrong here, all of that blood and the trip wires, but this room is almost completely full of firearms. What the hell is going on here?

Before Scott could get too much further into his though, PFC Rawlins approached. "Sir, there is no ammunition here. We found a couple clips for a pistol, two clips for a BR, and six shotgun shells. That's it."

"I found a rocket as well," PVT Touch announced.

"Touch, get one of those rocket launchers and load it up. You're in charge of it. I don't think we're the first group to move through here." Nothing was adding up. It couldn't have been one of the other fire teams. The other door hasn't been tampered with. Could it have been all the blood? Were they the ones that came through here too? Scott wanted answers that he probably would never get. Is this some kind of game?

[SPARTAN-A120]

SPOILER: Click to show

Faction: UNSC Marine Corps//UNSC Navy: ONI - Section III Field Agent\\
Actual Rank: Petty Officer Second Class/PO2 (E-5)
Fake Rank: Lance Corporal/LCpl (E-3)

Real Name: Donovan Sanchez
Alias: David Santiago
Callsign: Coyote 2-1

Species: Human, Latino
Sex: Male
Age: 24
Height: 5’10”
Weight: 167

Equipment/appearance: Sanchez has tanned skin with an UNSC Navy tattoo on the inside of his left forearm. He maintains his hair in a High-and-Tight haircut, keeps his face cleanly shaven, and his body in a lean and toned condition.

- Gear -
Primary: MA5B Rifle (x9 60-Round M118 7.62x51mm FMJ-AP Magazines)
Sidearm: M6C Magnum (x4 12-Round M228 12.7x40mm SAP-HP Magazines)
Grenades: x2 M9 HEDP Fragmentation Grenades, x2 Flashbang Grenades
Explosives: x2 C-12 Shaped Charges in Backpack
Miscellaneous: Individual First Aid Kit and x2 24-Hour MREs

- Suit -
ECH252 EVA Helmet, HUD Tactical Glasses, Marine Corps’ Atmospheric/Exoatmospheric BDU, and Lightweight-Hard Case 48-Hour Tactical Rucksack

SPOILER: Click to show

Skills: Espionage, VBSS (Visit, Board, Search and Seizure), Above Average CQB
Vices: Egotist, Cynical, Deceitful

Donovan Sanchez enlisted in the UNSC Navy soon after high school and selected the Master at Arms as his MOS. Spending three years as part of his assigned ship’s security personnel, Quick-Reaction Force, and assigned to a VBSS team, he was selected by ONI and was turned (through coercive means) into a mole for clandestine operations that required his close contact to hostile ships, equipment, and other technology that might be valuable to ONI. Working as a Field Agent for ONI’s Section III for three years now, Sanchez is currently conducting an undercover operation for ONI once more, but his fate is to be determined on his success of the mission.

Fire Team Members:

Private First Class Brandon Evans - MA5B Rifle
Private First Class Orlando Gaines - M90 CAWS Shotgun
Private Micah Todd - M7C Submachine Gun

"Lance Corporal David Santiago"
ONI Callsign: Coyote 2-1
UNSC Marine Corps VBSS Team
The Ark - December, 2551
“Agent of Mayhem”
(Tags: Tyl , Faclan , McStubbsberry , Llau )

Santiago smirked underneath his polarized visor when all hell broke loose. He didn’t know the exact nature of the mission, but he did know that it was ONI operating the theater behind the curtains. They were watching the Marines’ every move and they were unaware of it.

The undercover Field Agent pulled rear security with three other Marines who were part of his fire team. They were not aware of Santiago’s dealings with ONI and he wanted it to be that way… for a while. Of course, if Santiago were to be exposed as an ONI spy, that would be the end of his career and the end for his life probably. Fortunately, he was tight-lipped and knew how to maintain cover the way ONI trained him; fit right in. That’s exactly what the Petty Officer did.

“Last man out,” Santiago said to the crew chief over radio before he switched over to his own team’s frequency.

The crew chief who was manning the rear-mounted heavy machine gun gave a thumbs up before returning to scan his area of responsibility. Getting up from his kneeling position, Santiago made a hand signal for his teammates to follow and he stopped a few meters short of Lieutenant Fourscythe and the scientists. They faced away from the group to cover any threats that would attack from the rear. He eyed over his HUD on his bottom left which contained an oxygen readout of the amount of oxygen that was in the ship at the moment. According to the red text, oxygen levels were low which was a good sign that wearing an EVA suit was a necessity for boarding actions. After a brief moment, the team leader felt a pat on his shoulder and he looked back at Pfc. Evans. Fourscythe was through the hatch so he motioned at his team to enter.

When all of his team members were through he motioned at Pvt. Gaines to help hold the door with him. After obtaining a good grip of the door, they held it back for the last of the boarding team to enter, “Corporal Sira, you’re clear to move in.”

The hallways was dimly lit with red emergency lights with enough illumination to see down the hall. The Marines in his team automatically reacted to the lowlight environment by applying a red lense onto their flashlights and switched them on. They were in a tight column formation with two Marines at both sides of the hallway. As always, he was taking point on the left side of the hallway and Pfc. Gaines was taking the right side. Their flashlights spotted the last of LCpl. Machesky’s team heading towards the armory so they started to move when Santiago gave a hand signal. The Lance Corporal gave another hand signal for the team to halt when they reach thed end of the hallway and the pointmen of the team kneeled to prepare to check the corners while the others continued covering the hall to their 12 o’clock. Santiago nodded his weapon to indicate a “Go” order and the pointmen rounded their corner.

It was difficult to make out what was covering the hallway because of his red lensed flashlight on his MA5B, but after seeing the scattered human organs along the hallway, it didn’t take long for him realize what the liquid was. Pvt. Todd, Santiago’s battle buddy, started to make hurling noises. “For fucks sake, Todd, get yourself squared away,” Santiago said in a hushed tone.

“All clear here, Santiago,” Pfc. Gaines said over radio.

“Copy. Stand by until the Corporal arrives,” Santiago replied.

In the meantime, Santiago gave a secret hand signal in case he had a camera on him. He discreetly wiped his visor with the index and middle finger of his left hand and then brushed his left shoulder plate with his right hand where the UNSC logo was. This was used to indicate that he was ONI if he was being observed.

[Faclan]

( McStubbsberry No big update for you this time since Tento is now your posting buddy, at least for a little :> )

BetaWülf

SPOILER: Click to show

Stepping over or around the heavily dented hatch, RIP, the (s)quadron of apes would continue down the hallway. Likely much more on alert now for traps. However besides the big trap hatch there didn't seem to be anymore. Or they were just that careful and avoided all the rest of them through pure skill. Regardless the team would find themselves just one large door at the end. Unlike the other big doors found by the other teams this one was unmarked. How mysterous!

Ollan Sira - Marine man
Mystery Ark Ship
Alright new boss man.

Raising up his weapon as he entered the hallway he moved to the side so the others could squeeze on through. Before he got a good look at the hallway proper. It was all red. But that was probably because of the emergency lights on everywhere. So it didn't raise any big alarm for the former miner as other peeps moved on through and into this hallway. Soon there were enough guns in the hallway to satisfy Ollan though so he got up from his crouch and started to follow the group.

It was then that one of the marines made a muffled retching noise which made Ollan turn around and take a better look at the hallway.

Oh...thats what it was.

He managed to stop himself before he joined the other Marine and took a deep breath before responding. "Guess it was a real party here right?" It would be pretty evident from his stance though that he was quite put off by all that as he carefully walked around the splattered organs to follow...LC Santiago. Well a good a person to follow as any around here. He seemed to be moving with purpiose too which was good. Thats what was needed in a situation like this. They were soon moving down an offshoot from the other group lead by Matchbook kept moving down straight ahead.

"Stay safe Matchbook, this is pretty fucked." Was sent Matchbooks way before Ollan was off following Santiago toward the...bridge? If the signs on the walls were right. Well that made sense at least at least if they got there they could maybe find some records that would explain what the hell was going on here. Or at least some controls to try and improve the situation.

[BetaWülf]

Jiralhanae Captain Lovidicus
A Better Chance

It was not too terribly long before Lovidicus' sorrow for the loss of his friend and comrade Krotak had turned to hate for the ones responsible, his brow furrowed with internalized rage and his lips curled tight. Knuckles pale, pupils to slits, a low growl humming. It was also not too terribly long before they came to yet another large door.

Unlike the other doors, this one was unmarked. With some effort he pried the unpowered door open, proceeding inwards with caution. Lovidicus took the lead, spiker raised as he scanned the room for hostiles or traps. Nothing. Luckily for the four remaining Jiralhanae, they had happened to be in the reactor room now.

In the middle of the room there was a large manual crank, and several consoles around it as well. Lovidicus motioned to the Major Petakus to follow him as he headed off to investigate the reactor room proper. One of the Major's tried to get the consoles to work to no avail, until another pushed on the crank in the middle of the room. As the crank moved slightly the consoles flickered to life if only briefly.

"Folum, stay on that console" he barked at one Major, then turned to the other "Delarius, turn the crank to power them" Lovidicus said before heading off with Petakus to look around.

What Lovidicus and Petakus found was... disturbing to say the least. A Yanme'e's head was sitting nicely on a small pedestal, and nearby was the body of a Sangheili clutching a bag full of grenades of Human design. What was going on with this heinous ship and all these Macabre attempts at art?

"Captain, there are some discrepancies here with the initial message that brought our Vessel here to investigate" Folum announced to his superior.

"Like what?" Lovidicus asked, his tone unamused.

"This ship's reactor has roughly thirty percent of it's power, not dead like the prior message said, and I believe I can restore the gravity and internal lighting from here" Folum said.

"Work on the gravity, but leave the lights off, I don't want to lose our natural edge over the Humans; remember that they cannot see in the darkness like us Folum" Lovidicus said. Folum nodded, continuing to work the controls as he attempted to restore artificial gravity and see if there was anything else he could learn.

[Llau]

Lieutenant Commander Michelangelo Moretti
Section Three Tactical Field Officer
Aboard Prowler Silent Sanguine - Bridge | December 2551 | Neutral Systems | Safe observation distance from the Ark |
Tag(s): SPARTAN-A120



Moretti stared down at the petite, thirty-year-old, Peruvian Section Three scientist, while they stood at the holo-table. She reminded him of someone, but he couldn't quite place it, nor did he really want to ponder about her familiarities, since he concluded that he sees so many people, that he probably met her before at one time or another.

“Welcome back to the bridge, MIMOSA,”

She sighed, “You know you don't have to use that,” she muttered.

“Oh. Well, then, I apologize, Doctor Chaski,” he grinned when she just grunted and glared up at him. He went on, “Grumpy, are we? I know how annoying it can be when you're stuck on board Prowlers for a long time. Are you staying hydrated? Did you get enough to eat, or have some rest? You've been working with the other scientists around the clock...”

Doctor Chaski sighed, “I'm fine,” she then questioned, looking at the camera feeds, and noticed the paintings on the walls. “Those weren't there before...”

“The paintings? So glad you finally noticed them. You like them, darling?” A smile. “I did most of those during my free time over the years, and thought it would be great to give that ship some artistic flair a few days after I arrived to take over command. I also bought the really nice ones created by the alien prisoners inside one of ONI's prisons. Which are then taken and sent to very expensive, secret auctions the rich have recently now. Coming from a rich family does have its perks.”

She stared at the ones she was able to view for a few moments, before gradually shaking her head in disbelief when one of the screens cameras switched to the camera found inside the reactor room. She noticed the dead corpse of the Sangheili clutching the human grenades, and the head of the Yanme on the small pedestal. “Tell me you didn't set those two up like that too...”

He looked at the screen, grinning a little as he looked at his work in admiration. “I guess I have a thing for macabre art,” he simply said.

“You...guess?”

“Well, I did have to get rid of those two dead prisoners somehow since they were completely useless to me to interrogate. The bloody Sangheili never spoke...stubborn bugger. Speaking of buggers. Have you tried to interrogate a Yanme before? Let alone an injured one? I haven't. So, I killed both, and then I thought, I might as well bring them over to the Ark with those paintings too, instead of chucking them out of the airlock, while there was that lull of waiting for those two test groups to pick up on that beacon of ours.” He chuckled in amusement.

She let out a trembled sigh, feeling appalled, and thinking that she would rather have the other Commanding Officer back. 'Moretti's insane. Why the hell doesn't ONI send him to the Psych Department to have him checked out by the psychologists? In fact, who let him stay on duty? Must report him when I get the chance to...' She made the mental note to report to her Section Three superiors, and then she quickly changed the subject.

“Anansi said you wanted to inform me of an update on the experiments within the Ark, Lieutenant Commander?”

He smiled again, nodding. “More test subjects have responded to the fake beacon we have installed on the ship. A group of mixed Covenant species have arrived. I'm calling them Group A. Merry Christmas, doc!” He smirked gleefully. “It's something you wanted instead of only one group of the same species! Oh, yes, love,” he chuckled lightly, “I heard you bitching about that earlier.”

She sighed in annoyance again, crossing her arms in front of her, and waited for him to continue. “By that grin on your face, there is more, isn't there?”

“Another group showed up sometime after Group A did,” Moretti responded, glancing down at the holo-table, where the 3D model of the Ark was floating above the table.

He moved his hand to touch the location of where the group he just mentioned was currently located, and placed a way-point there. “That's where they are at right now,” he told her, and then with the same hand, he raised it up to point toward the screens showing the camera feed.

Doctor Chaski followed his hand to look from the Ark's model floating above the holo-table, and then up to the screens. She quietly stared at each of the security camera feeds, until she realized who the next group was. “Humans...” She furrowed her brows as she looked on curiously, as she figured out who they were. “Are they...UNSC, Lieutenant Commander? Not space pirates, or Insurrectionists?”

“Hmm,” Moretti kept himself from smirking as he gazed back down at her and let his hand drop to his side. “They are indeed a unit of UNSC marines.” She started to protest, but he stopped her. “It's too late now. You said it yourself anyway.” He reminded her, “That whoever hears and responds to that beacon, will be your test subjects.”

She frowned a little, and he noticed her making her relaxed hands into tight fists as she held her arms down by her sides. He grinned at that, thinking how adorable that was. “Surprise to find that you even care who you test on, darling.”

While adding, “Don't worry. We can write them off as collateral damage. I also mentioned to you before that we're blocking communications...they won't be able to send a distress signal of their own to the UNSC ship nearby. Nor can the group of Covenant soldiers to their ships.”

“You really don't have any problem with them being marines of the UNSC?”

“You really should learn to be like the other scientists and myself, and disassociate yourself from operations such as these,” Saying that, she understood that he had no problem about who the humans really were. “You'll handle things a lot better, like sleeping better and eating better.”

He looked at her for a moment before glancing back at one of the camera feeds, and watched as one of the marines give him a hand signal to reveal that he was ONI. He slightly smiled, but briefly at that. Good. His field agent made it into the unit sent to investigate the distress beacon. He brought up a list of the identified marines Anansi had made when the AI picked up their friend or foe transponders, and then marked Petty Officer Santiago, who was pretending to be a Lance Corporal, as an ONI ally.

“You're dismissed, Doctor Chaski,” he ordered, “Do get yourself something to eat in the mess, and maybe get some rest before your shift starts again.”

She watched him as he marked Santiago as an ONI ally, and raised an eyebrow a little as she frowned. “What are you doing?” she asked.

“You have your orders, Doctor,” he quietly said, “Don't make me say it twice.” He smiled a little darkly when he looked over at her, and then she quickly gave him a nod, and left the bridge.

“Sir,” the officer spoke to him again.

Moretti turned his attention to the Lieutenant. “You again,” he then asked, “What is it?”

The Lieutenant replayed what Lovidicus said when Moretti was busy talking to Chaski. "You're going to your 'hell', Humans, I hope you've made your peace with that before I kill you."

The Lieutenant Commander scoffed a little at that. “Sure, mate...if the radiation leaking from the reactor doesn't kill you, or any of my fine traps don't, first,” he said to no one in particular. “A slow radiation poisoning is quite the slow death...especially once the symptoms start to show themselves.” He glanced down at the Lieutenant. "Isn't that right, mate?"

He nodded. "Yes, sir!"

Moretti walked back over to the holo-table, and then sent an encrypted message to Santiago, mentioning to him:

['Activate Geiger Counter on your HUD. Inject yourself with the Iodine I hope you remembered to bring with you. Radiation is gradually leaking from the reactor. It'll eventually kill those not using a Geiger counter, and/or the longer all of you stay there. Your VISR will be the only one that highlights where the traps are with the program that I have installed inside this message – which will install automatically into your VISR. Use extreme caution and don't get yourself killed by them...or let those marines find out you're really ONI. I trust that you remember your training, Petty Officer.']

[tento125]

Sangheili Major Kav'ra Loknee
FILTHY HUMAN VERMINS!!!!!!!!!!
(too lazy to type my usual intro format )
Tags: BetaWülf McStubbsberry

"He cannot respond or do much of anything, Major 'Loknee..." the voice of the Jiralhanae Captain filled the Major's battlenet channel, oddly filled with dread. "He's dead. They sealed the room he was in and... melted him with caustic gas....
" his voice barely contain the shakiness.

Kav'ra momentarily halted his movement, clearly shocked at the revelation. Even though he despised the overgrown apes, not a single soul should suffer such a torturous demise. Even the human vermin were granted with a swift death upon capture. This has gone way too far.

"My Pack will keep right as best we can so we might rejoin with you and your soldiers, but I recommend we head towards the reactor room Major to better assess our situation
" the ape continued, voice full of confidence again.

"Acknowledged Captain" Kav'ra finally spoke "However, me and my lance are currently en route to the vermin's poor excuse for a bridge. Answers may be found there" the major finished before closing the channel. He then opened up another channel to the other lance whom he ordered to stay with the phantom as their means of escape. "Prepare the device for detonation." he ordered, meaning the anti-matter bomb that he was entrusted with to destroy the human ship. "The time is nearing to eradicate the scourge and end the madness"

With the channel closed, Kav'ra simply headed out deeper into the ship in search of answers.

------------------------------------------------------------

A few minutes have passed before Kav'ra managed to find himself at a corridor intersection, not too uncommon aboard warships, but this one in particular was filled from deck to ceiling with debris, plus the fact that the signs have been conveniently been written in Sangheili. He snarled at the sight before slicing the signs into pieces with his energy sword. 

Once his emotions have calmed down, he considered his options. On one side, it leads towards the reactor room, where Captain Lovidus would undoubtedly be waiting. That way however, is almost completely blocked by debris, only a small space just big enough to crawl through is present. On the other side however, said that it leads to the ship's armory, and that side isn't as blocked. Without much hesitation, he ordered his entire lance to go down the route leading towards the armory.

After some effort of carefully coaxing the Huragok through, the Covenant troops made their way to the armory. Seeing that the door was locked, the Huragok floated forwards and began efforts of unblocking it before he inexplicably stopped.

"What is the problem?" Kav'ra asked. 

"Apparently there are humans inside" one of his Sangheili minors hissed.

Instantly Kav'ra's mind raced with anger and lust for combat. He quickly ordered the lance into battle positions and called up an unggoy who was prepared to throw a plasma grenade inside as soon as the doors opened. 

"Kill all but save one" Kav'ra ordered, causing looks of confusion coming out from all members of his lance. "We need to interrogate to find what in the name of the prophets is going on here"

Satisfied with their commander's answer, the Covenant soldiers readied themselves as the Huragok worked to open up the door. They didn't have to wait long.

As soon as the doors slid open, the unggoy who was called up earlier, primed a plasma grenade and threw it to the backside of the room. Not waiting for a reaction from the humans, the Covenant soldiers all fired their weapons........