Shattershield (IC)

[kartoffelfogel]

High Justicar Q'as 'Nemervai
Descended Obelisk
'Hojir Warehouse

The pieces were all in place.

And the game had just begun.

Q'as had spent every waking moment of her life since that fateful day she first joined the Inquisition playing the game. It was a game that did not reward failure or success--the punishment for success was simply a harder task--but the punishment for failure was death. And in all the years she had played at the game of subterfuge and espionage, no task had yet been too hard.

Inside, she wondered if she had finally reached that task--if she had finally sat down at a game where all the odds were against her and her mind was finally drawing a blank.

She'd expected them to come, of course--the Humans might be technologically primitive, but they were just as refined in the fields of cloak and dagger as any of the Covenant races. She'd scuffled with them from time to time, but it was a testament to their skill--on both sides--that their secrets were hidden from each other. Secret labs and files were destroyed before Q'as could unveil their secrets--prisoners committed suicide to prevent betraying their allies. In the end, Q'as had no idea who her enemy was--she still remained in the dark.

Good. Q'as thought. I like it in the dark.

There three things Q'as was sure of, though--first, that her enemy had no idea who she was either. Second, that her enemy was coming to her--in person. ONI--the Humans' equivalent of the Shield of Qikost--had dispatched a task force to Templar's Rest--a task force Q'as was sure could only be led by her elusive counterpart. And last, but not least--she was sure that she would go down fighting. The ONI operatives will be as sorely tested as she.

And, as she had said before--the pieces were all in place.

And so was she.

The 'Hojir Conglomerate had been scrupulous about maintaining efficiency--any real estate they possessed, they exploited to their most extreme advantage. Thus, the warehouse which Q'as had made into her lair--her hideout--was not abandoned. Warehouses made excellent safehouses--and this one in particular. After all, she had chosen to hide in plain sight. If anyone saw her, they would not give her a second glance--for her nametag proudly declared her as Dwei 'Sudar, night custodian.

And certainly no-one would suspect her as the High Justicar.

She was mopping the floor, as any night custodian would--but as she did so, a tiny speaker implanted on her tympana relayed sound to her, complemented by a small microphone on her lower left mandible. She whispered orders to her Advocates--to the operatives of the Shield of Qikost. These sibilant commands and warnings, unbeknownst to most, were the keystone of the Covenant's power on Templar's Rest.

Silent to any who did not listen with technology, the echoes of command made their way across only the most secure Covenant battlenet.

"Advocates."

Silence greeted her--as was proper. She knew they were listening.

"The Humans are come. Their ONI has landed...we know not where, but it does not matter whether or not we know where they are. We know where they will be."

"They may have monitored our communications. While they will never be able to break the encryption we have installed, they can certainly trace signals to our locations. So I have waited until this moment to give you your orders--for following my command, we must institute radio silence."

"Move now. Flee your safehouses and bolt-holes, and find new lairs. They will charge our hideouts, thinking to catch us--but they will fail. We shall be long gone."

"Leave traps, leave illusions, leave false trails--do not let them catch you."

"We shall last through this long night--and when the dawn breaks, we shall wear our veils and guises, and safe in the daylight, we shall leave this planet with all the information we have gathered."

"Our long lurk is now over--and the game begins."


COVENANT OBJECTIVES
1. Escape to a new hideout
2. Elude the ONI operatives
3. Wait until you are all evacuated

[Martial Virtue]

Major Sierra Lloyd
ONI Section III
Sword Team

Major Sierra Lloyd strode into the briefing room, where the small handful of other ONI operatives were already waiting. She took a moment to look them over before she produced her datapad from the breast pocket of her uniform and placed it carefully on the edge of the table. She let out a discreet sigh.

It had taken some time to get used to all this – being a part of the Office of Naval Intelligence was quite different from what the major had been used to in the infantry as a battalion commander. When she’d been the sole property of the Marine Corps, she’d been in charge of over six hundred Marines; she’d had to plan for the operations and logistics and maneuvers for each company under her command. No easy task. Now she was in charge of only about half a dozen people, a stark contrast. But she felt what they did was even more important to the UNSC’s cause, and the stakes were much higher. It was up to them, up to the few select people in this room, to make sure what happened behind closed doors didn’t end in a FUBAR while the UNSC’s main forces battled the Covenant in conventional ground and space operations. Many times in the past, wars had been decided as much as by what had happened under the radar, so to speak, as what had occurred in widely-known campaigns.

ONI was anything but conventional – and secretive as hell. In the last three years she’d spent as an operative, Sierra had come to know that well.

Major Lloyd cleared her throat and began. “Welcome, everyone. I called you all in here today because we’ve received new orders straight from the top. I know you’ve been waiting to run a mission that involved more than just your classic takedown of a rebel leader or sabotage of Covenant grounds ships and supplies. Well, this is it.”

Sierra tapped the datapad on the conference table twice, once to activate it from its sleep mode and again to produce a small holographic image of the topography of the mission area so her subordinates could see. “This, ladies and gentlemen, is Templar’s Rest. It has quite a history in the annals of the Covenant, and I’ve already forwarded the necessary data in encrypted files to your own personal devices. You may read these at your leisure before we ship out. What you need to know for now, though, is a simpler run-down of what’s been going on here since its discovery.

"The planet was originally used as a place of R&R for our esteemed alien counterparts for many years up until a Forerunner temple was found at the center of one of its main bodies of water. The Covenant clergy then declared the temple a holy site and, therefore, forbade access to its citizens and visitors.”

The major gave a wry half-smile. “You can guess what happened next. An especially scholarly segment of the Elites named the 'Dasal Ascetics ignored the decree and kept up their studies of the temple. An Inquisition occurred. Many of these Elites were killed. The Covenant clergy subsequently decided that anyone visiting the temple area was a Heretic – and, oddly enough, after instigating a bloodbath against the ‘Dasal Ascetics, chose to forbid killing on the island as well.” She shook her head, the smile still visible on her face. “I guess that’s Covie logic for you.

“You may now be wondering what this all has to do with us, and why we can’t just sit back and be grateful that the Covenant there are more concerned with slaughtering each other for once rather than us. The answer is both regrettable and simple: our newfound allies against the Covenant, the so-called ‘Heretics’ by their own, have now become involved in the island. They now call Templar’s Rest their home, and yet it’s unsafe for them to remain there due to the continued presence of Covenant Inquisition operatives – ostensibly named the ‘Shield of Qikost’. This ‘Shield’ group is down to a smaller number by now, but they still keep an eye on who’s accessing the temple, and they’re difficult to snuff out due to their undercover status. Our Heretic allies on the planet have admitted that they’re not equipped to fight this threat to their world on their own, and so they’ve enlisted our help. Our own brass has accepted, and decided it’s time to fight fire with fire – they’re sending ONI in to get the job done. They’re sending in us.”

Sierra tapped her datapad again to bring up a more detailed map of one segment of Templar’s Rest in particular – the industrial city of Descended Obelisk. “In this operation, code-named ‘Shattershield’, we’re tasked to do what we do best: a covert takedown of the members of this ‘Shield of Qikost’. We will be dropped into a city named Descended Obelisk by one of our Mirage-class stealth frigates, the UNSCS Dark Sun Rising. Descended Obelisk is the industrial center of the planet and one of their largest cities, so expect a lot of commotion and activity in the streets as well as their factories. The plus side to all this is that it should be easy for a handful of us to get lost in the shuffle.

“Once we’re off our transport, we’ll rappel down to the rooftop of a warehouse off the beaten path within the city. We’re planning for an insertion at 0300 hours local time, so we’ll have the cover of darkness to get things set up and under way. After that, we’ll meet with our Heretic contact for further instructions, and intel as to where we can find these members of the Shield.”

Lloyd paused for a moment, glancing up from her datapad which now displayed the location of the warehouse in relation to the rest of the city. All ONI personnel were a sharp bunch, so she knew she didn’t have to wait more than a few seconds or so to let the information sink in. They knew their duties and what the job would entail – it was the type of operation they’d performed countless times before. Sierra knew they’d be ready.

“Any questions?” the major asked.

When no one raised their hand, Lloyd tapped her datapad a final time to put it back into standby mode. She then picked up the device as carefully as she’d placed it and slipped it back into her breast pocket.

“Good. In that case, you’re dismissed. Be sure you read up on the details and get yourselves ready to go in the next few hours. We leave for Templar’s Rest tonight.”

***

On the transport en route to their DZ, Sierra was careful to not to show any outward signs of her feelings on the mission. The one thing she did do, however, was her usual pre-op ritual of sorts: she pulled out a photo of her family from the same pocket where she kept her datapad. Tucked underneath the device, the picture stayed safe and wouldn’t risk getting crumpled.

When the major looked down at it, she saw the smiling faces of her three kids staring back at her. Her daughter Grace was twelve now, Caleb was ten, and her youngest, Noah, was seven. They grew up damn fast, she thought. Her eyes drifted to Dylan in the picture as well before she brought the photo up to her face and lightly pressed her lips against it. Afterward, she quickly slipped it back into the pocket of her uniform jacket. Then she rechecked her weapon and opened a COM channel to her fellow operatives.

“All right, people. You know what to do once we touch down. Get ready to hook up and stand by the bay doors. We’ll be reaching the warehouse in five minutes. Lloyd out.”

The remaining minutes ticked by in silence, and before they were expecting it, Sierra and the other spooks in the transport heard the pilot’s voice over the troop bay’s intercom.

“Sword Team, you are clear for landing. I repeat, Sword Team, you are a go.”

Being first in line to rappel down to the roof of the warehouse, Major Lloyd patted herself down once to check the straps on her gear, then gripped the thick rope in front of the open bay doors and tossed it out. It landed right where it needed to be, on the flat, concrete top of the building. Satisfied with its positioning, the major then grabbed hold of the rope with gloved hands, swung part of it beneath her, sat on it, and kicked off.

The rush of the rope burned her fingers a little even through the black gloves she wore, but Sierra wasn’t deterred. It came with the job, and some mild discomfort was always better than falling tens of feet to a really bad permanent injury – or even death, if you were unlucky enough.

Once Lloyd had her boots safely on the solid ground of the rooftop, she let go of the rope and looked back up to the rest of her team. They were all poised, ready and waiting, at the open bay doors. Sierra held up her right hand and flashed a thumbs up to let them know she’d made it down okay, then signaled the next operative to begin their descent.

And with that, Operation: SHATTERSHIELD had begun.

UNSC Objectives:

1) Get groundside from the rooftop and meet up with the Heretic contact.
2) Gather intel and search for members of the "Shield of Qikost".
3) Eliminate any discovered Shield members.
4) Call for extraction when the mission is complete.

[Huka]

Justicar Naru 'Uhcatai
Descended Obelisk
Slums

In the neglected sector of Descended Obelisk, filled with the homeless and wretched, most made this way from the battle that destroyed many parts of the city between the Covenant and Seperatists.

People of many species walked about grumbling of their misfortunes. It was a sad sight...but then again there is always a pitiful slum in a industrial site.

In a abandoned building with a destroyed top, a hooded Sangheili in a rags sat at the window of the remains. Staring out to see the wandering fools with subtle blue eyes, the Sangheili remained silent,

waiting,

listening,

plotting,

Then the order was given. It was finally time. Clicking his lower mechanical mandibles, the hidden Justicar brought his hidden vambrace out from his cloak, tapping in commands on the holographic wrist-computer while keeping his eye out for anyone, and got up to leave, passing a mulilated Sangheili corspe.

Soon the humans will come in to find his former lookout point and they will find nothing but death. His intelligence system hidden within is purged and all useful information that could used against him is left only to him.

Having being stationed here for months, gathering intelligence and occassionally assassinating, Naru and the rest of his Shield brethern have enough to keep the Inquisitors on their toes about the Heretics here.

Now it is time to return to the High Inquisitors, by passing their human counterparts that are called ONI.

This is going to be interesting to say the least.

[Daenerys Targaryen]

Lieutenant Jessica Mae Collins
ONI Section III
Sword Team

"She did not like it at all, not one bit." It had been a while since she had been on one of her last major missions, and she hardly got to do anything, since her counterpart ONI operative disappeared that night on Glassglow. She had never heard about him again, but ONI was like that, they would keep things from people that you had to find out for yourself, maybe they wanted them to be kept sharp, who knows?
Then Artiface, with the Spartans, the andriod, Dr. Harper, injuries, then the friendly elite who escorted them to a pelican.

Now she was being set up again to a major mission, they were headed to a covie planet.. a COVIE planet. Sure, heretics controlled the place, but those heretics were still comprised of the aliens that had slaughtered her fellow man years before.

During the briefing, a new spook, recently a marine in command of a lot of marines, told them of the planet Templar's rest, the place they would be going to. It did not take her long to memorize the facts of the briefing, the main point being that Covenant operatives were still on the planet and they needed to be squashed before they did anything else. After the briefing, she spent the hours until they arrived to their destination reading up on the geography, society, architecture, urban areas, and such of the planet and downloaded a Map to her TAC PAD so it would be harder for her to get lost.

******
This mission would be an interesting one because, for the first time in a long time, she did not know what to expect. Fighting aliens was one thing, but working with them was another. Then a women she was sure was capable, but new none the less, was leading them.

Then for the first time in years she thought back to her life in the marines. All the front line battles, watching cities melt, watching your own friends die beside you, the different colors of blood mixing together. It was something that she did not miss, she actually had begun to enjoy her line of work. Low radar black ops missions like this is what she loved best.


“All right, people. You know what to do once we touch down. Get ready to hook up and stand by the bay doors. We’ll be reaching the warehouse in five minutes. Lloyd out.” Came the now familiar voice of the ONI major as she clicked into comms.

It was almost time, so she made last minute checks on her gear and weaponry to make sure everything was in place. Hoping to god that she would not be alien food as soon as her feet touched the ground.

After the all clear call, the ONI Major made her way to the bay doors and repelled down the ropes provided. Jessica, and other team mates peered over the edge to watch out for her signal. When they saw it, Jessica prepared herself to go down.

The hiss of the rope on her gloved hands kept her focused as she slid down the rope to her waiting commander. Once she felt the ground underneath her again, she gently let go of the rope and gave the next one in line a thumb up before she moved away from the ropes. It was her first look around a Covenant city.. and it was big.

[Huka]

Justicar Naru 'Uhcatai
Descended Obelisk
Slums

Walking through the slums with a fake limp and hunched back, Naru looked about cautiously under his hood as some armored guards walked past him with wary eyes.

The Heretics have certainly strengthened their security to the point of having guards in the slums. They must have truly started to understand what was lurking in the shadows of their captured city.

Good, the fools are actually starting to fear them. Playing with their minds and emotions, soon they will make obvious mistakes, and the Shield of Qikost will exploit it from a small scratch to a nasty, infected gash.

Then his cold blue eyes caught a noticeable sight; a shaky Kig-yar in rags.

Waiting till they were side-by-side and eyes were averted, Naru snatched the beggar by the neck and vanished into the darkness of the alleyway.

Squeezing to avoid the Kig-yar from making any noises, Naru used a thumb to move the Kig-yar's head, looking and remembering every detail until he had it look at him eye-to-eye.

"I have seen you crawling around my home since being here, worm." Naru said simply and from the way its quills twitched, the Justicar sensed fear.

"Oh, yes. I have been watching you and quickly realized what you are." He said, squeezing tighter, watching the bird wheeze as its windpipe was quickly collapsing and its claws grabbed at his long arm.

"Plea-" It begged feebly. "Yes," Naru agreed, "Please give me a potent reason not to squeeze the life out of you."

"Infor-" The Kig-yar wheezed, "Information."

Cocking his head in amusement, Naru lessened his grip abit for the sneak to breath abit and speak better, "Information? What is it that I don't know, Drone?"

Coughing abit, the Kig-yar responded, "Humans have arrived on Templar's Rest, Sangheili. Looking for you and your allies."

Naru was silent as his blue eyes gleamed intensely in the dark before a unaffected answer came out, "I knew that the moment their unmistakeable dropship flew over the forest. Something you should know, Kig-yar, there is nothing that escapes my knowledge without vibrating my web."

The Kig-yar's eyes widened, if it was possible, and Naru snapped its weak neck. Throwing the body aside, he looked at his hand.

He calculated in his head and walked away, unafraid.

Once you are a Advocate of the All-seeing Inquisitor, everything you once were is gone. Almost forgotten, Erased, even down to your fingerprints.

[z]

Captain Revan Knight

"Covenant City... Never thought I would see one of these and not be shot at." Revan said to Shell as the repelled down to the rooftop. Shell instantly moved up to an elevated platform and lifted her Sniper rifle, while Revan moved along the middle in a crouch, making light footsteps as she did, an SMG in one hand as she moved. Stepping up on the far edge of the building, she peeked over the side and placed a finger on the side of her helmet, using the optics to zoom in on the buildings ahead of her.

"Well, least the LZ is clear. See anything Shepherd?" Shell said in a mocking tone, using their normal codename's. "Negative Shell. Day is still young though"

"Wheres this Heretic contact of our at? Revan asked before standing and raising her TACPAD, pulling up a map design of the city, her eyes flicking over it quickly as she memorized the details.

"Cap?" Shell asked.

"Shut up Shell, busy." Revan responded.

"No, Captain I-" Shel said, Revan cut her off. "Busy. Shell. What is it?"

"Nothing, thought I saw something but it was just a smear on my visor." Shell responded. Revan simply shook her head and chuckled a bit. Sometimes, even though she liked working alone, Shell was good company.

"Awaiting orders, Major Lloyd."

[Martial Virtue]

Major Sierra Lloyd
ONI Section III
Sword Team

After hitting the ground with the rest of her spooks in tow, Sierra waited for a moment for a few of them to touch their boots to the rooftop before taking a look around herself. It took her intensive stealth training not to let out a low whistle. Lloyd had seen more than most in this war, had been involved in a lot of campaigns in her career, but never had she seen a Covenant city up close. Much less landed in one. This was as new for her as it was for the rest of her team.

Miscellaneous chatter on the COMs broke the major out of her thoughts. She wasn't here to sightsee, she knew. They were here to eliminate a specific group of Covenant special ops agents, not at all unlike themselves. Major Lloyd had studied enough maps and topography of the area before arrival. A quick scan of the land from the rooftop of the warehouse was all she needed to know where they were, and where they should go from here. Their Heretic contact should be down on the ground somewhere. It was time to move.

Just as she keyed her own COM, the radio filled with the voice of Captain Revan Knight, Lloyd's XO on this mission for all intents and purposes. "Awaiting orders, Major Lloyd."

"Copy that," Sierra replied. She expanded the range on her COM channel, enough to get all of Sword Team in on the transmission rather than just Captain Knight. "Okay, Sword. You know the drill. Looks like we've all made it off the transport in one piece, so now we head down to the streets. We've checked all around with our scanners; there's currently no enemy movement out there, but you know that can change in a second. Cut radio chatter as of now and use hand signals. We'll rappel the rest of the way to the ground off the side here. After that we'll regroup and see if we can't meet up with this contact of ours.

"Be ready for some quick, silent kills if anything jumps out at us in the meantime. Lloyd out."