UNSC-Heretic Intermission

[Wax™]

You are on REACH in the city New Alexandria... For reasons let's say the UNSC flew distant family you wanted to see to the planet so you could see them... Feel free to mingle and interact with one another or do you own thing.

The UNSC had a Strategic victory during the last mission, acquiring a Forerunner android quickly and decisively thanks to SPARTAN GOLD team. However, casualties were high when the Sentinels started to attack, because the planet was actually a Forerunner shield world.

When the Forerunner android was taken, it activated the planets security systems, thus releasing the Sentinels and pulling in a total of Four Spaceborn ships inside the planet, two UNSC ones and two Covenant ones.

During the operation, sentinels killed a total estimated of forty thousand soldiers (40, 000~), and that included the fighting inside the shield world for UNSC Forces.

However, the UNSC was quick to act when the Flood was released, opening the shield worlds exits and acquiring the remaining UNSC Forces from the planet.

The UNSC suffered a total of fifty three thousand, two hundred and eleven Killed In Action, Wounded in Action or Missing in Action soldiers on the battlefield, with the majority force being K.I.A. (53, 211)

In Space, the UNSC was able to hold the Covenant back until Forces where evacuated, and were able to hold again until the two UNSC ships inside the planet were out, thus slip-spacing away, leaving the combat zone behind, suffering 50-60% casualties.

EDIT: Wax, MORE DETAIL. - Kill

UNSC Players that want their characters to have PROMOTIONS or even DEMOTIONS PM me.

[z]

Master Sergeant Lucy Grey

Five days after Jackson had fucked up her life...

First stop of the day, the Shrink.

Sitting up from bed, Lucy sat with her face in her hands, looking up and out of the apartment door to the balcony and to the city outside. Early morning... Grey sky.

Letting out a sigh, the dark haired female stood, looking back to the bed to Jason and then slowly slipped out into the quiet hallway and down to the left, slowly pushing the door opened and peeking in to the two cribs inside. They boys were still out.. .Good...

Sighing, she moved down the hall and ran her hand through her hair, sweats and a t-shirt. Stopping, she sat down quietly on the couch with her hands over her eyes, the gray morning light shining through the windows.

Letting out a breath of air she lifted the remote and turned on the Tv, the lowered volume displaying the early news while Lucy stood and stepped into the kitchen.

She was going to pick herself up dinner, but she planned on making Jason and the kids separate.

A couple minutes later, Lucy was carrying a trey of three plates of Bacon and Eggs down to hers and Jason's room, setting it down on Jason's lap and tapping his forehead.

She hadn't said a word int he three days... Nothing. She wasn't unable to talk like cox, she just did not want to often.

Walking into the kids room, she carefully woke up both of the young boys and carried them in to the master bedroom, setting them on the floor with a perfect view of the screen and picking up they're plates, setting the two don in front of them, and giving a weak smile before putting it on the young boys and feigning smile before walking back to the living room.

Her hand picked up a pen and a sticky note, writing down Jason's schedule.

To-Do List

-Clean Kitchen
-Occupy kids
-Make Lunch(Leftover Mac & Cheese in fridge)
-Pay Mira and Daphne for babysitting boys last weekend
-Make Dinner(Pizza Money in drawer)
-Do me a favor and put the boys to sleep?

Walking back in, she slapped said note on Jason's head, grabbed up a black tank-top, blue jeans, and shoes and walked out, dressed up, and left.

Walking down the nearly deserted streets, she reached down to her pocket and pulled out her small portable touch screen.

Newspaper updates displayed, and of all things... Lucy saw her own shitstorm in the title, "Militay Man jailed for rape.

Letting out a shaky sigh she traced her hand over the screen to another app. Pressing another button to watch the news as she walked.

Alex Summers

Mumbling a bit in her sleep, Alex rolled over. Her cybernetic arm hanging off the bed, her face hidden in her pillow, Alex was finally sleeping in for once. She loved it.

Supposedly, they were going to have to meet a new member of Green later in the day. But Alex did not care much at this point. If they wanted her around, the could come wake her up.
Curling up in a ball in her warm blanket, Alex slept like a log, her mouth hanging open, and her dreams a blank.

Eden Lawrence

Sitting on the side of her hotel bed in her underwear, looking at her new arm. the silver metal glowing in the early noon light, her blond hair falling down at her sides. Closing her eyes for a moment she moved the mechanical fingers. Still stiff...

Shaking her head, the ORION stood and got dressed in a tank-top, jeans, and a pair of combat boots. Her arm clearly exposed. Rolling her head on her shoulders, Eden admitted it right there- She... was bored.

After days of bed rest and rehab she was ready to get out. she had already grasped the concept of using her arm. Now if only the other members of REVIVE would give her a call...

[Wax™]

Master Sergeant Jason 'Iceman' Bowers[/b]

Jason choked softly awake on a piece of saliva that got stuck on his throat wakening from his light snore but heavy sleep, he looked from left to right, the early morning sky lighting up the yellow sticky note on his forehead slightly, Jason lifted his right hand and slapped it on his face before pulling it off, he scrolled down it with his eye's the early morning blurr causing him to read very slowly.

To-Do List

-Clean Kitchen
-Occupy kids
-Make Lunch(Leftover Mac & Cheese in fridge)
-Pay Mira and Daphne for babysitting boys last weekend
-Make Dinner(Pizza Money in drawer)
-Do me a favor and put the boys to sleep?

Jason read the whole thing and than instantly stopped at the phrase 'Clean Kitchen' he laughed to himself than in his mind said 'seriously?' and than he heard Lucy's voice 'That's right bitch... You better do those dishes' Jason sighed and sat up, he was wearing only his boxers, he looked around the room again and rubbed his eye's getting rid of the slight blur, he then noticed three year old Brendan and two year old Thomas sitting down with Bacon and Egg's in front of them while watching an old 21st Century Cartoon called 'Thomas the Tank Engine' which had been revamped and brought back.

Jason then looked down to his lap and noticed a plate with his own bacon and egg's with a knife and fork, he picked it up and placed it on the bedside table, he grabbed two peices of bacon with his hands and chewed slowly on them before shoving them down his throat, he then walked over to the kids who were on a toy mat so they did not get the carpet dirty, Jason looked back down to the sticky that was in his left hand and walked out of the master bedroom and into the Kitchen of their massive suite, he looked at the amount of dishes there, how many people did they have over last night.

"Oh right... Lucy's parents... My parents... Lunar and Delta squad... Forgot about that"

He said to himself before moving over to the sink, he grabbed the dishes two by two and washed them before rinsing them in the rinse basin, then drying them off and putting them in their designated cupboards, fifteen minutes passed and he finally finished the dishes, he then looked back to the stainless steel fridge to look at the next thing on the sticky list, he squinted his eye's and saw, 'Occupy Kids'.

Jason smiled, dried off his hands and then walked back into the master bedroom, when he walked in he noticed the kid's actually had finished eating all of their food, Jason piled one plate ontop of another before putting them on a coffee table and sitting on the edge of the bed to watch TV, he picked up Thomas and sat him against his side before picking up Brendan and sticking him on his lap, he then used his free hand which was wrapped around Thomas to change the channel to some sport, Old Style American Football which was still very popular.

"Daddy used to play that sport back in Highschool..."

He said randomly to the kids, Brendan who had started talking three months ago watched the TV with facination before saying.

"Da...ddy"

[spartan129]

Gunnery Sergeant Francis Hayes
Badger Platoon, Alpha Company, Task Force 77, UNSCMC Armor
Room 703, New Alexandria Hospital
New Alexandria, Reach

Francis coughed. He tried to pull himself up-not good, not good at all! He grunted as a searing pain in his lower back forced him to lay down again.

"Easy, easy!" a familiar voice said, "Don't stress yourself!"

Francis cracked open his eyes, squinting at the bright light. After his eyes had adjusted, they showed him the source of the familiar voice.

"What, you haven't forgotten me, have you?" Hernandez asked, beaming, "Docs said you'd pull through, I'm just glad you did!"

"How long have I been out?" Francis asked, his throat dry.

"Oh..." Hernandez thought for a moment, looking up at a corner, "About six days, plus the day or two it took to get back from the shield world. You know..." he said shiftily, walking closer to Hayes, "at first, the docs thought you wouldn't make it. Most wouldn't...but, hell, your luck? The thing's laser was stopped by your rifle! Imagine that?"

"Still hurt like a bitch," Francis replied with a crooked smile.

"Aye, better that than death," Hernandez said solemnly. The smiles faded from their faces.

"I don't suppose..." Francis asked, "It was all a dream, that..." He couldn't say it.

"No," Hernandez said softly, "No, it wasn't a dream." They stood in silence for a few moments, before Hernandez exclaimed, "Oh! I almost forgot-there are some people here to see you!" He ran over to the door, stuck his head out, and said, "Doc, he's up! Oh, let them see him first!"

Confused, Francis tried to sit up, before remembering how much the action hurt. He lay down, and craned his head over to look at the door. A tall, dark-haired woman walked in-followed by a taller, darker-haired young man.

"Julie..." Francis said, as the woman leaned down and kissed him, "Chris!"

"We got out here yesterday," she said to him. "Oh, I'm so glad you're okay!"

Francis looked at his son, who walked over and hugged him. "Julie..." Francis said, looking at her large stomach.

"Yes." she said, smiling, "They tried to get the news to you months ago, but between deployments...and operations...they just couldn't."

"I much prefer hearing it straight from you," Francis said, and she kissed him again.

"Dad..." Chris said. Francis could tell he was trying to be mature, but was struggling with the "childish" side that pops out in everyone once in a while. "Are you going to be okay?"

"Am I-Am I going to be okay?" Francis asked, smiling, "Who do you think you're talking to? Of course I'll be okay!" He reached over to give his son another hug, and continued, "I am going to be okay, and until the very second I have to leave, I am going to be with you two having a blast."

First Lieutenant Rolland Justice
Lynx Platoon, Able Company, Task Force 77: UNSCMC Scout Snipers
"Jeff's Casino"
New Alexandria, Reach

Justice looked over at some of the other Marines in the casino. He himself had never been one for gambling; he was just here because Madrid said it had "awesome food." Well, Justice wouldn't argue with that...Sitting across from Madrid, he was eating something that descended from some old Earth culture; Mexy Can, if he remembered correctly.

"See?" Madrid said, "No matter what you get here, it's great!"

Justice looked at her, smiling. After swallowing, he replied, "Yes, I agree. And I thank you, milady, for taking me all the way out here, to a drunken, whoreson, gamble-wamble zone."

"Gamble-wamble?" Madrid asked, chuckling.

"Yes, Gamble-wamble!" Justice shot back, laughing. He thought about the deployment they had just been on...the one where he didn't fire a single shot, because they wanted him and his platoon to run aerial reconnaissance. Why they picked scout snipers for this task he had no idea, but now he was relaxing on the UNSC's fortress planet, so it wasn't a big deal.

[C3]

C3135-T14
Location: Human City: New Alexandria
Status: Functioning normally. Major Repairs Complete. Memory Recovery... 15%.

C3... or Celestia as her new name had come to be had slipped away from the guards and other humans. She was weary of being under constant supervision and wanted time away from them. She new stood outdoors and this new world: Reach.

The city was beautiful, even beneath the gray sky. So many people going from place to place, doing their daily tasks. It reminded her of home. Her memory was harshly damaged and she wasn't even able to remember the Creator city's name. It had slipped from her as much of her data had. But she knew that seeing these people behave as they did: it reminded her of a place very dear to her.

She closed her eyes, replaying those memories, as they gentle breeze stirred her artificial hair. What a strange place. So similar and yet....

(To anyone involved with Asha or Zoe McNane, either delete or ignore your posts interacting with them. Until further notice, they are no longer valid.)

[Deleted]

Erik Klix

The Admiral opened the profile, interested to see what lay inside the the service record. "Rear Admiral Daniel Yakamura." crashed a Marathon Cruiser, but under the circumstances... Well hell, the Admiral didn't even know what Yakamura was thinking, but he did it, and lost a mighty fine vessel.

The Admiral had dispatched a Frigate to pick them up. In the mission, a Destroyer was boarded and the Command Crew killed before the counter boarders were able to take the bridge back, and just in time too.

They brought the Destroyer back, and it was undergoing repairs.

At the bottom of the profile, the Admiral was asking for a new ship. Klix thought for a moment, Should I give him another Marathon? They are starting to be a useful resource, and their numbers are depleting rather fast.

It took a minute, then the Admiral finally decided.

He tapped the "VOICE RECORD" button, "Admiral, I'd like to see you in my office on the Arizona as soon as you can. I've got a new assignment, but I'd like to talk to you for a second. Vice Admiral Klix."

With that, he stopped the voice recording, and sent it to the Rear Admiral. Sighing, the Admiral leaned back. He was about to give the Admiral a Venom Class Destroyer, and four Centaurus Class Destroyers to boot as a small Destroyer re-action Force.

Second Lieutenant Klix
New Alexandria Military Cemetery

It was all too soon, standing back in the cemetery, honoring Marine bodies that weren't even there, consumed by those little fuckers that killed off almost all his platoon. Honestly, the Lieutenant was surprised, after suffering that many casualties, the UNSC had decided not to demote him, thank god.

Sadly, he removed himself from Captain Sierra Lloyds company (No offense, Martial.), bringing his Platoon Sergeant and the Company sniper with him. They were officially, solo.

The thought of the Marines consumed by the creatures, made him cringe. What did it feel like? The Lieutenant had asked himself.

[hollowsaber]

Corporal Jake Furrow TF 77: Sniper UNSC New Alexandria Base

Having his boots on the ground felt good again. Furrow had hidden himself away on the UNSC Ares for the remainder of its trip, then slipped out with some of the other soldiers. ONI had lost its touch. He knew he would be in trouble, and someone somewhere may have been looking for him. He probably shouldn’t have heard, known, or even done anything that he did back on that planet. Yet, he had done it. All because of someone putting down NAV points and locking doors.

To his knowledge, the only one able to do that in those areas had to be ONI. Maybe an AI did it. Jake never really found out, and it was probably best that he didn’t. Either way, he was glad he was able to slip away. Now, the city of New Alexandria towered over him. Skyscrapers, people, cars, signs... All of the bright flashy things that cities had blinded Furrow when he arrived, but he quickly got his bearings.

Moving with the others, Furrow kept silent for most of the trip to the base on Reach. Several of the other ODSTs talked about going to a bar, picking up women, and a few just wanted to sleep. Jake kept quiet under his helmet, leaning back into his seat in the troop-transport warthog as he rested. Furrow thought about being like them; drinking and finding a nice woman that is. Yet, he never was one for drinking, and the only women he knew how to talk to were ones on the other side of his visor.

Once he reached the UNSC base, Furrow opened his eyes and watched as the others did exactly what they said they would; head for the barracks to change and go party. Jake just shook his head and went in the complete opposite direction; the firing range. If he wasn’t asleep or fighting, he was always honing his skills. Being complacent wasn’t something Jake liked. He always wanted to get better, he always wanted to learn something new. Maybe he would today, as usual.

Entering the area, Jake could see two other soldiers sitting across the area sitting with each other. Jake nodded at the one facing him, then grabbed some tracer-clips for his rifle. Taking the furthest slot from the door, and the two soldiers, Jake popped open the bi-pod legs and set his rifle down. Laying behind it, he placed the extra clips beside him within arms reach. He was at his home away from home now... His favorite place to be...

[kuran]

Rear Admiral Daniel Yakamura
UNSCS Arizona

Daniel felt like screaming. Not only was he forced to wear his pressed white uniform with the starched collar that cut into his neck, but he also still had his arm in a sling and cast. As he had found out recently, landing a multi-thousand ton warship on a planet was not as smooth a process as one could have hoped for.

He had been expecting to get a call for the several weeks since that fiasco, and had nearly had a heart attack when he finally did receive the transmission from Admiral Klix. Nevertheless, he had hastened to make it up to the Arizona as quickly as possible, and presented himself in the Admiral's office.

Snapping to attention, he offered the Admiral a crisp salute with his good hand. "Admiral Klix, sir. Reporting as ordered."

Corporal James Beaufort
Fireteam Raptor
New Alexandria, ODST barracks

James had always enjoyed the camaraderie between the ODST's. While they tended to maintain an air of superiority over other branches of service, James, like many Helljumpers, greatly enjoyed the company of his fellow ODST's. And while he loved the team he had, he had found himself one man short during the operation on Artifice. The fireteam's sniper had been killed during their extraction, dragged down by a swarm of the still unidentified insectoid freaks.

And so, James had been told to find her replacement, who he had been assured was wandering the halls of the barracks absent-mindedly looking for them. As it turned out, it didn't take a lot of searching. A few questions to passing marines had eventually led him to the red-haired woman he was looking for.

"Asha McNane?" He inquired.

Sergeant Sato Takashi
REVIVE-4
New Alexandria, Reach
Hotel Cairo

Sato generally didn't approve of tricking civilians into doing things for him, but he hadn't had the time or patience to explain why he needed to know the location of his team-mate. So he had claimed to be her Alcoholics Anonymous sponsor in order to figure out what room Eden was staying in.

It had been equally interesting, though distinctly less exciting, to pick the lock to Eden's room before knocking on the door and letting himself in.

"Eden," He held up a small rucksack, "You look like could use drink."

Opening the rucksack, he pulled out a bottle of sake that, to anyone who knew anything about the rice alcohol, was revealed as a very old, very expensive year. Pulling out a pair of glasses, he poured two shots and passed one to his team-mate.

Sato had developed a soft spot for Eden recently. After the final moments of the battle on Artifice, he had been prepared to give his life for his friend, though in all honesty he would have done the same for any member of the team. But there was something distinctive about having dragged Eden, minus an arm, out of her warthog and across the clearing, nearly being eaten in the process.

And truth be told, he felt sorry for her. She had lost an entire arm, which had been replaced by a prosthetic. He would never admit that he felt a degree of pity, for doing so would only earn him scorn from her. But he felt it nonetheless.

"So. You must be bored. Want to kill things, yes?"

[Deleted]

Eric Klix
UNSCS Arizona

"Stow it, Yakamura." The Admiral said coldly, "And take a seat."

The Admiral's Printer hummed to life, the first three sheets where areal views of the Marathon, then his ships statistics then finally the Admiral's personal profile as well, but then another sheet came out, followed by four more.

"Take a look at these." The Admiral said, tossing the pictures of the Areal photos, "It looks pretty damn good still. I want to know why you crashed the Marathon, a Cruiser that helped the UNSC have rare victories. If it was still up during the battle, we could have completely destroyed the Covenant fleet!"

The Admiral calmed down. "Sorry, son. Just my head getting to me. My first ever Cruiser Command was on one of those fine vessels, and not the damned Halcyons..." The Admiral said, "I've decided your not getting another Cruiser, but you did destroy Covenant ships with a Single Marathon, so, I've decided to give you something."

With that, the Admiral slid the last five documents across the table, his five new destroyers. "One is a Venom class, it's yours. The rest are under your command, serving as a fast-reaction force for the 14th. Alright?" The Admiral said, before leaning back in his chair.

[kuran]

Rear Admiral Daniel Yakamura
UNSCS Arizona

Daniel nodded, biting his tongue until the Admiral was finished. He smiled slightly as his new command was revealed. His first real command had been a greyhound-class Fast destroyer, and he felt far more at home aboard lighter, faster ships than the hulking marathon-classes. But this was his life. He wasn't going to let his actions go without a fight.

"Sir, with all due respect. From the ship's logs, which AI Dawn can provide you with again if needed, the Iwo Jima was heavily damaged. Had she remained in the fight, we would doubtless have been destroyed by the Frigate-class ship that was opposing us, resulting in the likely loss of all hands. I hose instead to not only destroy the frigate, but to save as many of my crew as possible, which you will see from the mission logs resulted in two-thirds of the crew of the Iwo Jima surviving the battle."

Standing, he saluted once more. "Thank you Admiral. I will prepare my force for the next operation at once."

[Deleted]

"Sir, with all due respect. From the ship's logs, which AI Dawn can provide you with again if needed, the Iwo Jima was heavily damaged. Had she remained in the fight, we would doubtless have been destroyed by the Frigate-class ship that was opposing us, resulting in the likely loss of all hands. I hose instead to not only destroy the frigate, but to save as many of my crew as possible, which you will see from the mission logs resulted in two-thirds of the crew of the Iwo Jima surviving the battle."

The Admiral thought for a second, "Thank you Admiral. I will prepare my force for the next operation at once."

The Admiral spoke, "Hold on a second, Son. It wasn't a tactical option. The Fleet was close to you. I've read the damage reports, and you had enough reactor power to Reach the rest of the 14th. You could still have a Marathon, Yakamura."

With that, he returned the salute. "Dismissed. I want you to have a run down of your small fleet. Individual Commanders are already waiting. Report back to me on how your ship performs. Between you and I, I'm going to depend on you a lot more now."

The Admiral smiled, sat back down and nodded. "Have a nice day, Rear Admiral."

[kuran]

Rear Admiral Daniel Yakamura
UNSCS Arizona[/u]

Daniel nodded, turned on his heel, and strode out of the office. He resisted the urge to comment once more as he left, thinking that nothing he would say would make much of a diffrence. And then...something stopped him.

Images of those that had died under his command swam in front of his vision. So many, hundreds of men and women, dead during the last battle.

Turning around, Daniel walked straight back to his spot in front of the Admiral's desk. "Sir. With respect sir...I request reassignment. Put me back on a frigate or destroyer sir, but not in command of a squadron. I..." I can't handle so many lives would have sounded too low. "I have spent most of my career aboard that size of ship sir, I feel I can be more useful in command of such a vessel."

[Deleted]

Eric Klix

The Rear Admiral burst back through his office doors, "Sir. With respect sir...I request reassignment. Put me back on a frigate or destroyer sir, but not in command of a squadron. I... I have spent most of my career aboard that size of ship sir, I feel I can be more useful in command of such a vessel."

The Admiral sat up. "Well, the seat is still warm. Hold on a second. Your telling me you don't want four other Destroyers? Well.. I can give you a Frigate," The Admiral said, opening his PDA that lay in front of him. He quickly accessed the documents for his fleet roster. "Yakamura, it looks like we got a stealth Frigate available. Take it or leave it son, it's the best we've got." The Admiral said.

He quickly closed the browser, pulled up another one and took away Yakamura's command of the Destroyer group, and re-assigned him to the Mirage-Class Stealth Frigate UNSCS Eagle's Shadow.

"Alright, Rear Admiral. You've been re-assigned to the UNSCS Eagle's Shadow, but your responsibilities have also changed with that craft. You'll be acting more as a recon vessel rather then a combat vessel like a normal Frigates, understand?" The Admiral asked.

His printer hummed to life, and produced a solid picture of the sleek, black Frigate. The Admiral pushed the picture across his table, "She's yours now."

[kuran]

Daniel Yakamura[/u]

Daniel took the photograph of the Mirage-class frigate and nodded slowly. He straightened up and saluted once more. "Thank you Admiral, I'll do my best."

Turning, he made his way back to the docking bay and into the Suka shuttle that had carried him from the Fleetcom HQ on the planet below. Within minutes, he was on the move, over the curve of the planet towards a shipyard on the other side of Reach.

[jack]

SSGT Nathaniel Wheeler
New Alexandria Military Cemetery

Nathaniel was still on-duty. Now, he was in full dress blues, commanding a funeral detail in New Alexandria Military Cemetery. As the military chaplain concluded his service, Nate readied his drill-sergeant voice.

"Detail, present arms!"

The detail snapped to present arms.

"Right...face!"

As soon as the detail had completed the facing movement, Nate spoke again.

"Detail, commence honors!"

As one unit, the detail went to right shoulder arms and then shouldered the rifle. One volley rang out across the cemetery. Two volleys. Three.

"Detail, post!"

The detail went to port arms and returned to it's original position. Nate went to attention and saluted the casket as the bugler began playing Taps.

Lieutenant Jack O'Reilly
New Alexandria

Jack wandered the streets of New Alexandria in his uniform fatigues. He had no family, and R.J. was off with his. So Jack just wandered the streets, looking for something to do. He didn't know anybody, and no one knew him. It was going to be a long few days.

Captain Rick Armstrong
Spacedock

Rick strode along the spacedock, viewing his ship. Having taken heavy damage during the battle, the ship was in complete drydock. He hadn't lost any of his bridge crew, fortunately. They would have been a real pain in the ass to replace.

Rick stopped at his ship's bow. It was heavily damaged, from ramming a Covenant frigate. The MAC shot afterwards hadn't helped, either.

[Wax™]

Captain Jonathon 'Ricket' Michaels[/b]

Jonathon walked down one of the hallways of the massive UNSCS Arizona he had been called by Vice Admiral Klix, the courier who told Jonathon the news though did not tell Jonathon what it was about or what the meeting entailed, Jonathon was pretty sure the courier telling him the news didn't even know what the Admiral wanted so it would not have made much help asking.

As Jonathon walked down the hallway he nodded to a familiar face that had just walked out of the Admirals Officer, a one Daniel Yakamura, he then stopped just before the door to the Admirals officers deck, he straitened out his white dress uniform and made sure his hat was on properly before looking down to his left chest full of medals and ribbons, making sure they were in perfect order before knocking on the door of the officers deck that were open and standing at attention in the door-way.

"Vice Admiral Klix Sir... You called for me?"

Jonathon said in a deep voice, he had small beads of sweat running down the back of his neck from his perfectly groomed matt black hair, slowly turning very dark grey, Jonathon tried not to look at the Admiral dead on at first but soon stole a couple of glances.

[Deleted]

"Captain, good to see you at this time. I would like to congratulate you on your successful return with the forerunner android. IT calls its self.. C4.. C3, one of the two. Anyways, please... Take a seat, it should be warm. I'm sure you bumped into Yakamura.

The Admiral stood up, walked over to his file cabinet and opened the drawer, "It's 22nd Century. Passed down from family to family." The Admiral said, pulling out a folder, opening to make sure it was the right one.

Inside, lay a small box near the middle, followed by dozens if not hundred of papers signified something special... And about twenty of those were just more paperwork for him. The Admiral calmly signed, and pulled the rest of the file out.

"Well, Michaels... You've got an impressive service records. You know I am the Commanding Officer of the 14th Fleet, I'm sure. So I have something in store for you." The Admiral said, taking a seat in his chair, which softly hissed as the chair quickly adjusted to the Vice Admiral's hind quarters.

"Michaels, I want you to be my Second in Command. I'll be straight forward, Rear Admiral, I need someone I can rely on, who has experience with Cruisers and fighting the Covenant. You'll be depended on a lot, so you might want to make it count." The Admiral said, pulling out the small box.

Inside, two bright, polished silver stars lay inside clipped to the soft blue material that protected them, "This were mine personally, Michaels... Take good care of them." The Admiral said, with a faint smile.

He pushed himself up and walked over to the Captain, took his Captain insignia off and placed it on the desk. "You are being promoted for serving the UNSC proud with experience though out the years. You were able to successfully bring back the most single piece of alive forerunner tech that humanity has ever gotten there hands on." The Admiral said, clipping on the two silver stars.

The Admiral spun around and went back to his seat. "Also, not only that, but you are getting a brand new ship. The new Marathon II is yours, serving directly under me," The Admiral said, pulling up the file and handing it across the table. "There is a lot of paper in there. Your entire crew was transferred over. However, the replacement Commanding Officer has decided he doesn't like the Ares's name, so he changed it to, ironically, God of War." The Admiral finished.

"Your a member of the Admiralty now, Michaels. Your decisions in battle will make or break people, so be careful. It's stressful at first, but it gets better. You need to think on more occasions. In the last battle, I was questioned for not firing like old century musket men. The answer was simple, only four ships had the capability to fire MAC guns." The Admiral said, shaking his head.

"You'll do fine." The Admiral said, before pulling out the remaining parts to the now Rear Admiral's uniform, "So, I see you've got a Medal of Honor. Make me think I'm choosing the right man." The Admiral said, pointing at his wall, where a polished medal of honor of his own hung.

[Wax™]

Rear Admiral (Upper Half) Jonathon 'Ricket' Michaels[/b]

"Captain, good to see you at this time. I would like to congratulate you on your successful return with the forerunner android. IT calls its self.. C4.. C3, one of the two. Anyways, please... Take a seat, it should be warm. I'm sure you bumped into Yakamura."

Jonathon nodded before moving down to sit in the seat Yakamura obviously was sitting in.

"Yes... Yes Sir I did."

Jonathon perked his ears up as he head the chair he was sitting on hiss as it adjusted to his weight before coming to a stop, Jason then sat back in the chair and listened to the Admiral as he spoke. "It's 22nd Century. Passed down from family to family." Jonathon then perked his ear's up again as he heard those words, he was not entirely sure what the Admiral was on about but whatever it was it must of been important so Jonathon nodded with his usual stone face and acted like he knew what the Admiral men.

"Well, Michaels... You've got an impressive service records. You know I am the Commanding Officer of the 14th Fleet, I'm sure. So I have something in store for you."

"Thank you Sir... And... Sir?"

"Michaels, I want you to be my Second in Command. I'll be straight forward, Rear Admiral, I need someone I can rely on, who has experience with Cruisers and fighting the Covenant. You'll be depended on a lot, so you might want to make it count."

"I am honored to receive such a position Sir"

Jonathon's cheeks brightened up slightly as he heard he was being promoted and being made a second in command, he thought he would be stuck at Captain for the rest of his day's he then straightened his back and the beads running down his neck were absorbed by the fabric, he seemingly began to stop sweating now that he was less nervous about the visit to the Admiral, he then watched as the Admiral pulled out two highly polished silver stars from a box, so that is what he meant by his last comment.

"This were mine personally, Michaels... Take good care of them."

"Once more I am honored Sir... I hardly thing I deserve this Sir"

Jonathon's words seemed to fly right by the Admiral as he began to speak again.

"You are being promoted for serving the UNSC proud with experience though out the years. You were able to successfully bring back the most single piece of alive forerunner tech that humanity has ever gotten there hands on..." He paused for a moment as he clipped on the stars. "Also, not only that, but you are getting a brand new ship. The new Marathon II is yours, serving directly under me," He said before pausing again to slide a file across to Jonathon. "There is a lot of paper in there. Your entire crew was transferred over. However, the replacement Commanding Officer has decided he doesn't like the Ares's name, so he changed it to, ironically, God of War."

Jonathon smiled as he took the file opening it and beginning to read off of the pages, he then thought it rude and closed the file, he loved the Admiral he generally loved him, he was so old fashioned much like Jonathon himself and this made Jonathon feel a lot more accepted around the Admiral than anyone else.

"Your a member of the Admiralty now, Michaels. Your decisions in battle will make or break people, so be careful. It's stressful at first, but it gets better. You need to think on more occasions. In the last battle, I was questioned for not firing like old century musket men. The answer was simple, only four ships had the capability to fire MAC guns."

"Yes Sir" Jonathon simply said.

"You'll be fine" The Admiral said before pausing. "So, I see you've got a Medal of Honor. Make me think I'm choosing the right man." He said while pointing to his own on the wall.

"Yes Sir... My Second in Command... He recommended me for the citation for successfully evacuating all my hands on one of my ships as we abandoned it from the Covenant... Though in heart I thought I did not deserve it"

"May I ask Sir... How you acquired yours Sir?"

[Deleted]

"May I ask Sir... How you acquired yours Sir?"

The Admiral thought for a moment, "So long ago..." He simply said. "I was the rank Commander, leading a UNSC Destroyer. Nothing new, a pile of rust. We assulted a Insurrection planet with a small battlegroup. One Cruiser, a Carrier, five or six Frigates and my sole Destroyer."

The Admiral leaned back.

"Thirteen cargoships made there way towards the fleet. We hadn't declared anything yet and were there just to enforce some rules I suppose. That's when one of the Cargo Ships collided with a Frigate and detonated, obliterating the two ships together. The rest of the vessels powered up and started a fast approach." The Admiral said, stopping.

With a faint flick of anger, he continued. "I was the only tactical ship that could actually save the fleet, and the only ship in position to actually fire a few low charge MAC rounds before the vessels would collide with the Halcyon Cruiser."

The Admiral stopped again, "Awe, hell son. I don't want to bore you. I'll just cut to the interesting part. Anyways, I fired my point defense guns and ship to ship missiles well sliding into a defensive position.... It gave the rest of the UNSC fleet to turn around and fire onto the targets, sadly, my destroyer was severely damaged as it collided with a suicide ship, but it must have been disables already because it didn't detonate." The Admiral said, "They said my actions saved the two Capital ships, and they awarded me for going above and beyond the call of duty."

[Wax™]

"I heard about that when I got out of officers school... I only wish I could have been there to see it Sir"

Jonathon said trying to gain trust and friendship with the Admiral, Jonathon looked down to the file the Admiral had handed him not too long ago, he looked inside it before closing the file and hiding the pages from sight, he then slid off the file to the side and looked at the Admiral dead in the eye, he then looked up at a analog clock that was sitting on one of the walls and noticed the time, he then looked back down to the Admiral before talking.

"I must say though Sir... You were one of my inspirations when I attended officers college... Much like any other Admiral today... Though Sir I think I must get going... I would not want to keep you from any other appointments... Though if I was your last I would gladly stay and share a brandy with you"

He said with a smirk gesturing to a glass bottle of brandy on a silver tray with two glasses, that was a usual luxury upon the Admirals in the navy and one that Jonathon could now afford.

"Though if you need some time Sir it was an honor meeting you in person."

[Deleted]

"I must say though Sir... You were one of my inspirations when I attended officers college... Much like any other Admiral today... Though Sir I think I must get going... I would not want to keep you from any other appointments... Though if I was your last I would gladly stay and share a brandy with you" ... "Though if you need some time Sir it was an honor meeting you in person."

The Admiral let a low chuckle out, "Brandy, hey? You even ever tasted the stuff yet?" the Admiral smiled, walked over and pulled out a third cup. "Well, I am expecting one Fleet Admiral to show up, eventually." The Admiral said, pouring the brandy into two glasses. "Michaels, I love company. I'm old, eventually company will stop seeing me."

With that, he lifted his small glass, reached under his desk and opened the small hatch, pulling out a small silver container. "And, what is Brandy with out a good old Sweet Williams Cigar, Rear Admiral!" The Admiral said, laughing now.

[Wax™]

"Heh... Yes Sir... But us lowers ranks don't get the good ol' the Admirals get... I swear it is just piss refined with orange coloring... Sir"

Once his glass was poured Jonathon would lean forward and grasp the glass of brandy, he looked down to it and frowned, he had never tasted actual brandy before, just that stupid shit you would get from a corner store, Jonathon lifted it to his mouth and before he even tasted it his mouth began to water and his nose hairs burnt slightly from the smell of the stuff, it was when he took a sip he actually squinted his eye's the good stuff burning his neck slightly on the way down.

He then lent against the right arm of his chair holding the brandy loosely as he got more comfortable with the Admiral he began to sit like an Admiral, he then realized who he was sitting with and straightened himself again before taking another sip, squinting less and enjoying the burning sensation more than before as it ran down his throat, getting used to it.

"By fleet Admiral... Do you mean Fleet Admiral Vardy Sir?

[Deleted]

"By fleet Admiral... Do you mean Fleet Admiral Vardy Sir?"

The Admiral sipped his drink, took out a cigar and twirled it in his fingers, before tossing it to the Rear Admiral, "Yes. I've known the man since we were where both Commanders. Man has accelerated in rank clearly, but he is a good man, and a personal friend."

"The thing is, rank doesn't matter between us unless it's required, and we are pretty good friends. In fact, I think we should go meet him. My vessel needs repair, and I need some fresh air anyways."

With that, the Admiral got up, looked back and nodded his head. He continued down the hallway until he reached the hanger bay. The first pelican to the left was his personal pelican. "Come on in son, this one's mine."

He climbed into the pilot's seat, closed the rear hatch, and flicked a switch. The engines hummed to life, and the doors closed with no screeching at all... And were on there way down to Reach's surface.

[kuran]

Phma 'Refumai
CNV Shadow of Intent
Slipspace

Phma paced back and forth in his personal quarters, which by most Sangheili standards would be held as a weakness. But then, Phma and the crew of the Shadow of Intent were hardly typical of their species. Over the past several months, since their leaving the Covenant Empire, they had gradually separated truth from the Prophet's lies, and now, they had gradually become far more practical than some of their overzealous brothers.

He knew what had to be done if they were going to survive. To even have a chance of destroying the Prophets and everything they stood for. But it wasn't easy. It might even end in the death of everyone on the ship.

Exiting his quarters, he was flanked by two of his guards all the way to the Command Center. Even aboard his own ship, he had in the past several months been subject to assassination attempts twice by his own crew members. While he had little doubt that the majority of his crew were loyal, there were doubtless a few that wanted him dead for his "heresy."

The command center was arrayed in the middle of the ship, a Corvette-class, as was standard on most Covenant-built vessels. Though it offered far superior defence against attacks, Phma was not alone amongst Shipmasters for sometimes wishing for a better view.

Sitting at his command throne, he watched one of the glyphs before him counting down the time until they exited slipspace. He hated the gut-wrenching feeling of exit, and always would. It reminded him of the sensation one got upon eating spoiled fruit.

With a sigh and a quick word to his senior staff, they made final preparations...


CNV Shadow of Faith
Epsilon Eridani System
Outer Edge

With a flash of light that would not be visible to the nearest planet for the next several hours, the battered, damaged, and distinctly not proud looking SDV-Class Heavy Corvette arrived at the edge of what the humans called the Epsilon Eridani System.

Phma, the ship's master and unofficial Leader of the Heretics, ordered a long range hail to be sent out across the system. His voice, unaccustomed to the nuances of human speech, struggled to sound pleasant and not hostile as his message travelled throught the system.

"Hail Humans! We come not to attack, not to invade, but to seek peace. I am Phma, clan 'Refumai, master of this ship, and myself and my crew have left the Unholy Covenant Empire. We are no longer swayed by the lies of the Prophets, and seek an audience with someone of suitable rank, that we may establish peace, friendship, and even unity. I urge you not to attack, but to respond on this frequency. In the spirit of acceptance, my ship has powered down it's weapons systems. We await your response."

[Deleted]

First Lieutenant Joseph McPhee
Station Gamma
Geo-Sync orbit over Reach

"Check your sources." The Lieutenant ordered, keeping his eyes on the screen. A rather large bubble had come into view on the sensors. With no UNSC Traffic going in or out for the next three days, the Lieutenant was worried that it was either a insurrectionist vessel, or worse... Covenant.

"No sir, it's to far out to tell at this point!" A console operator replied, "But I'll get Admiralty on the line."

No later then seven seconds, Vice Admiral Klix's voice echo'd through the room.

"Admiral, this is Station Gamma. We've got a slip-space bubble and we don't know what it is."
"Alright, calm down. Isolate and rotate the signature and match it with the shilloutes in the UNSC's data-base."
"Hand on, sir!"

The Tech at the console typed faster now that the Admiral was on the line, tapped his console and rotated the profile with his left hand on the touch screen monitor. "Holly mother of god..." Escaped his mouth.

"That's all I need, son." The Admiral said, before stopping the channel. Moments later, the Admiral's went onto the Alpha Priority FLEETCOM channel.

"All UNSC Vessels in the Epsilon Eridani System, Covenant Forces have been detected by long range scans. This is not a drill, Cole Protocol is to be enabled and all ships up to combat stats in one hour. Vice Admiral Klix out."

Vice Admiral Klix

Hell, the pelican never actually got that far. Only a few feet from the Arizona before the young sounding Tech Sergeant called the Admiralty line. Well technically he was Second in Command, as no Full Admiral's were present in the Epsilon Eridani System at this current time.

"Well Rear Admiral, you'll be stuck on my ship for a while!" The Vice Admiral smirked, as the Arizona's Pelican Bay hatch opened. The pelican slid inside, turned and throttled down. The Admiral had already started top open the rear hatch before the landing bay had restored the lost atmosphere.

The troopbay hissed as the air inside the pelican escaped, but then stopped, as the hanger bay compressed it's oxygen level.

"Bridge, Klix here. I'm on my way!" The Admiral said, turning into a job.

Along the way, he ran right into a crewman well crossing an intersection. The crewman was hesitant at first, but the Admiral didn't care, and pushed him aside and ran towards the bridge. The crewman was smart enough to know Admiral's don't run like that for a reason, but TWO of them meant something. He quickly reached over and activated the warning alarms.

Thanks to that, the Admiral picked up his pace, and finally reached the bridge. "Any contact yet!" The Admiral yelled, "No sir! They aren't even on radar yet. We assume they are at the edge of the system."

"Wait! Picking up something. Incoming transmission!" The Comms officer replied, and played it through the bridges P.A system, ""Hail Humans! We come not to attack, not to invade, but to seek peace. I am Phma, clan 'Refumai, master of this ship, and myself and my crew have left the Unholy Covenant Empire. We are no longer swayed by the lies of the Prophets, and seek an audience with someone of suitable rank, that we may establish peace, friendship, and even unity. I urge you not to attack, but to respond on this frequency. In the spirit of acceptance, my ship has powered down it's weapons systems. We await your response."

The Admiral signed. He remembered the elite, Rakath, saying that a small group of Covenant was breaking away from the Covenant, they called themselves Heretics. "Charge SMAC, we don't know if it's legit.

"CONTACT! Single Covenant Corvette near the systems edge, VIA Gamma Station!" The Navigator yelled to life.

"Comms, open a channel to the UNSC Fleet! Alpha Priority!" The Admiral barked, "All UNSC Ships, stand down and await orders!" The Admiral said, before manually cutting the channel.

"Sir, we are moving at top speed towards the Covenant Vessel." The Navigator added, "Good. Keep us at top speed towards it. Weapons? SMAC charge?" The Admiral asked. "Sir, SMAC charging at one point five percent every ten seconds."

The Admiral knew this wasn't the good time for a Covenant Invasion, "Comm's, open a link with them." He ordered. The Comm's officer nodded when the channel was open.

"Covenant Vessel. This is Vice Admiral Eric Klix, Commanding Officer of the UNSCS Arizona. You state you mean humans no harm and want to establish peace with us. I've meet your type before, one Rakath. I assume he is on your vessel. You will power down everything but Communications till my vessel is close to you. You will then proceed to let UNSC crew in your ship to look for any type of device broadcasting your position, then we can talk peace." The Admiral said, waiting a response.

[kuran]

"Covenant Vessel. This is Vice Admiral Eric Klix, Commanding Officer of the UNSCS Arizona. You state you mean humans no harm and want to establish peace with us. I've meet your type before, one Rakath. I assume he is on your vessel. You will power down everything but Communications till my vessel is close to you. You will then proceed to let UNSC crew in your ship to look for any type of device broadcasting your position, then we can talk peace."

It took a few moments for the Master of Communications to fully translate the broadcast. The result left Phma shaking his head in exasperation. "Why...must we always...be put in these positions? We don't have a choice, and we expected this in some form. Power down everything but Communications and Life support. All warriors to stand down immediately. Weapons holstered. Make it known that anyone showing hostile intent will have me to answer to."

His orders were carried out, and within several minutes reports began to stream in. Everything apart from Communications and Life support were disabled, leaving the Shadow of Faith dead in space for all intents and purposes. A line was opened on the same frequency that the Human ship had contacted them on. Then clicked off for a moment. Phma leaned forward and asked a question to his master of Communications.

"What position is this ' vice admiral'?"

The communications master turned in his seat. "I believe it to be akin to a lower Fleetmaster, sir." Phma nodded, and the line was opened again.

"Vice Admiral Klix, as your sensors can no doubt tell, we have powered down everything apart from Communications and our Life support systems. If this is not sufficient, please alert us. Rakath..." He hesitated for a moment. "Rakath is not in command presently. That would be myself. I will be waiting in the Port docking bay for your arrival, and look forward to our..." His tongue struggled around the difficult word. "...Parlay."

Cutting the connection, Phma waved his personal guards over and strode from the Command Deck, making his way for a meeting with, in all likelihood, their destiny. "Alert me if the Humans contact us again."

[Wax™]

Rear Admral, Jonathon 'Ricket' Michaels[/b]

Everything happened so fast Jonathon was on a Pelican, than he was off the Pelican, and now following Admiral Klix onto the bridge after an apparent Covenant vessel surrendered or some such Jonathon watched as the bridge crew was hard at work Jonathon was then interrupted from his thoughts by the sound of the Admiral speaking over the COM.

"Covenant Vessel. This is Vice Admiral Eric Klix, Commanding Officer of the UNSCS Arizona. You state you mean humans no harm and want to establish peace with us. I've meet your type before, one Rakath. I assume he is on your vessel. You will power down everything but Communications till my vessel is close to you. You will then proceed to let UNSC crew in your ship to look for any type of device broadcasting your position, then we can talk peace."

Then a slithery... Alien voice replied back over the COM's.

"Vice Admiral Klix, as your sensors can no doubt tell, we have powered down everything apart from Communications and our Life support systems. If this is not sufficient, please alert us. Rakath... Rakath is not in command presently. That would be myself. I will be waiting in the Port docking bay for your arrival, and look forward to our... Parlay."

Jonathon then stepped beside the Admiral and looked at him.

"Sir... You can't seriously want to board their ship? If you really intend to do such a think I request that I accompany you with Marine Able Company as security that are sitting dormant in the closest hanger bay to us?"

[Deleted]

"Sir... You can't seriously want to board their ship? If you really intend to do such a think I request that I accompany you with Marine Able Company as security that are sitting dormant in the closest hanger bay to us?"

"Are you insane? You Admiralty now. We don't go unless the Marines say it's good. Comms, get Able and Baker companies will make sure it's safe before we proceed. Yes, your job got a little more boring as well." The Admiral said.

---- THREE HOURS LATER ----

Captain Killinger slowly drew his M6Z Revolver. A beauty of a weapon. Sadly, it didn't stand for much against bigger elites due to the small, eight round chamber. But the rounds he had with him, the high explosive type, made swiss cheese of even the white elites.

Then, he also had his M250 SAW on hand, a recent development by the UNSC.

"Alright, Marines! Touchdown!" The pilot of the pelican informed, as the hatch opened and the Marines from the two pelicans walked out, guns aiming in almost every directions. Then more, and more, and more pelicans landed and dispatched troops. A total of four hundred marines were dropped off, seventy percent Baker Compant, and thirty percent Able company.

The things is, two Captains were sent in this operation.

"I'm Captain Killinger!" He screamed into the crowed of Covenant, "I am here to negotiate safe passage for the Admirals on the ship right next to you!"

[kuran]

Phma watched the human warriors swarm into the docking bay, which had been cleared of all equipment to prove that there was no ambush waiting. He was flanked by a pair of his guards and a lance of Sangheili and Unggoy were behind them, all conspicuously without weapons. The rest of his crew were at their normal stations.

"Captain Ki...Killinger. Welcome aboard the Shadow of Intent. You will find my crew going about their stations as normal, and all are under orders not to interfere with your search. I..." He wondered for a moment whether this captain had a speech impediment. He was yelling frequently. "I look forward to our negotiations, and hope that we can prove our pure intentions."

Phma stood aside, a gesture that opened the door to the rest of the ship.

[Deleted]

"Captain Ki...Killinger. Welcome aboard the Shadow of Intent. You will find my crew going about their stations as normal, and all are under orders not to interfere with your search. I... I look forward to our negotiations, and hope that we can prove our pure intentions."

"Alright. Shadow of Intent hey? Why so many shadowy deathy names for the Covenant anyways... So by saying your Coven.. Heretic crew is at there stations, they won't shoot any of my men in the backs well they look for something that has to do with your ship being broadcasted to the Covenant Navy?" Killinger asked.

On that, he activated his teams comm channel, "I want ten men teams searching every area of this ship. Stay aware at all times." He said, switched it off and the Marines went busy, walking past doors that lead down hall ways, "Show us the way you want to talk with our Admirals, or we can do it in here, under one condition. Only you, and no one else well the negotiations are under way." Killinger spoke softly as he watched his First Lieutenant order some troops around, and proceed down a hallway.