UNSC-Heretic Intermission

[dave36464736]

"We need your help. In return, we wish to fight with you, to bring an end to the lies of the Prophets."

David nodded. As a man who had lost family due to the Covenant, this was music to his ears. However, this sounded too good to be true, and David was quick to point this out.

"Whats your spin on this Admiral?" David asked.

[Deleted]

"Whats your spin on this Admiral?" The Admiral asked.

"Well, sir. I think it's a good opportunity. I've seen the ship, and the forces seem loyal. At the same time, we could benefit technological from this, and they could benefit from us getting revenge." The Admiral said.

"Secondly, if you don't mind, I think we should. Screw ONI, and let's sign them up." The Admiral replied, "Sir."

Captain Killinger

"Just stay sharp, boys. Let's keep looking for those trackers." The Major said, who appeared out of no where.

"Ma'am, didn't know you where joining the party." The Captain gave a quick nod as a sign of respect, "I've got ten men groups searching the ship, don't know one hundred percent 'till it's powered back up." Killinger said.

"So, miss your alarm clock?" The Captain said, in a joking manner.

[kuran]

Phma nodded slowly. "I would be willing to share what we have on our ship, though I would say that some of it may be beyond your engineers."

"I am aware, naturally, that our races have a good deal of animosity. However I would hope that we can work together to right the wrongs committed upon both of our peoples."

[Martial Virtue]

Major Sierra Lloyd

"Ma'am, didn't know you where joining the party."

Captain Killinger gave Lloyd a quick nod of acknowledgment, apparently surprised by her sudden presence. He recovered fast though and said, "I've got ten men groups searching the ship, don't know one hundred percent 'till it's powered back up." Then, before she could reply, he asked her, "So, miss your alarm clock?"

Sierra gave him a sideways look, amused. "I came in while you and Mr. Jenkins here were busy musing on the reproductive anatomy of our new potential allies, Captain. So it appears I didn't miss much." The major slung her rifle on her shoulder. "How did the negotiations go?"

[Deleted]

""I came in while you and Mr. Jenkins here were busy musing on the reproductive anatomy of our new potential allies, Captain. So it appears I didn't miss much.... How did the negotiations go?" The Major said.

The Captain had a grin from ear to ear, "Then you saw those grunts get blown to fucking pieces. Anyways, do you?" The Captain said jokingly. "Seriously now, the negotiations were moved back to the Arizona, so I assume they are going well. We actually left the hanger before they left, but we've got.. Had good men with them, as they are on the Arizona now.." The Captain started to look for words to correct his mistake... "Yeah.. Ma'am, that's pretty mu-" The Captain said, before his radio erupted.

"Oh my, sir. I've found the control room. It's almost.. Er.. Well once you find me you'll find it" The Marine on the other end said,

Killinger tapped his comm, nodded too the Major as a sign of interrupting and replied, "I'm on my way, Marine."

With that, the Captain was off.

[kuran]

Sang 'Vadumee
Master of Defence, CNV Shadow of Faith
Command Center

Sang stood across from the startled looking human, and tried to look as unimposing as possible. It would be his luck to be shot by people they were trying to befriend.

Slowly, he raised one hand in a greeting, and in strained english, greeted him. "Greetings, Human warrior. Welcome to our Command Center. If you have any questions, please allow me to answer them. I urge you not to interfere with the consoles you find. Even though we are powered down, touching the wrong thing could have dangerous consequences."

[Deleted]

Private Joey Freckle

"Greetings, Human warrior. Welcome to our Command Center. If you have any questions, please allow me to answer them. I urge you not to interfere with the consoles you find. Even though we are powered down, touching the wrong thing could have dangerous consequences." One of the elites said.

The Marine couldn't speak, he didn't know the elites spoke English, "J.. Just fi.. Help the Captain find his way here. He probably has no clue where to go, sir?"

Captain Killinger

The Captain didn't even really notice the Major, but knew she was following, just as a Marine Unit with a stretcher walked by. We took a casualty... All the Captain could think about.

He'd lost men before, but not that many. Every once and a while he'd lost one or two men, but losing half a platoon when he was a Lieutenant to those bastardly Flood, was hard, and this casualty was just making it harder.

"Captain.... Kill.. inger." A White Elite approached and asked. "Yes, that's me..." The Captain responded, "Please come with me, I've been given orders to escort you to the command center."

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

Once they had arrived, words escaped the Captains mouth, and looked at the elite who was hovering over a console. "Hello..." Killinger started slowly, "I need something from you guys. If it's possible, power up every section on ten second burst and look for trackers. If you can do this, and let us know if you find any, we can disable it and allow you to enter the system." Killinger added.

He looked around, to see if any member of the bridge crew listened to his request.

[Martial Virtue]

Major Sierra Lloyd

Major Lloyd heard the Marine's message come through the command channel on the COM. He'd found the control room. Captain Killinger responded immediately to the hail, and Sierra followed.

On the way there, they passed by a wounded Marine being taken away on a stretcher. Lloyd momentarily shut her eyes hard at the sight and looked away. He must've been one of the men caught in the burst of weapons fire she'd heard earlier. She hoped he would make it. Afterward they came upon a white Elite who took them the rest of the way, since neither of the two Marine officers knew their way around the Heretic ship.

Sierra and Killinger went down another few corridors until they found the Marine who'd hailed them, along with another Elite waiting for them inside the room. Sierra's hand twitched out of reflex, moving to her holstered sidearm on her hip. She controlled the motion, however, reminding herself that it was important to be diplomatic on this mission, not react impulsively out of battle habits.

Major Lloyd took a moment to glance around, as much to assure herself of the safety of her and her Marines as to take in the alien tech. Then she turned back to the Elite, hands hanging at her sides, relaxed but ready. "Nice setup you got here, I have to admit." You've certainly killed enough humans with ships like these, she thought to herself. And now you're wanting to join forces...

Captain Killinger spoke next. "Hello. I need something from you guys. If it's possible, power up every section on ten second burst and look for trackers. If you can do this, and let us know if you find any, we can disable it and allow you to enter the system."

[kuran]

Sang frowned, which would be hard to see under his helmet.

"But...powering up all systems will take many Units to accomplish...we can not simply press a glyph and have everything activate!"

He shook his head. None of them had gotten much sleep for the past few days, and he was seriously sleep deprived. But the warrior spirit would not allow him to show such weakness.

[Martial Virtue]

Major Sierra Lloyd

"But...powering up all systems will take many Units to accomplish...we can not simply press a glyph and have everything activate!" the Elite responded.

Was it just her, or did the alien sound...exasperated?

Lloyd stepped up a little closer, indicating with a subtle wave of her hand at Killinger and the other Marine to watch her six as she did so. Then she addressed the Elite. "Look, this hasn't been a joy-ride for anyone involved. We need to know the location of those trackers. Is there anything we can do to help you accomplish that, anything that will speed the process up?"

[Deleted]

"Easy, easy..." The Captain said, calming down. "We didn't know how your ships work. We are not asking for all systems, just the sensors.. Man I wish the Admiral was here." The Captain sighed.

"Let me explain. I was you to power up the sensors and scan every compartment for anything sending a signal, simple as that... Right?: The Captain said, "Sorry... I'm assuming. Well, can you do it? If you find one, our marines will secure the areas and let your... Engineers disable it." The Captain paused again.

"I don't know how to say this, but if you come into the system, and there is a transponder some where, and you bring an entire Covenant Fleet with you, we will be screwed. Sure there are a lot of ships around, but in the end a lot of them can only stand up to your..." The Captain paused, trying to remember the right class. "Your Corvettes, like this one."

[Wax™]

Captain Travis Jenkins

Jenkins just stood there and watched the Major and Captain Killinger, Jenkins kinda stared at the Major with his head tilted slightly to the side, she had newly been assigned two the Battalion which had four recon companies in it, Jenkins wondered if she was even a Recon marine, he eyed her equipment and saw nothing to suggest so, he then looked down to his gear, he had all sorts from rappel ropes and climbing locks, he then looked up and must have missed something when the Major and Captain ran off, as they did a transmission came in on the radio from one of his men in Able Company.

"Captain... Can you make you way back to the hanger... Some of the squids said they have some loyalists here"

"Copy that marine... I am oscar mike"

Jenkins set off in a slight jog following his foot-steps down a endless series of hallways and ramp-ways, he was probably jogging for maybe five minutes before he actually managed to make it back to the hanger he was originally left at by the Pelicans, he slowed down and stepped in looking around he noticed twenty of fifty of his men were back in the hanger, as he walked he looked right more and saw eight squids with about five Loyalist Elites on there knees and hands on there head.

"Where did you find them Marines?"

"We found them in one of the escape pods... But one of these squids say everything was powered down... We assume they were trying to escape."

Jenkins nodded before patching COM's with the Major.

"Major... I got eight squids down here holding another five squids captured... Suspected loyalists... My guy's found them in a deactivated escape pod"

Jenkins ceased communications before turning to his men again.

"Where is the other thirty of us?"

"Their playing RECON MARINE Sir... Their roaming about in the maintenance areas and access shafts"

[Martial Virtue]

Major Sierra Lloyd

As Sierra waited for the Elite to reply, her COM crackled again. It was her battalion's other company commander, Captain Jenkins, who'd separated from them when she and Killinger had headed for the ship's command center.

"Jenkins?" Lloyd asked. "What's going on?"

"Major... I got eight squids down here holding another five squids captured... Suspected loyalists... My guy's found them in a deactivated escape pod"

"Shit. I knew this trip wasn't going to be easy." Sierra pinched the bridge of her nose as she thought a moment. "I'll be right there, Captain. Make sure no one blows each other to hell and back in the meantime. This could be a good chance to interrogate the enemy."

[lurker]

Jente 'Trohim
Shadow of Faith
Hanger

Jente sighed, annoyed at the sudden attention. When he'd informed the marine of what Unsought Devotion had found, he hadn't expected it to turn into a huge display.

"Look at this mess, Zher. I don't want to know why you even thought to go look at the escape pods in the first place, but now we've got this whole thing broadcast for the humans to see." Jente spoke in a low voice, the implication and accusation clear in his tone. The major shrugged, unwilling to admit that he'd gone hunting after one of them for help with something and ended up tripping across the lot.

"So, what have you five to say for yourselves?" Jente asked, slightly louder. He got stony silence in response. "Oh, come on. Either you're cowards planning on running away, loyalists planning on using our meeting with their Councilors as an attempts to sabotage their leadership, or a group who has taken to mating en masse despite the differences in age and station. None of which make you look very good, but if you didn't want the rest of the crew to know about your love affair I have to wonder why you chose to do it now while all these humans are on board. Maybe you sought to give them a show?"

The five minors didn't have a response. To be honest, Jente didn't expect them to. The gawking was enough for him to know that they'd been thrown off balance, and he could take advantage of that.

"Which of you is the ring leader of your little group?" He asked, watching them closely. None said anything, but one of them let his eyes stray, and Jente sprang upon the recipient of the gaze like the predator he was, energy knife extending as he let the blade rest almost between the sangheili's mandibles.

"One of you thought this stupid plan up. One of you thought it was a good idea to turn against the ship. Too frightened of the truth and all too willing to go back to the Prophet's lies. But, that doesn't matter. Because all five of you have chosen to turn away from your brothers in arms aboard this vessel. You have betrayed not just your commander but the entire crew aboard this vessel. It is lucky, then, that our audience gives me reason to be benevolent, and rather than putting my blade into one of your hearts and leaving you to die a slow agonizing death, I will give them the option of handling your... betrayal. As a sign of good faith."

[kuran]

Sang 'Vadumee
Master of Defence, CNV Shadow of Faith
Command Center[/u]

Sang chose, with difficulty, to be patient. It was not a strong suit of his. But while the Master of Engineering was below, making sure that nothing happened to the systems, he had to play tour guide. "Yes, well....we have some power in auxiliary batteries...not enough to fire weapons or engines, but...perhaps. Come with me."

Leading the way to the lower deck of the command centre, he stopped before one of the control panels and started pressing glyphs. After a few moments, he looked over his shoulder, indicating the large holographic display in the middle of the room.

"This," He explained patiently, pointing to a large 3D image of the ship they were on," Will, when power is given, scan the ship for foriegn object. We have not programmed your species and equipment into our system yet, however." He held up a finger to stop any questions. " Foriegn objects of human origin, that is, your weapons, equipment, and bodies, will flash red. Objects of Covenant design-such as tracking devices not brought aboard by us-will flash yellow. Everything else, purple."

Pressing another glyph, there was a slight thrum of power, and the image came to life. A large beam swept through the holographic ship from stem to stern, indicating the progress of the sweep.

((OOC: So up to you what you see.))

[dave36464736]

[yellow]"I am aware, naturally, that our races have a good deal of animosity. However I would hope that we can work together to right the wrongs committed upon both of our peoples."[/yellow]

It'll take more than a few wrongs righted to get me to trust you, you genocidal freak. David thought, frowning as he mulled over the elites words.

Looking back at Klix, David once again steepled his hands and leaned back in his chair, trying to play the part of the big boss.

"I have no reason to trust you." David finally declared. "But I am willing to give you the benifet of the doubt. You say you will provide us with technology? Resources? Fine. We will share ours with you. But just be warned, I will be keeping an eye on you and your crew. If they so much as spit a word or action of hostility, I will terminate this alliance and I will decimate you." David snarled.

Then jumping up, David walked around the desk and then leaned in closer to the elite's ugly face

"Understood?"

[kuran]

Phma nodded slowly, aware that making sudden moves this close to the human might well result in bad things indeed. "I would expect no less. I am no fool, fleetmaster. I am aware of the animosity between our races. But we have been betrayed just as much as you."

He tried not to sigh. So the...Admiral...was one of these types. "So, what is the next step?"

[spartan129]

Heretic Sangheili Beta Jaqo 'Tulahai
Corridors, Shadow of Faith
Over human planet Reach

Jaqo walked slowly through the corridors of the Faith, pausing and watching whenever he passed a group of humans. Sure, he didn't want to rip their throats out or anything, but it was a bit unnerving to be prohibited from having your weapon drawn while a bunch of people who hate you walk around with guns.

As a human walked by Jaqo and his lance, it chuckled, saying, "Check out the size of this one!" as it gestured to Jaqo.

Shur growled. That wasn't good. As Jaqo's eyes flashed to the younger warrior, he saw the latter put his hand on his weapon. Jaqo threw his arm out in front of the younger Sangheili, and hissed at him, "Shur! Stand down!" With a rough push, Jaqo tore Shur's hand away from his hip. He glanced back at the humans, who had obvious fright on their faces and were hustling down the corridor.

"They mean us no harm," Jaqo said forcefully to the two Sangheili with him, before adding under his breath, "...yet."

[Deleted]

"I would expect no less. I am no fool, fleetmaster. I am aware of the animosity between our races. But we have been betrayed just as much as you." The elite paused, and finally spoke again, "So, what is the next step?" The elite finished.

"Well, the next step is to shake hands, then make it official. Fleet Admiral, sir, I leave it too you well I work on the official document to this agreement. I don't know if you understand human writing, but I will read it out to you when it is done," The Admiral said, nodded and started to walk to the door, "Dave, be nice..." The Admiral said, exited and snickered as he out and towards his office.

Captain Killinger

"Thanks..." The Captain replied as he gazed mindlessly into the holograph, waiting for it to activate.

"This... Will, when power is given, scan the ship for foriegn object. We have not programmed your species and equipment into our system yet, however, foreign objects of human origin, that is, your weapons, equipment, and bodies, will flash red. Objects of Covenant design-such as tracking devices not brought aboard by us-will flash yellow. Everything else, purple."

"Thanks..." The Marine said, as his eye scanned. So many red bodies, and no yellow ones. Marines were all over the place. All but one place was secure, it was large. Probably the engine room as it was closer to the engines. Seems like the "Engineers" were doing a good job of keeping the Captains men out.

Then he saw it, the slight ping of yellow, but quickly faded to red as it moved up, to the right.

"CAPTAIN!" His radio buzzed to life. "A group of them! Down the hall-way! They went for there guns." The Marine said, catching his breath on the comm.

Oh my fucking god! The Captain though, So much for an alliance he added. "Did you piss them off?" The Captain simply asked.

The Marine didn't respond for a minute, then finally proceeded to talk, "Yes, sir. We commented how big one of the elites were, and they went for their weapons.." The Voice came back.

"Oh for the mother of god..." He said, this time his voice slipped and actually said the words. "All right marine, so you ran away?. Your a god-damned marine! Not a little school girl! Next time, show them who is boss! There should be ten of you!" The Captain simply said, annoyed by the marine fled.

He returned towards looking at the map, and a yellow dot appeared after ten red dots passed. "There!" The Captain said, pointing towards the room.

(( OOC: You have Loyalists on, you know the chances are high of them planting a single well the power is off, because scanners aren't scanning. Name the place, Kuran. ))

[Wax™]

Rear Admiral Jonathon 'Ricket' Michaels[/b]

Jonathon had parted ways with the Vice Admiral and decided he would take a tour of his new ship the Marathon II Heavy Assault Cruiser, what made this tour so special to Jonathon is that this was the first Marathon II in existence to be Captained or even taken out of it's production area, once Jonathon was on board via Pelican he stepped off in the largest hanger bay the ship had to offer, when he stepped of the entire hanger slowly seemed to cease activity, this specific hanger was full of engineers and naval assets unloading equipment and ammunition, Jonathon linked his hands behind his back and looked at all the naval personnel as they began to clap towards Jonathon, each of these men served on the Ares for seven or so years before this transfer so they all knew him really well.

"Congratulations on the promotion Rear Admiral"

He heard from his right, a moment later Executive Officer; Captain Tahlee Goodwin stepped out from the crowd and another moment later everyone in the hanger went back to their duties, Tahlee smiled at Jonathon, Jonathon smiled back before walking to the exit of the hanger Tahlee walking close to his side.

"And you... Captain... Have you come to give me my own private tour?"

"Yes and no... First of all we will be visiting the bridge secondly; we will be moving along side the Arizona so that we can transfer the rest of Able Company from our ship to theirs since they have taken over 1st Recon"

"Wait... The Admiral took 1st Recon away from me? That is a good quarter of my marine contingent... Who do we have now?"

"Still waiting to find that out Sir... Anyway... This way to the bridge"

Jonathon followed Tahlee as she lead Jonathon through and around hallways and up an elevator showing Jonathon to the brief room then to his personnel quarters before taking him to the bridge, which was very similar to that of a phoenix class colony vessel, Jonathon whistled slightly and then turned his head to a holo-table as Athena popped up over it.

"Welcome Captain... Or should I say Rea Admiral"

"Thank you Athena"

"So... Rear Admiral Sir... Would you like me to give you your priorities list now or later?"

"Hmm... Give it to me now Athena"

Jonathon said before moving over to the Captains or in this case Admirals char and sitting down against it with a sigh of relief he then moved it to the port side of the deck near a holo-tank which Athena appeared onto.

"First on the list Sir... Naming the ship... The ship official does not have a name so---"

"Athenian"

"Sir?"

"The name of the ship... Athenian"

"A just choice Sir... I will send the request to Vice Admiral Klix's personal quarters right away"

[kuran]

Phma 'Refumai

Phma nodded once more as the Admiral left. "I have some understanding of your written communication, though it is not as good as my verbal skills." He stood and extended one gauntleted hand, hoping that he did not crush the human's hand within his own.

Sang 'Vadumee
Master of Defence, CNV Shadow of Faith
Command Center

Sang noticed the blip of yellow as well, but was interrupted by the comms of the human beside him. Sang guessed by his tone and the fact that the others seemed to defer to him that he was a Major, but being unfamiliar with the various bits of metal that humans wore to signify rank, was unsure. "Large...attempted to draw his weapon? That will be one of the Minors in Jaqo's lance. He will prevent them from attacking, I assure you. And the offender will be punished later, he was under orders to maintain peace...though it is possible there were outside influences over his mind..."

Returning his attention to the hologram of the ship, he noticed the second yellow blip on the screen. His lower mandibles clicked together as he explained. "It is in the port storage compartment. I will-" He stopped. Looked back at the human leader. "Are my warriors able to assist you, tracking down this loyalist scum? This is our ship, our home, and we do not tolerate those who fail to see the lies of the prophets!" The last part was nearly shouted. He had already killed several crew members, those he had known and cared for, for their betrayal. He hated doing it, but there was simply no other way.

[Deleted]

"Are my warriors able to assist you, tracking down this loyalist scum? This is our ship, our home, and we do not tolerate those who fail to see the lies of the prophets!"

The Captain nodded. "Yes, we want this ship purged of this devices. I'm not seeing anymore and it's already scanned twice. Let's go! You lead the way, I have no clue how to get there and the layout it too unfamiliar." The Captain nodded, and pointed towards the door in a respectful manner.

[kuran]

Sang 'Vadumee
Master of Defence, CNV Shadow of Faith
Command Center

"Yes, we want this ship purged of this devices. I'm not seeing anymore and it's already scanned twice. Let's go! You lead the way, I have no clue how to get there and the layout it too unfamiliar."

Sang nodded. "I will be there presently. One of my aides," He indicated a nearby grunt, who nodded fervently,"Will escort you to the location of the cargo bay where the signal is coming from. First, there is a matter I must attend to. I will join you presently." With that, he turned and proceeded towards the main exit of the Command Center. He strode through the corridors, largley ignoring the marines who gave him cautious glances as he made his way to the docking bay. The place seemed to be the source of much activity today...

Docking Bay

Sang sighed, surveying the array before him. "Creche Master 'Trohimee," He queried casually. "Why do I see defeated, kneeling, honour-less Loyalist scum fouling my hangar deck with their ignorant presence?" Which was technically true. When the Shipmaster was away, matters of military and security importance was up to him. "Are you unaware what the sentence for betrayal is?"

One of the captured Sangheili, Liran 'Zarunee, chose this moment to start spewing obscenities at him. Sang gave him a cold glance before turning around and making his way towards the Storage area. "Creche Master, I trust that I won't need to come down here again?"

Port Storage Compartment

The layout of the ship meant that Sang actually found his way to the entrance of the compartment before the humans did. He waited patiently for them, having gathered a trio of Sangheili guards along the way. They stood, checking their weapons, waiting for the arrival of the human warriors.

[lurker]

Creche Master Jente 'Trohim
CNV Shadow of Faith, Hanger Bay

"As you command." Jente said with a shrug. He gave a jerk of his head and his honor guard, already standing behind the Loyalists, extended energy knives and thrust them through the back of the armor, punching through their spines and into their upper heart. The quintet of deluded Sangheili were pushed over, face down, arms still bound in cuffs and their lower body paralyzed, to slowly die as their body failed to supply enough oxygen to their brains.

[Wax™]

Captain Travis 'TJ' Jenkins
1st Force Recon: Able Company
Aboard Covenant ship: 300 Million Miles from Reach

"As you command."

Jenkins heard this as he was talking to his men, when he turned around he turned just in tome to see the Squid Jente jerk his head, with that quick and sleek movement the five loyalist Squids that were knelt down waiting for Major Sierra to come and interrogate them were killed by the Heretic Squids standing over them, Jenkins eye's widened and he drew his M6Z and stormed up to Jente as he was doing so he yelled.

"What the fuck! Marines! Weapons up!

Jenkins stopped five meters away from the Squid known as Jente and held his M6Z Revolver directly at the Squid's head as he did so his twenty marines formed a spread out circle around the Squids and lifted their weapons yelling out loads of things all at once.

"Get down on the ground!"

"On your knee's Squids!"

"Put your hands in the air!"

Jenkins shushed his Marines and then radioed in Major Sierra.

"Major... The Squids I rounded up for you to interrogate were just killed under orders from this other Squid I got my men's weapons on them... Orders ma'am?"

[lurker]

Creche Master Jente 'Trohim
CNV Shadow of Faith, Hanger Bay

With the sudden weapons being aimed at the group, the only thing that stopped Jente's Lance from falling on the humans was Jente's outstretched arm; to threaten the Creche Master was something that they'd always reacted to poorly. Jente was quietly amused behind his full faced helmet that the humans had been so slow to react.

"Human, should you desire to save one, it can be done. But nothing you could ask them couldn't be answered by me or my men. Except perhaps what idiotic plan you could concoct that would require an escape pod. It's not like they knew enough to pilot a human vessel away. At best they were looking at a slow agonizing death from lack of breathable atmosphere in four hours."

After a moment's hesitation, Jente looked down at his feet, reaching down to heft the 'leader' of the loyalist group to his feet, or as 'to his feet' as he could. "Zher, take this one to engineering. Get an Huragok to patch up his heart. Try not to let the Master of Defense see you. I'll be fine here."

As his honor guard grabbed Liran, hefting him up between them, Jente motioned for the Captain to follow him as he wandered off to the side and took a seat on a cargo module. "Come human, ask your questions. I know more than those four combined. It is tradition with my, ah... What's the word... Clan I think is close enough, to learn all the lore of our people. I know the history of the Sangheili people back to before the Writ was made. I also had higher clearance than them for military matters. So ask your questions, and I shall answer. Though I would like to hear stories from you as well, perhaps. Long have you humans intrigued me."

The honor guard waited for the humans to let them through, before setting off at a brisk trot.

[Deleted]

Captain Killinger

"Major, we are moving. We've got an identified signal coming from the... Po... Sta.... One of the Cargo Holds... Umm.. I'll get back to you in a second.."

The Captain leaned towards the nearest grunt, "Hey... Where are we going?"

"We are going to the Port Storage Bay, human."
"Thanks."

The Captain proceeded to activate his comm link again, "Port Storage bay, Major. See you there."

With that, the Captain was off again, followed by nine marines... Nine..

"We are almost there..." The grunt sounded off, "Thank you." The Captain responded.

As soon as they turned the corner, the marines and the grunt had run into the defense master and a series of other elites. All the Captain could do was chuckle, "Seems like your a better tour guide." The said in a joking matter, then snapped into a more serious mood.

He snapped his comm channel on, and broadcasted to all the UNSC Forces in the ship. "This is Captain Killinger, we've found a device. Stand-by..."

With that, he entered the area. It was darker then most, and required the Captain and the nine other Marine to turn on there flashlights on there weapons and scan the room. It was empty, but there was a lot of supplies everywhere.

[kuran]

Sang watched the humans enter the cargo storage, using lights mounted on their weapons to guide their way in the large room. He turned and looked over his shoulder at the other Sangheili, all of whom were trying to hide their amusement.

Sang stepped through the door and into the darkness, reaching over to the left wall and, after a moment of searching, pressing a glyph. The bay was illuminated suddenly by light red emergency lights. Sang shook his head before joining in the search for the mysterious device.

[jack]

Second Lieutenant Lukas Krüger
Aboard CNV Shadow of Faith

Lukas had been distributing his men along the port side of the ship in fireteams, searching compartments for Loyalists and anything that might look like a tracking device. He had put Remington at the first compartment his platoon had to cover, Rose in the middle compartment, and was going to put himself in the last compartment. That way either of the platoon's leaders would be able to get somewhere quickly. Now, he was down to three more fireteams to distribute, with an equal number of compartments to cover.

Rounding a corner, he saw Captain Killinger and a squad of Marines go into a compartment that was part of his area. They were accompanied by several of the "good" Covenant. Lukas headed over to the Captain. Figuring that the ship was considered a war zone until proved otherwise, Lukas did not salute.

"Captain. Do you need assistance in searching this compartment, sir?"

Lieutenant Jack O'Reilly
Memorial Plaza
New Alexandria

Jack arrived at the plaza and began looking around for his two boys and their friends. Spotting R.J. across the plaza, Jack quickly made his way over.

"Who've you got on the way?"

"Another crew and ten-ish guys off our ground crew."

Jack smiled.

"Great."

Waiting a minute, Ski arrived, and so did the Pelican crew Ski had invited plus all of R.J.'s friends.

"Alright, here's the plan. We're going to wait a few minutes and get as many people as we can, then we're going to break out the datadisk players and do it. Got it?"

Everyone nodded, and Jack began to wait.

[dave36464736]

As the elite extended his hand outwards, Dave had to fight down another shiver of revulsion. Here was this creature... this... thing, this miserable piece of shit excuse of an alien, so boldly stepping onto the deck plates of a UNSC ship and demanding a truce.

Shaking his head slightly to banish the thoughts, Dave extended his hand out and grasped the elites hand, feeling the iron hard muscles clamp on his weak human hand, slightly crushing it, causing Dave to wince slightly, which, thankfully went unoticed by the elite.

Releasing his hand, Dave swept one arm forward, gesturing for the elite to preceed him, outside of the quarters.

"Next stop, mess hall. You want to truce with us, You need to do something with me that is very important. Coffee. You will learn to like it." Dave laughed.