Yalu was more than happy to stand and watch the rest of the team gather. He was honestly surprised that the closest thing to an altercation was between the humans. Nevertheless, he reserved judgement for their battlefield behaviour.

The only further comment Yalu gave was on the way to the meeting room, spoken in Sangheili. "Your rapport with your human friends bodes well for this venture, mgalekgolo. Perhaps the rest of us are able to win their trust as well."

As they filed into the room, Yalu decided to try taking a seat at the conference table, hoping that mimicry of the humans would ease the tension. The seat was low but not impossible. He did feel more out of place than in the ship that brought him here, however.

"How much time do we have?" Yalu asked Major Robinson. It was a rather sudden acceleration of matters; he wanted the pertinent information as soon as he could.

Grikgar /Grik/ Seeker

// Unggoy Ultra // Demolitions and Artillery //

Grikgar was caught a little off guard from the ODST’s he expected all of the military to hate and despise them. Yet from a simple gesture and retaliation he would do to any cowardly unggoy was strange to him. In truth he did it because he is well aware of how little Lekgolo respect other life forms. The Ultra has even seen a pair walk right over a group of bickering Kig-Yar killing all 4 of them. The only others in the covenant they respected were the Sangheili. He was trying to prevent a possible issue.

The humans continued with their strange behavior and stranger still the Lekgolo allowed them to ride on it and took care with where it was walking. This behavior was incredibly strange to him. They even offered him a spot on the hunters back, the other Spartans apparently did not enjoy their show. Before he could accept their offer the hunter gently put them down and did another very strange thing. It looked as if it was being submissive towards the Spartan that asked them to stop.

More people converged on the small group of strange people, another Spartan who seemed to the point and serious by the name of Ben? Strange name would be fun to talk to maybe? Another two came in with an air of superiority he could only describe as Jiralhanae when they replaced the Sangheili as honor guard. “Why human so afraid they carry gun in secure area? Human strange.” He spoke in English, his high pitched voice was a little more computerized due to his speaker.

Grikgar watched the commander and another human begin walking away and without hesitation he followed. His walk was a little funny almost how one would see Muppets walking, somewhere between a waddle and a skip. The corridors they continued down where tight and long. Until they eventually found a set of double doors. The human female seemed off compared to her counter parts, not as proud as some, not as stoic as others, somewhere around what he could only guess was anger or annoyance.

With a swipe of something on the wall the double doors opened up and a large room with a large table was inside surrounded by older humans, “Are these humans talking about important matters?” Grik asked curiously grasping the door and peering around it to watch his commander. The humans inside almost held themselves like the proud ones that joined them late until they saw Vael. The reaction they got was one he recognized because he has seen it many times before, Fear.

The gathering quickly cleared and the rest of their gaggle was invited inside to take a seat around the table. It took a minute for him to get comfortable in the chair even falling out of it once before getting to a comfortable spot. He only caught the last bit of what the human female was saying, “We goin on a mission?” sitting up straight for an Unggoy and looking around at the others. “Grikgar make things go boom?” obviously he was excited and asking if the mission was loud or quiet. The other Sangheili seemed more professional and to the point a stark contrast to the Unggoy.

Tailing closely behind Major Alice Robinson and Vael ‘Virisusai, Spartan Aviza was thankful to finely be on the move to the conference room. They had spent long enough waiting, in her personal opinion. The long and dimly lit corridors they were currently being lead through shared the unique architecture that all ONI facilities seemed to have, one that Aviza had taken a liking to. After a short while of walking, they arrived at two large double doors, Major Alice Robinson stopped all of them before informing Vael ‘Virisusai to follow behind her. Taking a step to the side and out of the way, Aviza waited patiently for her chance to enter the conference room. In the meantime, she held the left door open for not only the UNSC personnel who were relinquishing the room to Aegis Team, but also the rest of her squad.

Once everyone had entered, she would step inside and let the doors close behind her. The first thing she noticed was how large the room was, followed by how impressive it all looked. Thinking back, Aviza could not remember the last time she had been inside of a conference room of such grandeur, the office of naval intelligence clearly liked to spend their money on presentation. There were plenty of empty seats inside of the conference room, and Aviza purposely took the one directly across from Major Robinson and the seat where she expected another figure of importance would be. Major Robinson explained to them that they were in a secure room, and that they could speak freely. This was followed by being informed that someone named Captain Leroux would be arriving shortly, and once he or she did, the mission briefing would begin.

For the first time since her arrival, Aviza reached up to the neck seal of her armor and detached her helmet, gently and carefully removing it before setting it on the table in front of her. She repositioned herself to be more comfortable, but also made sure she still held the professional appearance that was demanded. Now, she could speak a bit more freely, feeling that not having her helmet on made conversations more personal and respectful, in situations such as these.

He followed along silently, finally cracking an amused smile watching the ONI suits silently panic. Rex seriously doubted these people had even touched a weapon, and given their reaction, none of them had seen a member of a Covenant species in the flesh before. Once the room was cleared, the Spartan abstained from sitting. Instead he stood near the table.

Following Morgenstein's lead, Rex took his helmet off, setting it on the table so it was facing the others. Like most Threes, his skin was a ghostly pale, and his face had several faded scars. Having been in the field immediately before being reassigned, the Spartan hadn't had a chance to shave. However, the most striking feature of his face were his eyes: vibrant gold, not unlike a big cat's or bird of prey's.

However, something was troubling Rex: the other SPARTAN-III. As far as he'd read, Gamma Company had been the last in the program. Where the hell had the UNSC trained not one, but two companies of SPARTAN-IIIs before the War ended? He understood that the Fours were all volunteering adults, but this Ben must be just a kid.

The Grunt's— Grikgar's— question softened his expression. Not quite a smile, but something close. "I don't mind skipping War Games," he said. "Though I'm curious as to why." He was used to not having a whole lot of details on a mission, but it was always nice.

Following the others, Lucas' hand unconsciously fell on the grip of his sidearm as he tapped on the side of it thoughtfully. Being near the end of the group that was trailing after the Major, it gave him a chance to ponder things. Like why ONI has three separate agents assigned to the unit. Where are the ODSTs? The decorated Marines who've gone toe to toe with Brutes and came out to tell the tale? Hell, where are the Navy Captains who's tactical talents alone make a mission possible? I don't like it... Over the course of his internal monologue, not only had they arrived at their proposed location for their briefing, but the Major and Vael'Virisusai managed to clear out the other party who was in the way of their briefing.

Ryker took a moment to watch them all stand to leave, appraising them. He recognized most of them as high ranking officials who primarily focused on making sure that the various budgets were appropriately balanced, which would make them, Bean counters. Of COURSE these are the fuckers who were pissing off the major. Hard to believe that ONI, NAVCOM and UNICOM, and Spartan Ops all hate the same desk jockies. Some things I guess. Following the red armored Sangheili to one side of the table, while he chose to sit, Lucas opted to simply remove his helmet once more and setting it facing the central projection.

"So we're skipping simulated death to go straight to regular death. Sounds like a typical Sunday jaunt for the Spartan Ops. What's the mission?"

Ben-E218 followed the others, keeping a close eye on Rex and the Hunter. For what it was worth, he occasionally looked at the Grunt. No suspicious behaviors. Perhaps he was just being paranoid. Of course, he was paid to be paranoid. That's what Epsilon's company unofficial slogan was, at least. Paid to be paranoid. Not that there was an Epsilon company on any official record.

The mention of war games snapped Ben out of his reverie.

"War games. I think it's a good idea. Any sniper will tell you that they key to getting one-shot, one-kill is constant practice. Like Simo Häyhä said." He had a feeling that the Finnish Sniper from the Winter War would go over the heads of most of the assembled crowd, but Häyhä had been Ben's idol in training, even more so than any of the Spartan IIs.

Ben sat next to Grikgar, one of the only seats available. He turned to look at the Unggoy, finally answering his question.

"Of course we're going on a mission. They didn't bring us here for fun. This isn't a child's game."

"If I may, Ben, don't hold it against him too much. Unggoy raised by the Covenant were tossed into battle from a young age after being put on an extensive regiment of drugs and given little time to learn anything apart from combat, and were often trained in a rather haphazard manner. Intelligent as he is for his species, much of this must seem like a game to him. At least, that's my assessment." Strangely enough, the way the Grunts had been treated offered some eerie parallels with the Spartan IIs and IIIs. Taken into the military from childhood, frequently drugged up, and a childhood with nothing but war and training for war. Of course, Phong's analysis was hardly perfect. Unggoy aged at a vastly different rate than humans did, even though they kept several features which humans at least would consider child-like; high-pitched voices, frequent naps, cowardice in battle, the frequent lack of footwear, and a fairly 'cute' appearance in terms of proportions. Of course, the average adult Unggoy was actually quite heavy next to most normal humans, and the parallels could only go so far. If anything the Brutes were the closest species the Covenant had ever had to humans, and the comparisons between the two species fell flat on most accounts.

"Are we just about ready to get on with things?" He wasn't sure if promptness or patience was appreciated by the Sanghelli, but he had a feeling that this was taking longer than the group leader would have liked.

Tasuma rose its head, seeing that Aviza glanced to the Sergeant, it followed her gaze to the Sergeant. It knew the ODSTs were a stubborn bunch, he would never verbally say an apology. The Sergeant finished grilling the guard, and moved back to escort Tasuma. More humans appeared, and there was even a number of Spartans, from the humans warrior-clans. It heard tales from Iteyi, of the 2nd Clan, and 3rd Clan. The 4th, "Gen IV"s were the latest, and the most numerous. As the group began to move, Tasuma and the ODSTs followed, and Tasuma continued to ponder about the humans. It knew some of the IV's, the squad who had protected its bond-brother were elevated into the 4th Clan, but even then they fought alongside other human warriors, with support from vehicles and aircraft. The tales that Iteyi spoke to Tasuma of told of green armored, golden eyed demons, who mostly fought alone. They caused terrible casualties on their own, and more than a few pairs of Mgalekgolo were felled by their hands.

The group stopped outside of a room with double doors, and the ODSTs caught Tasumas attention by lightly slapping his arm. It was the Sergeant.
"Alright Tas' this is where we split. We gotta grab our orders from somewhere else. Remember Tas', you end up in trouble, give us a call. We'll find a ride to you." The Sergeant said, patting Tasuma on the helmet. The other ODSTs patted the Hunter similarly, and then the five humans left the group.
Shortly after, an Elite next to him spoke up in Sangheili, "Your rapport with your human friends bodes well for this venture, mgalekgolo. Perhaps the rest of us are able to win their trust as well."
Tasuma looked to the Elite and nodded slowly. Perhaps. Even they, the ODSTs who regarded it with much affection, hated it at first. How could they not? It took months and years to reach where they were with their friendship. When the doors opened, and the humans inside began to file out, Tasuma waited. Thinking. Now that the ODSTs were gone, it was truly alone. Even surrounded by other humans, and the aliens that the Lekgolo regarded as allies, alone. It would take time for it to get used to these new allies, it was among the last to get into the board room, and it was easily apparent that the seats weren't suited for a Mgalekgolo. So it opted to stand in the back of the room, as to not block anyone.

---

”We will not be rushing out of the room to get to the ship, but we will not be making any delays to this mission. We have reason to believe that our target will be acting within a few days.” Major Robinson answered to Yalu. At the very least, there were no objections to skipping training, but she viewed such enthusiasm as a double-edged sword. The Spartans would likely be able to work together intuitively, but they all needed to learn how to coordinate together, despite vastly different military backgrounds. Against the type of odds they were likely to be facing over the course of their missions, they would not likely be able to rely purely on individual skill to get them out alive, much less complete the mission. For this first mission, though, there was no choice but for them to act quickly. Still, there needed to be some measure of patience at the moment. ”I do not questions your combat experience, Spartans, but I do recommend you take preparation seriously. I know some of you have coordinated with Swords of Sanghelios teams before, but none of you have ever been a part of one. All of you will need to learn to fight together as efficiently as you would among your own respective species. At any rate, we will begin the briefing once Captain Leroux has arrived. He has the most recent mission files.”

Fortunately for Aegis team, the Captain was not far behind the rest of them. It was only a few minutes before he entered the conference room as well. He calmly waited for the door to slide shut behind him before he continued to the table. Unlike many of the others who had seen Aegis team, he had no hint of surprise or discomfort. Even the sight of the Hunter did not influence his composure. He was a man in his late thirties, perhaps early forties, with fair skin and light brown hair. He wore a grey and black UNSC naval uniform that prominently displayed his rank.

The Captain stepped up alongside Robinson. After they exchanged a salute, he spoke, perhaps unsurprisingly, with a distinctly French accent. “Aegis Team. I apologize for the delay. May I assume you have all had time to become acquainted?”

”Yes, we can get straight to the briefing.” Major Robinson answered rather quickly. She consciously avoided sounding too brusque.

The Captain gave a nod, then inserted a data crystal chip into the holotank in front of him. The AI within soon manifested its avatar near the center of the table. The avatar had a mostly uniform, light blue tint and depicted a Chinese woman wearing the clothing of a 19th century sailor.

”Shih, if you please?” Captain Leroux remarked.

The AI acknowledged the Captain, then brought up a hologram of two CCS-class battlecruisers and one SDV-class heavy corvette at the center of the table. ”The clan of the Brute war chieftain Brakabus. It is a rather minor, independent clan of Brutes that splintered off from the Covenant after Truth’s death. Their chieftain likes to boast about their strength as survivors, but basically, they took a few ships, gathered as many weapons as they could possibly horde, and ran away once things started to fall apart. At first, they ran far from any settled part of space, but presumably, they quickly realized that they couldn’t actually eat guns and had to start raiding for supplies. For all of their bragging about their strength, their leader is at least somewhat pragmatic. Over the last five years, they’ve only raided easy targets, then ran before a response fleet could get to them.”

Pausing a moment, Shih displayed several images showing what seemed to have been a massacre of twenty or so Humans inside what appeared to be a prefabricated structure, commonly used on colony worlds. Aside from being a rather gruesome sight, what could be easily gathered from the images was that the damage to the bodies, as well as the interior of the structure, was done primarily with plasma weapons. ”Last month, this attack was carried out in the Lulnanit province of Andrakis, a colony in one of the Joint Occupation Zones. The victims were the recently-elected governor of the province, and anyone else who happened to be in the building. It was a quick, brutal, and efficient massacre. An EMP attack took out the settlement’s power, and by the time any reinforcements could come, the attackers were gone. How does this relate to the Brute clan? Well, our analysis of a few weapons that were seemingly left behind found some subtle, but distinctive markings that link back to Brakabus’ clan. Now, nothing about this attack matches the normal motivations or methods of this Brute clan, but we did manage to locate their ships. Based on initial investigations, we believe these Brutes have made a deal to trade some of their weapons to a rebel group for supplies. We have not identified the rebels in question, but we believe their objective is to spark conflict between the UNSC and Swords of Sanghelios. Tensions have already been rising between Human and Sangheili colonists on Andrakis as a result of the assassination.”

It was in Aviza's belief that the Human members of Aegis Team would be lead by a human fire team leader, while the ex-covenant team members would be lead by Vael ‘Virisusai. All while staying in communication with each other. This assumption was based off the fact that she had seen such practices be put into use through her lengthy career with the UNSC. Though, times were changing and perhaps she had been mistaken in her assessment. Aviza knew she could easily adapt to what was being requested of her and her fellow humans, and would follow orders swiftly and to the letter regardless if they came from a human or Sangheili. There was a want to comment on this bit of information, though she decided to ask her questions when appropriate, and allow the briefing to continue.

With the arrival of Captain Leroux, Aviza would swiftly salute the man then return to her comfortable position, though now crossing her left leg over her right and leaning back in her seat. The captains inquiry had caused Aviza to nod her head once at the man, but this was apparently unnecessary, Major Robinson had responded for them once again. Spartan Aviza hoped this was not going to become a common occurrence, she was plenty capable of responding on her own to any questions that found themselves pointed at her. Perhaps Major Robinson just wanted to get the briefing moving, perhaps she felt above the rest who were present, there was no way to tell why she had done this. The thought was quickly pushed out of her mind though, as Captain Leroux addressed the A.I. known as Shih, informing her to begin the detailed briefing.

Holographic images of two CS-class battle-cruisers and one SDV-class heavy corvette suddenly appeared in the middle of the table, Aviza leaned forward slightly to get a better look at them while Shih began explaining the current situation at hand. She had not heard of the Brute war chieftain Brakabus or his clan before, but she knew all to well what fighting those giant ape Berserkers was like, and they were no push over. The fact that they had only only raided easy targets over the last five years did not add up, Brutes were more aggressive than that, perhaps this one was playing it safe at the moment? A few scenarios ran through Aviza's mind while she remained paying close attention to all that was being said.

Once Shih had finished with the briefing, Aviza saw her opportunity to ask a number of important questions that she had been holding onto in the back of her mind. Once more in her calm and collected voice, she spoke. "Major Robinson, you said that we will be part of a Swords of Sanghelios team? I have absolutely no problem with this but I was under the assumption that the the Human members of Aegis Team would be lead by a human fire team leader, while the ex-covenant team members would be lead by Vael ‘Virisusai? Perhaps I am mistaken in this? As for Brute war chieftain Brakabus and his clan, the fact that weapons with the clans distinctive markings upon them were found at the colony may suggest that they have been trading with the rebel group for a while now. It is even possible that the rebel group attacked the colony. Do we have any information on what kind of numbers and firepower both hostile groups have?"

---

Major Robinson, this time, wasted no time in addressing Aviza’s questions, at least to an extent. ”You are partially correct. The UNSC and the Swords of Sanghelios have come to an arrangement for the leadership of this team. It is…unconventional, and it will mean you will need to learn to work more closely together than you may have been expecting. We will address the command structure of Aegis Team at the end of the briefing. As for the rebels, they almost certainly are the guilty party for the attack. This Brute clan has just those three ships, and barely enough Brutes and Grunts to operate them. Their Jackals left them years ago. However, the Brutes are not your primary target. They are hardly more than a pest; it is the rebels that are dangerous. We know little about them, other than that they are likely a small, but well-trained group. The most concerning detail of your mission, and the primary reason that Aegis team has been selected for it, is to where we have tracked the Brute ships, and most likely the rebels: Sarcophagus.”

Vael’s eyes widened slightly upon the mention of Sarcophagus. Not everyone present would even know about its existence, likely just the Spartans that had been trained on the world as it had once been known: Onyx. Although, the world that they knew had been replaced by something far different. The secret was not so tightly kept outside of the UNSC, but Vael had only been informed of it as a result of his selection as a leader of Aegis Team. The description he had been given had felt almost unbelievable.

The AI Shih resumed her briefing once prompted by the Major. “An ONI Prowler tagged the Brute ships and tracked them into the interior of Sarcophagus, formal designation Shield World 006. We believe that the Brutes are making another deal with the rebels for more of their weapons, which means that Paxopolis is almost certainly their next target. The heads of security for the settlement, Franklin Mendez and Kasha ‘Hilot, have been informed to prepare for threats, but we would prefer this be dealt with quietly, and especially without danger to the colony. So far, the settlement has not detected the presence of the Brute ships.”

Vael had put aside his data pad and now looked curiously at the artificial construct. “How is it that capital ships, even just in a small group, could go undetected by the settlement? I had been told that both of our people have fortified the settlement with warriors, and even ships.”

”You don’t understand how massive Sarcophagus truly is. I doubt anyone in this room does. However large you think it is, you are wrong. It is larger. Halo rings? The Ark? They look like children’s toys in comparison.” Shih explained, though she soon decided to represent it visually. She first created a hologram in the center of the table that almost reached to the ceiling depicting a star, one not too different from the sun. Then, she “zoomed out” to show the orbit of a planet around the star, then again to show a second planet farther out…then yet again to show a third. Only after the third planet did she zoom out far enough to show the Dyson shell around the star’s entire inner solar system. At this point, the hologram covered nearly the entire room, which she had no doubt done intentionally for emphasis. ”Sarcophagus is a solid shell that orbits at about one astronomical unit. It has an approximate surface area of two hundred and fifty-fife quadrillion square kilometers, and has three planets orbiting a star inside it. Our settlement, our little ‘city of peace’, is just a speck on its surface.”

As stoic as he usually was, even Vael’s awe showed through in his demeanor. Even just trying to imagine the scale of this creation of the Forerunners felt like an impossible task, and a reminder of the incredible power their kind had once wielded. Major Robinson too hesitated, but she did eventually speak up. ”As Shih has…demonstrated, Sarcophagus is a place where the rebels could very easily go into hiding, despite our presence there. Your mission is to follow these Brutes, observe their deal with the rebels, then follow them back to their main encampment. Once you find them, you will strike quickly and decisively. Capture their leader alive if possible, but your main priority is to ensure that their operations are ended permanently. We cannot afford to let them get away, so you must remain undetected until you have identified the rebel encampment.”

The SPARTAN-IV listened to the briefing in silence, absorbing the details and going over them from his experience in the ONI black ops team. Something about this didn't make sense, even with the presented facts. It wouldn't take rocket science to know that the UNSC would investigate the source of the weapons before launching accusations at the Swords, not with the tenuous peace that both sides had already worked so hard to achieve. However, he waited for the rest of the briefing and the additional information, before he spoke up, keeping the specifics of his time with ONI intentionally unmentioned.

"Are we sure that these aren't Remnant? That last attack was messy, and leaving weapons behind intentionally? I don't think they're trying to ramp up tensions, they're testing how the Swords and UNSC respond to it. In my unit before I became a SPARTAN-IV, we did similar tests during the war so we knew response times, what the response teams consisted of and what the best ex filtration routes were with the lowest chance of being spotted or intercepted. We may be walking into something much larger than simple rebels."

”It is possible your intuition is correct, Spartan.” The Major answered to Ryker. “ONI has accepted that as a possibility as well. Should you arrive to find the situation is drastically different from our predictions and are unable to contact us, then you should exercise your best judgment to act in the interests of the UNSC and Swords of Sanghelios. But, the evidence we have does lean more strongly towards rebels being the guilty party. Shih, if you please.”

The AI brought up a different set of images, this time close-up shots from multiple angles of the weapons recovered from the attack, two plasma rifles and an energy sword, as well as detailed shots of some of the plasma damage on the walls. “The markings were found on the energy sword, and were not prominent. Based on previous patterns where it has been seen, it may be a custom of this particular Brute clan to mark trophies they take, perhaps as an insult to the previous owner. They could have been mistaken for battle damage, and the rebels may have not realized they planted marked weapons. If we are right, their goals with the attack were still successful. We may be careful and methodical in our investigations, but the court of public opinion is not so patient. Tensions on the planet are already rising as the colonists blame each other. The rebels may be taking the strategy of driving a wedge between us and the public.”

”Whether it is rebels you find or another threat, it is still our job to act. Aegis is not merely a strike team. You all were not just chosen for your combat ability, but also your loyalty, judgment, and adaptability. In this mission, and others, you will be called upon to go into uncertain situations that are too dangerous or time-sensitive for traditional espionage. You will need to investigate on your own and act in the best interest of our respective governments.” Major Robinson added.

Grikgar /Grik/ Seeker

// Unggoy Ultra // Demolitions and Artillery //

Grikgar sat quietly while he listened to the others talk, some of them seemed like they didn’t share his excitement for missions or just didn’t realize that the Unggoy was never taught how to be professional. When your entire military Career is, “these are your orders see you in paradise.” He was never taught how to be appropriate for the most part. Understanding how to act on the battlefield was an entirely different situation than this.

The topic and general mission briefing quickly continued as another human entered the room. By the way the others saluted him he was definitely high ranking, then again most ship masters and captains where. The AI he used wasted little time going through what was happening, Grik honestly didn’t understand a lot of it but he was able to get the overall gist of what was being said. Then came the pictures of the massacre and some of the weapons used.

“Well at least it is easy to see that brutes didn’t do that.” His voice still sounding a little electronic but not as high pitched as a normal grunt. “Computer lady said the brutes where trading for supplies right? Then that means Brutes are hungry.” Pointing towards the pile of human corpses, “Brutes like the taste of other aliens and they really like the flesh of humans. So if this was brutes you would see limbs cut off or gnawed upon.” The grunt didn’t seem too phased by what he was talking about but by the way he was talking about it one could assume he had seen it before.

Soon the AI continued on about the mission and onto where they thought the rebels and brutes where. Vael’s words also made him think about it too, he didn’t know what this ‘Sarcophagus’ was but it sounded large and important, important enough to have a settlement of elites and humans on it with their own warriors and ships. When the AI described it as a forerunner instillation the Unggoy became quiet and seemed to shrink into his seat. Almost as if he was just now grasping the seriousness of the situation.

Once the diagram of the instillation began to expand so too did Grikgar continue to tilt back in his seat to follow the hologram until he inevitably fell back in it crashing to the floor. He stood back up quickly and tried to set the chair back up only to find that the back of it had broken off. Sitting back down in the half broken chair the grunt looked up at Vael with a sort of “oops” shrug. Now it seemed that the Spartan was going to talk next while Grikgar spun in the broken chair looking at the hologram.

The AI and scary human lady continued to talk for a bit longer before seemingly to pause for questions. “Grikgar has question.” Looking to the AI then to the scary lady who he already forgot the name of, “Grikgar was part of fleet that chased you’re…” he paused for a moment both to remember and look to Vael for any indication that what he was saying was a little much. “Demon- err, Spartan 117 to holy ring. There we learned Spartans where not real monsters.” Again pausing trying and failing to gauge visual ques from his commander to not continue, “Will Grikgar have to fight parasite again?” the Unggoy was quiet almost as if he was a little timid for once. Although he hadn’t seen a lot of combat with the flood, being an Unggoy special operative he has seen what they can do and they always seemed to be lurking in forerunner instillations.

---

For once, the Major did not have an immediate answer when Grik posed his question. Despite his surprisingly insightful comments regarding the Brutes, Robinson had not paid him too much attention, even when he broke one of the chairs. However, his question caused her to raise her brow. ”You mean the Flood?” She knew what he was referring to, but the connection to why he was bringing it up was not immediately clear to her.

Vael, however, understood Grik right away. He had already given the Unggoy a low growl out of annoyance for his clumsiness, but he did not do the same for his mention of the parasite. Normally, he might chastise an Unggoy, or any other of his warriors, for cowardice, but Vael too had the misfortune of having to face the Flood during the war. It was the one opponent to which Vael felt no shame in saying he feared. The parasite was a horror he would not wish upon even the San’Shyuum. ”These shield worlds were intended to preserve life when they used the rings. The researchers at Sarcophagus have found no presence of Flood.” Vael answered to Grik, basing his words off of the information he had been reading from his data pad.

”Yes, well, you all have your orders.” The Major continued. ”I will also ensure you all have access to the relevant mission files when you arrive on the ship. Now, as to the matter of Aegis Team’s command structure, the UNSC and Swords of Sanghelios have come to an agreement on a non-standard command hierarchy. Depending upon the context of your individual missions, either the UNSC or Swords will be given operational authority. Meaning, the command of the team will be given to either Vael, or myself. However, as I am not a field agent, it will be one of you taking command in the field. Spartan Aviza Morgenstern, in light of your service history, you have been authorized a promotion to Fireteam Leader. For this mission, the UNSC has been given operational authority, so you will be in command of Aegis Team. Also note that Vael will be considered your second-in-command, and when the Swords have operational authority, you will likewise be considered his second-in-command.”

Shield World 006, sometimes known as Sarcophagus but more commonly known as ONI Research Facility Trevelyan had become partly-common knowledge among some of the UNSC. Aviza remembered hearing about the joint UNSC and Swords of Sanghelios Onyx United Research Project and that it contained a growing settlement with a population in the thousands. A few scenarios as to why the Brutes and or Rebels would want to attack such a colony that was undoubtedly heavily protected ran through the Spartans mind, perhaps it was for the Forerunner technology that was undoubtedly being integrated into humanities own, to create unrest among the UNSC and Swords of Sanghelios as had been suggested, or for some other unknown reason.

Regardless their reasons, the fact that they would be traveling to Shield World 006 drew great interest for Spartan Aviza. From her knowledge, Shield World 006 was the largest Forerunner creation known to the galaxy, and being able to explore such a place caused a small flare of excitement. The mention of Remnant forces was oddly something Aviza had not considered until the moment, but then decided that if the Remnant had indeed carried out the most recent assaults, they would have been much more clean, precise, and well executed. The Remnant were more of a threat than the brutes, in all areas, and fighting them would prove quite a challenge.

The Unggoy known as Grikgar had broken the chair he had be leaning back in, but had also brought up very good points that she had somehow over looked for the time being. He was correct, if the Brutes were as hungry as they appeared to be, why would there have been human corpses laying about? Clearly, Grikgar was much more intelligent than his fellow Unggoy, the thought of Yap Yap the Destroyer ran through her mind but was quickly pushed back at the mention of the flood. Aviza had heard of the Flood, seen videos and images of them, and even fought against simulations of them in War-Games but fighting them first hand was nothing she had experienced, and in all honestly, was not something she ever wanted to do. Thankfully though, Vael ‘Virisusai explained that it was impossible for the Flood to be on Shield World 006.

What happened next came as a surprise to Spartan Aviza Morgenstern, she knew Vael ‘Virisusai and Major Robinson were in command of Team Aegis, but being selected as the Fire Team Leader caught her off guard. Still with her calm and collected demeanor, Aviza responded by standing then giving a momentary firm but crisp salute. "It is my honor to not only be chosen as Fire Team Leader but also to work with the Swords of Sanghelios, I will carry out my orders in the best interest of the UNSC and the Swords of Sanghelios as a whole." Once she was finished speaking, Aviza would grab onto her helmet with her left hand, assuming that they would be departing very shortly.

This was not what Ben had expected, but he went with it.

"Ben, be advised that our team leader has not been briefed on your-" Ben silenced the AI by focusing his eyes on an option to silence Phong which had been programmed into his HUD. Vael knew at least some of Ben's background as an assassin whose real mission was to shoot traitors, cowards, and anyone who would threaten the fragile alliance between humans and the Elites, but Aviza might as well have been Grikgar for all she knew about him. And Ben was under very clear orders NOT to let more people know about his true purpose; he might as well have outranked any of them for the purposes of preventing an interspecies incident. If the mission had to fail in order to keep the peace, Ben wouldn't hesitate to make that happen. They could always deploy a second team, guaranteed, but there was no guarantee that humanity could survive another war.

Still, he was also under orders to cooperate while the mission proceeded, and following Aviza was temporarily a part of that. He swallowed his disgust for the Spartan IV program and spoke up to Aviza.

"Just make sure that the team keeps to its mission and that we do nothing to jeopardize the alliance. I hope the seriousness of the situation isn't lost on anyone. The human race nearly died in the last war, and that was before the Halo rings were discovered and all sapient life was nearly exterminated. I trust we will all be on our best behavior."

"Do you want to see the odds that you're going to have to kill at least one of the team? They're getting higher every minute. The success rate of a mission led by a Spartan falls with every generation after the Spartan IIs. Even when-" Ben muted Phong once more, taking great care not to show any emotion or distrust by his body language. He had kept his helmet on the entire time, so nothing showed from that front.

---

Once the briefing itself was concluded, Shih returned to the data crystal chip, which Captain Leroux pulled from the holotank. After getting a brief confirmation from the Major that she was done, he addressed the team. ”The ship to which Aegis Team has been assigned is the Autumn-class Heavy Cruiser, UNSC Chorus of Thunder. My ship. Now, I do not know the customs of the Swords of Sanghelios navy, so for the sake of clarity, I will say now that the Captain is the ranking officer aboard a UNSC vessel, regardless of your branch of service. That means that, as far as my ship is concerned, I have the final authority. As long as that is understood, there is a Pelican waiting outside to take you all to the ship in orbit. Given the needs of your missions, the Thunder has been outfitted for light ground support. A War Games Simulation module has been installed for your use, and you will all be given officer’s quarters for the duration of your assignment to my ship. Apart from you, Tasuma.” He said, looking to the Mgalekgolo. ”Given your…unique requirements, a section of one of the hangers has been converted into a space suitable to your needs. For the Swords personnel present, your weapons have already been checked into the armory, and any other personal effects delivered to your quarters.”

---

After they were dismissed by the Major, Aegis Team were shown outside to their Pelican. While Tasuma did take up quite a lot of space on its own, a Pelican too was quite a sizable dropship. As long as the rest of the team kept to their seats, there was more than enough space for the Mgalekgolo to stand in the back. Their flight path had already been cleared before take-off, so the flight into orbit did not take too long. Although, even after their Pelican touched down in the cruiser’s hanger, the team was not put in any particular hurry. They were deploying on their mission that day, but it would still be a few hours before the ship was ready to depart Earth. In the meantime, Aegis Team's members were free to do as they pleased.

Vael was among the first to step out of the Pelican into the hanger. Vehicles and supplies were being loaded onto the ship and taken into storage, so the many of the crew were almost too busy to notice the ship’s new set of passengers. Almost. He looked around with at least some slight curiosity. For Vael, this was not his first time aboard a Human warship, but it was his first time aboard as an ally to them. The last time he had walked through one of their corridors, it had been in a hail of bullets and plasma.

"Captain Leroux, if I may speak with you in private, that would be appreciated, I have something I would like to run past you." The Captain would nod his head once, then motion with his left hand for Aviza to follow him to one side of the conference room, far away enough so that no one could hear them. The two of them could be seen talking, holding a conversation that appeared silent for any who were observing. This would continue for a short while until the Captain and Aviza would shake hands, though the Spartan now had a rare smile across her face. She would then place her helmet back onto her head and secure it into position as the two of them went their own separate ways.

"I'm heading to the Pelican." announced Aviza to anyone that cared to listen as she departed the conference room, she wanted to be one of the first onboard. When she arrived, Aviza would enter through the back of the Pelican, walking up the ramp and into it. From there, she would take one of the many vacant seats, and strap herself in for the ride up to the Autumn-class Heavy Cruiser, UNSC Chorus of Thunder.

The view of the Earth becoming smaller and smaller from the D77-TC Pelican was something that always created a rush of emotion inside of Aviza, part of it was joy, part of it was sadness, mixed with many others. This time was no different, and Aviza peered out the back of the Pelican at the spectacle.

Once they had arrived at the UNSC Chorus of Thunder and touched down inside of its hanger, Aviza quickly stood up and moved to the rear of the Pelican, stepping down the ramp and out into the hanger itself. Being inside of a Autumn-class Heavy Cruiser was something Aviza was not use to, she spent most of her time on the UNSC Infinity or a UNSC Phoenix-class colony ship. This was obviously much smaller, but she could adjust, "At least we have our own personal rooms." thought Aviza to herself as she peered around the interior of said hanger.

It dawned upon her that she had not had anything to eat or drink for the last twenty four hours, and finding the ships mess-hall sounded like her top priority at the moment. "I have to admit, I am quite hungry and thirsty, I'm heading to the mess hall if anyone would like to join me?" announced Aviza, while looking over a highly detailed local map of the UNSC Chorus of Thunder upon her personal data-pad.