The most eager allies took point ahead of Yalu. He made sure to find a place after Commander 'Virisusai so as not to steal unearned glory, though he was not hesitant.

Morgenstern threw herself out of the pelican, then 'Virisusai, then Tasuma, then Ryker, and then Yalu loped out with the momentum of his human machine gun. He followed Ryker until just under the tail of the pelican, ducked across to the right of the pelican's rear, and lowered himself. He the spin of his weapons barrels required a bit of correction as he levelled his aim, and then...

Shields flashed on the sentinels. They banked from the gale of high calibre rounds as bright flashes lit up the underside of the dropship tail. Sparks flew at the first two bullets that broke through the instant before a sentinel burst and fell with a heavy clatter.

Yalu stopped firing to line up with another cluster of targets. "One down!" he shouted.

More noise and tracers leapt out of Yalu's weapon. Another sentinel directed its beam across his energy shield a moment before it was overwhelmed by rapid fire.

He had an arc of beside Tasuma and Ryker covered for now. A couple more beams and he would have to withdraw to recharge.

Grikgar /Grik/ Seeker

// Unggoy Ultra // Demolitions and Artillery // Location: Planets Surface

Grikgar waited for the Lekgolo to move out as it seemed a few of the humans where the first to get out and into the fray. Their tactics mirrored his own being the first out and last in just not as well trained to begin with. Tasuma rushed forward after a few others making itself a living barrier between them and the trench the pelican had made. A Spartan took up a position behind the hulking alien, he seemed to be using weapons better suited to go after the sentinels that didn’t have shields.

Grik moved quickly up behind the hunter pressing his methane tank up against the armored giant. He did this to ensure that his weak spot was better protected and so that he could move with the Lekgolo’s movements and not against it. Running head first into the thick of it was how he inspired the best out of the grunts he used to lead, never backing down, never running. Charging his pistols the Unggoy began to fire the balls of tracking green plasma in two directions. One was being fired towards the robots low to the ground and the other was being fired towards the ones still coming down.

Charged plasma fire was very good at downing and destroying the machines on their own at times let alone their ability to strip shields and stop electronics. This also had the chance of killing the sentinel without it setting off its secondary explosive and rendering it partially intact. There were still more targets highlighted on his visor but the grunt focused on the bots that were closest to them while staying out of the way of the Lekgolo’s footsteps. “Watch for secondary explosions!” he called out.

Ben opened fire on the nearest sentinel, downing it with a well-places sniper shot. He had to conserve ammo on that rifle, so he found that he had to switch to his pistol for the time being. After downing four more with his pistol, he realized that his rounds were running out on that gun as well. His arms configuration on this mission had been optimized for taking down a few high-value targets, not a swarm of what might be deemed low-tier trash.

Thinking quickly, he ran over to one of the fallen drones, discarded his pistol, and ripped out a beam turret from the construct, hastily checking to see if the weapon was still intact. He aimed the turret at an incoming sentinel and fired, releasing a potent line of thermal energy. It worked, and when it inevitably ran out of power, he'd simply be able to pick up another from one of the fallen sentinels. Why exactly the Forerunners included hand controls on a weapon meant to be fired by a robot without limbs was beyond him, but it didn't matter right now.

He ran over in the direction of Grikgar and Tasuma. He knew that, unusually, the Unggoy was shielded, but Tasuma was not. The Mgalekgolo's armor was strong, but unlike an energy shield, it didn't recharge; all damage between repairs was permanent. Incredibly durable though Hunter armor was, it could be burned through eventually. It also had a weak point in the back which was left wide open to attack. And as the sentinels kept coming, the odds that one of them was going to fire its beam into the Hunter's exposed back grow greater and greater.

"Tasuma, behind you! Ah!" Ben had leapt between Tasuma and a sentinel beam, taking the blow for the Hunter. Fortunately, Ben's shields had been almost at maximum durability when the beam hit. As such, he could take the blow head-on and return fire with the beam turret, quickly downing his assailant.

“The number of Sentinels attacking us could grow if we do not tread carefully.” Said Aviza over her coms as she snapped to her left and picked another Sentinel before firing upon it. The Forerunner construct fell to pieces after a sustained burst of fire from her MA5D, littering the ground in debris, some of which was burning with a vibrant blue flame. There was a momentary pause in fire from Spartan Aviza as she quickly moved to the right side of the Pelican and took cover behind one of the wings that had dug itself into the ground. "Not that many left, keep firing upon them while I contact the Marines in control of the Mammoth." It was at the time that she noticed that the ONI Spooks were making a mad dash for the Mammoth in the near distance. "You two, get back here and stay in cover, now." Said Aviza in a much more commanding tone, different from her calm and collected voice. She would be responisble if the two were killed under her command, and expected everyone to follow her orders to the letter. After crouching down to give herself better cover, Aviza contacted the crew of the Mammoth and gave them orders, if they could not move to the Mammoth at the moment, the Mammoth would have to come to them. "Move the Mammoth to our position, most of the Sentinels have been destroyed and should pose much less of a threat at the moment." The Mammoth could easily hold its own against the Sentinels, due to the heavy weaponry and armor plating installed upon it.

---

If nothing else, Vael could see that the members of the team were quick to act, took initiative, and were deadly in a fight. Even just simple accuracy with their weapons set them apart. The sentinels were falling much quicker than they would against an average squad of marines, or lance of Swords warriors. Vael was keeping track as best as he could of their enemy; there had been seventeen Forerunner machines to start, and ten had fallen.

Unfortunately, more sentinels had arrived within motion sensor range, a fact about which Shih was quick to alert the team, but the number of opponents within range to threaten them had still been temporarily thinned. Taking the opportunity, Vael dashed out from underneath the wing to the wreckage of one of the sentinels. He knew just what he was looking for, so it did not take long for him to holster his weapon and rip from the broken frame the sentinel’s weapon. In his experience, the true best weapons against Forerunner machines were their own.

It took only a moment for Vael’s suit to identify the weapon and paint a reticle on his HUD. The internal battery of a sentinel beam did not last too long when disconnected from a sentinel’s power source, but it would certainly be enough for this fight. Vael picked the harder-to-hit targets: the ones flying higher or faster. The intense orange beam hardly took more than a second of sustained fire to deplete the shields and cut through the sentinel’s frame, and with no deviation and effectively no travel time, he could fire it with pinpoint precision. Three times Vael fired a burst of the beam, and each of the three times a sentinel came crashing to the ground. Though, as his weapon overheated, two of the remaining sentinels focused their weapons onto Vael. Despite having shield strength appropriate to his rank, the Forerunner weapons were enough to deplete his shields and scorch his chestplate before he could get back into cover under the wing. The nanolaminate plating held, though Vael could feel the heat it had absorbed. “Shields are down!” Vael called out.

Vael was not the only one being pressured. Another beam from a different sentinel was cutting across the ground towards Grikgar, while another sentinel that had been damaged accelerated forward towards Ben, likely aiming to kill him with the secondary explosions of its own destruction. With the Spartan’s shields weakened as they were, he was vulnerable.

At the same time, the Marines radioed back to Aviza’s request quickly. “Yes ma’am. Telemetry shows there is a plateau in the way, so we’ll have to go around. ETA…two minutes.”

”More sentinels on approach, and they’re spreading out. Looks like they’re going to surround the crash site.” Shih warned the team.

The team worked well together, fanning out and splitting into teams quickly as the leader ordered. Surprisingly it wasn't just Grik to be beside him. Spartan Ryker was behind Tasuma not far behind, and the Spartan finished off the two sentinels that the Hunter had weakened. As the Hunter shielded itself from one beam attack, the Spartan peaked around Tasuma and emptied his SMG magazines into the attacking drone.
"I got your six, Tasuma. Wouldn't do to not have each other's backs, right?" The Spartan said. Tasuma let out an agreeable grunt, the Spartan was correct. Another sentinel aimed at Tasuma, this time at its rear, but this seemed like a coordinated attack. Multiple sentinels attacked their group, one fired a beam towards Grik, and another, already damaged, dived towards them. A second Spartan leapt to Tasuma's defense, taking a beam to the shields, allowing Tasuma to act. It fired a burst of incendiary gel bolts at the the sentinel firing at Grik, the bolts tracking and smacking against its shield, depleting them. Tasuma had no time to finish it off, it would have to rely on its team for that. Tasuma turned its attention to the diving sentinel, waiting a second for the right moment, then it lifted its shield and swung it. The two ton shield smashed against the damaged sentinel with a loud clang, sending it careening away several meters and into the dirt.

The left SMG came alive once more to gun down the Sentinel that was firing on Grikgar just before its beam reached the Unggoy and he shifted targets quickly, the remainder of the SMG's magazine went into the next Sentinel to come into the Spartan's sight along with most of the right SMG's. He fired the remaining rounds at an approaching Sentinel to make it veer off before he reloaded. "We should fall back some, use the Pelican's troop bay as a holding point til the mammoth gets here." Another Sentinel came at the group, but it made the mistake of passing too close to Lucas, who caught its underside and swung up on top of it before plunging the wrist mounted energy dagger into it.

After gliding a few more feet, it fell to the ground and slid a few feet as Ryker leapt off. Once it stopped, he sliced it open with the self-same energy dagger and pulled out its weapon. "If more are moving into position around us, we might be in trouble. I've seen swarms incinerate large ships with a combined blast."

The new sentinels sweeping up over the terrain were not close enough for Yalu's machine gun to focus on. Their shields radiated with stray hits but the spread bullets only knocked them a little off course.

Then in an instant he processed a sentinel gunning for Grikgar. He hardly noticed himself whip out his carbine before his machine gun clattered, dropped at his feet. "Danger close, Ultra!" Four sharp shots went straight into the damaged sentinel's 'eye'. Gravity pulled it to the dirt, thankfully unexploded. "Enemy down!" Yalu shouted.

He had his primary weapon out now. There was not a moment in the chaos to pick his machine gun back up. "These machines won't be intimidated, either!" Yalu added to Ryker's comment between downing one across under the pelican's tail, trying to cover for Commander Virisusai. Yalu put his head down and darted to the Spartan Ben to help yank up him to his feet. "Honour yourself; do not bleed!"

He turned his weapon to the side and strode, scanning for more.

"I don't think these things are in the mood to talk! Ben wasn't exactly bleeding, but Yalu's point was taken. The number of drones seemed to be endless, but Ben had been informed that Forerunner facilities rarely sent more than a few dozen drones out at a time at most, unless the flood was attacking.

The Spartan-III heard the telltale sound of his shields recharging. He counted himself very lucky that he had never taken a blow which damaged his suit's battery. More thermal lances short out from the drones, forcing Ben to duck down. Grikgar would have been struck if not for his much shorter stature.

"Just keep fighting! These things seem to be programmed to send a set number of themselves out against intruders! We just have to reach it and they'll stop coming!"

Grikgar /Grik/ Seeker

// Unggoy Ultra // Demolitions and Artillery // Location: Planets Surface

Grikgar was paying close attention to the flight patterns of the surrounding sentinels. The team around him seemed to be doing rather well at choosing targets and keeping out of harm’s way. The Spartans and even the other elite were calling out targets and the actions they were taking. This was no simulation but at least it showed him that they could work together. Well most of them anyways.

The hunter and the other Spartans seemed to be quick to cover the blue Spartan and take out the sentinel’s aiming for himself and the Lekgolo. Yet when the hunter shifted Grik could see a few small groups of circling sentinels group up just for a moment before continuing to circle. The Unggoy was quick to holster his right pistol and remove one of the plasma charges from his belt. Quickly molding it in his hand to the shape of a plasma grenade and waited for a moment.

“Take Cover!” the grunt shouted throwing the charge into the combined mass of two smaller groups of sentinel’s on similar flight paths. Following the charge with his pistol the demolitions expert discharged a short 4 round burst from his pistol striking the charge in the air near the grouped up robots. Twisting himself around the other side of the Lekgolo to use them as cover from the blast. He didn’t know if it was close enough but at the very least the EMP or shock wave from the charge might do something.

The advanced HUD that was built into Aviza's ARGUS-class Mjolnir armor showed that the Mammoth was now nearing their position, they would hopefully be able to retreat to the vehicle shortly. "The Mammoth is almost in range, get ready to fall back into it and provide each other with covering fire." said Aviza her into helmets coms. As the massive vehicle approached, Aviza stayed in cover, still behind the G79H-TC/MA Pelicans right wing, only taking opportune shots at the sentinels with her MA5D when available. So far, they Sentinels were not posing much of a threat as the group was primarily working well together, of course the two ONI Spooks who had ran off in hopes of getting to the Mammoth first did not exactly fall under this. As Spartan Aviza's old instructor once said to her, the best way to learn is upon the field of battle, and the current situation reinforced that statement.

When Grikgar had yelled out for everyone to take cover, Aviza had already been safely positioned behind the Pelicans right wing, loading yet another clip into her MA5D Assault Rifle, but also getting ready to move out towards the rapidly approaching Mammoth. Thankfully, the EMP had no effect upon her suit, due to it having protection against such an attack. The shock-wave was felt, but due to the other attacks from the rest of her squad, was mostly drowned out. The low rumble from the Mammoth only grew with every second that passed, and Aviza had decided that it was now time for them to move to the M510. "Mammoth has arrived, everyone fall back and provide cover to the rest of the squad." said Aviza through her helmets coms as she stood up and away from the cover of the crashed Pelican.

Once the M510 Mammoth had reached them, the large door upon the rear of it opened, allowing them to enter while the automated rocket pods upon the vehicles exterior locked onto the remaining sentinels and fired volleys of their armament. Aviza was the first of her squad, separate from the ONI Spooks, to board the Mammoth and enter its vehicle and cargo bay. The Spartan turned around and made sure her squad had all entered, still alive and in one piece. "Is everyone alright? Any injuries that need to be tended to?" Asked Aviza.

---

With the assistance of the rest of the team in thinning out the sentinels and drawing fire away from him, Vael’s shields recovered quickly. Ultimately, they only had to hold a few minutes, a feat of which this team proved more than capable. The machines, despite the power of their weapons, behaved predictably, so the team could easily manage the angles from which they could be threatened while supporting one another.

Grikgar’s attack was well-timed. The charge cleared a cluster of sentinels, and weakened the shields of a few beyond them, shortly before the Mammoth could be heard on approach. Vael moved out from under the wing for long enough to replace his sentinel beam with a fresh one, then rushed out to give covering fire as soon as Aviza gave the order to move. Most of the team was equipped to take some damage, but the Pelican’s pilots, who followed Aviza’s signal to move, were more vulnerable.

Just as before, Vael found it easy to target the sentinels with the beam, and especially for those with already-damaged shields, they fell quickly. Vael sprinted out ahead of the group until he was about halfway to the Mammoth, then turned back to cover those behind him. Fortunately, they had cleared enough of the machines before making their run that it was not too difficult of a task. He simply focused his fire on any sentinel that seemed to be pointed towards any of his more vulnerable allies. Rockets from the Mammoth provided support as well, though they naturally could not target too close to their position.

As Vael finally reached the Mammoth, his shields flared from a sentinel beam striking across his back, but this time, they held until he could make it up the ramp. Once the last of them were inside, the ramp raised up and closed them inside the safety of their mobile base. Even stripped down and lightened as it was, the Mammoth’s armor was still much thicker than that of the Pelican and could handle the sentinels’ weapons. The sentinels would pursue for a time, but as long as the Mammoth moved away from whatever it was they were protecting, they would not follow forever.

Vael could feel the sting of a burn on his chest. His armor’s plating dispersed the heat effectively enough to avoid serious injury, though, so he did not find it worth mentioning.

“We’re fine.” The Pelican pilot responded.

The co-pilot looked to be catching his breath, though he nodded in agreement to the pilot. “Holy hell, you guys don’t screw around…” He said, looking over at the rest of the team. Indeed, for the average soldier, the capabilities of a team such as theirs was nothing short of astounding. A normal squad of marines or Swords lance likely would have faced significant casualties in such a situation, if they even survived at all.

Tasuma continued to take shots at the sentinels, despite the information that there were more, it would not fall to despair. Spartan Rykers suggestion offered an alternative defensive formation. One that emphasized combined firepower, rather than small pockets of defenders. However with the combined firepower came the added risk that the robotic defenders only needed to fire at one place. While Tasuma was sure its shield could defend against one, or maybe two beams, any more and the shield would likely fail. Thankfully such measures didn't seem to be necessary. Over the horizon, with impressive speed, the M510 Mammoth rolled forward, kicking up dirt behind it. The Mammoth opened up with missiles that streaked through the sky, tracking the sentinels, smacking into them with explosive force. Tasuma would have smiled at the sight, it determined. It slowed to a halt, then opened its rear door.

Tasuma turned its head to face its allies, "Go. I am rearguard." it vibrated. As soon as the team and the pilots darted for the Mammoth, Tasuma jogged forwards, keeping pace behind them. It then turned around, running backwards with eerie ease, with its cannon aimed up into the sky, and its shield at the ready. It only fired at targets weakened by the missiles, to finish them off, or at targets the missiles failed to hit. Several sentinels managed to get a moments burst of laser fire at the team, and some at Tasuma, which was deftly blocked by his shield. Tasuma even jogged up the ramp backwards, managing to avoid running into any teammates, crewmembers, or equipment. It remained at alert, with his weapons up and his spikes fully vertical. It was only when the ramp closed that it relaxed. Aviza asked if everyone was okay, and Tasuma rumbled in reply.
"Tasuma okay." It knew that after a crazed situation, the squad leaders of his former companions, the ODSTs, preferred to hear names rather than 'I' or 'me'. Tasuma understood, it was easier to hear a name then a status rather than a collection of 'I'm okay's'. Tasuma then craned its head high and around, looking at each squad member and the pilots, giving each of them around a second of looking. While Tasuma could feel their presence and status through his neural net, the ODSTs found it more comforting to see it actually look at them. Hopefully this team would as well. It then turned to look at its shield, twisting it and touching where the sentinel beams struck with a claw on his assault cannon. While at first glance the shield seemed fine, it likely would have failed if it took any more punishment. Tasuma thought that was troubling, a little.

When the call to fall back to the Mammoth came through, Lucas was already hopping to cover his teammates, letting them move before he did and firing bursts of his SMGs to try and somewhat deter the machines from following too closely. Eventually, he was up the ramp and with the rest of the team, with Tas close behind him. The call for a wellness check prompted Ryker to check his chest plate, where a Sentinel beam had glanced off his shields. Patting it down revealed a level of warmth, unsurprising since the shielding stopped the beam itself, not the heat transfer, but undamaged beyond that.

Satisfied, he spoke up in response. "Spartan Ryker, alive and ready to roll." With his check-in done, he gave the eye to his unshielded teammates and made sure that the Sentinels hadn't managed to connect any shots. Satisfied they were fine, the Spartan went and found a seat and then set about taking his SMGs apart and cleaning them after removing the magazines and clearing the breaches. An uncared for weapon was a weapon that could malfunction after all.

Grikgar's grenade whined to a full charge a moment before Yalu dove for cover. The sound of metal blasting apart joined a flash on the walls of the pelican. He stood back up with his carbine levelled to shoot the surrounding sentinels down like flying animals.

Relief didn't come too soon as far as Yalu was concerned. He moved as prompted, though was sure to escort one of the human pilots by his upper arm to ensure he was covered by Yalu's energy shield. The human barely kept pace.

No sooner was he in the Mammoth than Yalu let the pilot go and spun around to cover Tasuma's retreat. Only when the large doors shut did he habitually replace the magazine of his carbine in three rapid movements.

"Major 'Suumko still effective," Yalu responded to Aviza. He had little else to add.

The combat sim control panel was of Human design, like most of the equipment in Paxopolis. This meant Tar needed several tries to get the settings correct; none of the preset scenarios tested the skills she was instilling in the recruits. She growled in frustration as even the smallest digit on her hand still entered the wrong enemy combatants.

Starting again, she skimmed past the human configurations like ‘Insurrectionist hijackers’ and ‘angry urban mob’ to access Covenant-era hostiles.

Sangheili Zealots <- No
Mgalekgolo Pair <- No
Yanme'e Swarm <- No
Jiralhanae Stalkers <- Perfect

She locked them in, selected the number and overall skill level, then checked the rest of the settings before confirming. Lights shining from the high ceiling switched from amber to green, another Human design which meant they were ready to begin. Satisfied the simulation was ready, she turned back to her recruits.

Four young Sangheili males stood awkwardly in the centre of the cavernous, empty sim room. They clutched their energy swords and stared suspiciously around as Tar walked quickly over to join them.

Among recruits to Paxopolis’ defensive garrison, there were few who were truly “green”, as the Humans would say. Among the UNSC, it was a secret facility, so they intended to insist upon soldiers with proven loyalty and ability. However, that did not mean that new recruits could simply be integrated right away. They still needed to be evaluated and trained to perform their duties. For some, it could be more difficult to train them than fresh recruits, as some had just enough experience to be stubborn.

As Tar drew closer, she could see the four Sangheili recruits were awaiting the start of the simulation with varying degrees of eagerness or irritation. The farthest to the left, from Tar’s perspective, was considered by some to be an ideal recruit. He strictly adhered to hierarchy and would obey any order from a superior to the letter, without question or hesitation. However, he also seemed to lack much creativity himself. He was actually the most experienced among the recruits, but not the highest rank.

The second in line was one who generally received little respect among his peers. Or at least, not from other Sangheili. He was often hesitant to fight, and though capable when motivated, he seemed to have little drive to improve himself.

The third was the one among them who had ascended to Major rank. He was quite tall and strong, even for a Sangheili, and he already had proven skill in combat, but he was far from humble. He had already openly shown disdain for this extra training he was being put through, and he seemed to be somewhat dismissive towards Tar.

The last in line was a recruit who was easy to forget about. He has no special experience nor accomplishments, though also no overt flaws. He tended to speak only when spoken to, and generally only said the bare minimum of what was required of him.

All four of them drew up to their full stature as Tar entered their space, as she’d noticed was usual for young males. She returned all of their stares to make sure they were listening before briefing them.

“Brute Stalkers have infiltrated the base. Their objectives are unknown, but they’ve infiltrated the Command room and deactivated our defenses. They’re contained within the Command complex, but the lights have been disabled and they’ll fight hard to break free. Our mission is to insert and kill or capture them all. Any questions?”

After a few moments of silence, the second Sangheili, the young warrior named Jurna, started to move his mandibles to speak, but the Major soon spoke over him, loudly and with no shortage of confidence. “I require nothing more than a target. We are not helpless younglings who have never gripped a plasma rifle. We shall slay these mongrels quickly and be done with this nonsense.”

Jurna did not continue his original thought, and neither of the others spoke up as well, for differing reasons. In any case, each recruit did seem to be ready to enter... They would be armed with simulations of their chosen weapons once the scenario had begun.

Tar chuckled at the Major’s arrogance. She moved closer, until she stood within an arm’s grasp. “Stalkers do not present targets - they are ghosts. Move too quickly, and they will tear you limb from limb. Split from your team, and they will slaughter you. Follow my instructions, stay in formation, and protect your unit, and you may all make it out alive. If you put your team at risk, I will kill you myself, am I understood?” She moved closer still, her head tilted slightly back to meet his gaze fully.

The Major just growled, exhibiting a string of body cues that spoke volumes about his displeasure.

Tar smiled and looked at the other recruits before hitting a button on her wrist interface. The amber lights above them began flashing.

“Prepare yourselves, the simulation starts in thirty seconds.”

---

Vael could still hear the muffled sounds of explosions from within the Mammoth as the rocket turrets fired back on the pursuing sentinels. He could feel that they were moving, likely at close to the Mammoth’s maximum speed. Sentinels, unlike organic foes, held no grudges. Once they were beyond the area the machines were defending, they would no longer pursue.

Although the Mammoth was a massive vehicle, its thick armor allowed for less interior space than it might have appeared from the outside. It was not exactly cramped, but to accommodate a ten person team, plus the Mammoth crew and the two pilots, they would have to use their space efficiently. The two Warthogs were held along a rail above the vehicle bay, so there was a fair amount of open space on the lower deck. The middle deck above them had some modifications to better accommodate its role as their mobile base. Just to the right of the entrance to the cockpit was a space that had been designated for use as the equivalent of a medical tent, while to the left was storage for their rations and other extra supplies. To the rear of the deck was an expanded armory, equipped with both Human and Covenant weapons. The top deck was mostly unchanged, apart from the removal of the mini-MAC. In its place was the improved communications equipment and sensors they had been provided for their mission, though it was covered by retractable armored plates when not in use. For anything else that the team might need on an extended mission, they would need to make due with what they had and improvise.

Until it was needed again, Vael intended to secure his captured sentinel beam in the armory. Though first, he approached the pair of ONI agents. He had allowed the female to make use of his carbine, but he found little to approve of in either of their actions. They had moved without orders, and did not return when ordered to do so. They were fortunate that the sentinels had not focused their attention on them when they moved beyond cover. Were they his warriors, Vael would have ensured they were punished for their insubordination, but at this stage, he felt it best to allow the Human commander to be the one to deal with the Humans. Still, his displeasure did come through with his tone when he spoke to Corporal Cohen. ”Return my weapon.” He ordered simply.

The arrival of the Mammoth was a welcome sight or the Spartan-III, who could at least appreciate she raw power of the oversized vehicle, if not its rather unsubtle stature.

"Phong, status update on the Mammoth."

"All systems functional. This particular variant of the M510 lacks the typical Mark 2457 HRG Magnetic Accelerator Cannon. Telemetry indicates that this particular vehicle has sufficient supplies for an extended deployment ranging from-"

"Thank you. How long can it withstand an attack from Forerunner sentinels and Prometheans, on the scale of the engagement which just ended?" Ben stepped inside the massive vehicle. At 68.3 meters long, it was a veritable mobile base. There would surely be enough munitions for them. He made a mental note to search for any sniper ammunition he could find, suspecting that he'd need it very soon. The longer range he could engage the Forerunner mechs, the better. Experience had taught him that they were very dangerous machines at close to moderate ranges, but they were generally not optimized for long-range combat.

"Unknown. The databases I am authorized to access contain insufficient information to draw a useful conclusion." Ben nodded. The vehicle was indeed as massive as its namesake suggested, yet it might very well be reduced to a stationary base if hit with too powerful an attack. The capabilities of the Forerunners were far beyond anything humanity currently possessed. In the distant past, it was true that ancient humans were rivals of the Forerunner Ecumene in terms of power and technology, but humanity had far to go in order to reclaim that ancient mantle. Even the covenant were no match for the sheer scale of the Forerunner's resources; even extinct, they were still able to plague the human race, and the galaxy at large. A handful might still be alive, but for almost all intents and purposes, their species had gone extinct many millennia ago.