Tar had tested this particular scenario before the class, to get a general idea of what was involved. But she knew the combatant placements were randomised, as well as each fighter’s individual skill level. There were thousands of different variables, which made the outcome wholly unpredictable.

She pointed to the Sangheili on the far left of her - the good soldier. “You will take the lead. The rest of you, form up behind him. Remember what i taught you.” This was a good opportunity to exercise the ideal recruit’s decision-making, while gauging how easily the rest followed his lead.

Combat had not yet even begun and already there was friction with the Major. He stopped where he was, straightening up his posture and looking down on Tar, literally and figuratively. “Do you not see our armor? I outrank Ryssa.” He objected, gesturing to the Sangheili Tar appointed to lead them. “I should lead this mission.”

Tar looked up at the Major from the sim start countdown on her wrist interface and growled. “Make no mistake - I am the team leader on this mission. In this combat zone, you belong to me.” Tar thumped his armor with the bottom of her fist before pointing to herself. “And if I say you’re to follow close behind, you do so.” She thumped his armor again before turning away. “Besides, if the highest rank always entered dangerous rooms first, we’d have a leaderless military.”

The two Sangeheili who had so far stayed clear of Tar’s attention let out a small laugh at this remark.

The “good soldier” himself, Ryssa, appeared briefly nervous, though he said nothing to question his superior’s orders. While he was praised for his ability to follow orders, he had never been given anything approaching command before.

Tar assumed a ready stance at the rear of the formation as they faced the sim room’s pilot light. This was so she could observe each of them in action, and offer corrections easily. She’d only given them basic close combat maneuvers to try; for this first sim she didn’t want to confuse them too much.

The lights in the massive room went completely out, and Tar knew this was the sim loading up. A few moments past in pitch black before dull red emergency lights flickered on, much closer to their heads than before.

They were in a dark, narrow corridor, with one of the entrances to the Command complex behind them. A few Sangheili and Human bodies littered the floor nearby; blood pooled around Tar’s feet.

Ahead of them, shadows flickered in the long, straight corridor and collected in a few doorways on either side. About fifty metres away, a slightly stronger light at the end of the corridor revealed a fork to the left and right.

Tar pulled her Mauler from it’s holster and brought it up, cradling it in both hands close to her face, sights just below her eye line. The recruits did roughly the same with their weapons. She quickly looked down and confirmed her energy sword and grenades had spawned in - she was ready for battle.

Once everyone in the squad had informed Spartan Aviza that they were still indeed in one piece and alive, she approached the two ONI Spooks. Motioning with her left hand for the two of them to follow her, she would walk to a secluded area where the three of them could talk in private about their prior actions. "I am not going to ask why you two decided that it was a wise idea to run off to the Mammoth on your own without any orders to do so, in the middle of a fire fight." began Spartan Aviza, in a much more commanding tone of voice, one that showed slight irritation.

"What I will mention is that your actions could be considered by many as going AWOL, I am sure I do not need to inform you of what the punishment is of doing such. While I allow those under my command to take initiative, I also expect common sense to play its part. Your actions not only reflect upon me poorly, but also mankind, so I expect both of you to act accordingly. From now on, you will remain with the rest of the squad at all costs, you will follow my orders swiftly and to the letter. Am I clear? Good." Once Aviza had finished speaking, she quickly made contact with Shih, within her mind while walking back to the rest of the group.

"Would you mind sending a report of the current situation back to command for me, Shih?" asked Aviza. For the two ONI Spooks who she had just spoken to, Aviza would still be watching them closely, and would continue to do so.

Grikgar /Grik/ Seeker

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

Grikgar watched as multiple machines where taken down by his explosion. This and the combined efforts of the others brought most of the stragglers down. His display alerted him to more incoming but their salvation had arrived in the shape of the gigantic land vehicle, he could only describe it as being the human equivalent to a scarab. The Unggoy was quick to grab the remains of three sentinels that were taken down by EMP and had not detonated. Dragging the husks of metal with him to the Elephant.

The others quickly made their way inside, Grik was not far behind stopping only once he was in cover. “Grikgar has no injuries to report Commander.” The grunt wasted little time to tear into the sentinels that he brought on board. The power cores in these machines were volatile at this stage and he needed to act quickly to attempt to stabilize them. Quickly pulling two of the power cores out and fixing them together made him quickly go to the third. The third power source could not be stabilized before it reached its critical after recovering from the EMP.

The demolitions expert was quick to toss it out the door before it closed, catching fire in his hand as he threw it. Returning to the three sentinels the Unggoy quickly began taking them apart, he did remember a few engineers try to repair a damaged sentinel once and was aware of some of the other possibilities with them. Removing the three lasers and placing them together neatly, then removing internal parts into another small pile, then another pile with what looked like good portions of the metal frames of the machines with one last pile for burnt out, damaged, and just trash parts.

He was very well unaware of what was happening around him Grik seemed consumed in his task at hand. Generally he wouldn’t be the one to tinker but right now it seemed that they were safe and he could do what he wanted in relative peace. Essentially the grunt was looking at replacing his spent explosive charge with the combined power sources of the machines regardless of if it actually worked and attempt to add to his own armor with the metal from the sentinels.

Ben scanned the area, using his helmet's built-in scopes to look around. No threats were incoming from any direction, and his radar's IFF readings didn't show any hostiles. Satisfied that things were calm for the moment, he turned his attention to Grikgar

"Grik, be careful with those things. No one really knows how Forerunner tech works, and we don't need to risk disabling the Mammoth in an explosion. What are you trying to make, anyway?"

"If I may bring something to your attention, Ben. The UNSC is currently working with reverse-engineered Forerunner equipment to integrate it into new warships, including the UNSC Inf-" Not for the first time, Ben muted the "dumb" AI. As a Spartan, Ben was capable of a number of sophisticated tasks, such as operation of almost every weapon in the UNSC arsenal, piloting ships of every class, operating artillery up to and including MAC cannons, and even training with building and defusing bombs. He had built and planted bombs on several occasions, usually with the goal of taking out a target marked for "pacification" by ONI.

As he had said, few if any people still alive understood the intricacies of Forerunner machinery; he even suspected that this knowledge was limited even among the Forerunners themselves. While he didn't dismiss Grikgar's skills entirely, he had to question how much training the Unggoy had in this area. It could have been bias talking, but he didn't see a Grunt- cannon fodder- as being able to deal with this safely. Not by himself. Grunts and explosives tended to mix very poorly for the sake of the former.

"Maybe I could lend a hand? I've handled explosives since probably before your grandparents were born, ever since I was barely taller than you." It just occurred to Ben that he had admitted handling explosives since he was about 10. "ONI made Spartan recruits do things that children don't normally do. Let's just leave it at that."

Just as he was ordered, Ryssa was the one to take the lead, storm rifle in hand with a needler at his side. “Move forward.” He said aloud through their comms to those behind him. He had neglected to give any specific instruction as to the order in which they should move, so it was the Major that was just behind him. He wielded a storm rifle as well, with an energy sword at his side. Jurna, as he always did when given the choice, was armed with a carbine and needler, while the silent Sangheili just in front of Tar held a plasma rifle in his right hand, and a plasma pistol in the left.

Ryssa moved straight ahead down the hall towards the fork at the end of the corridor. He, and the rest of the recruits, had night vision enabled, though that by itself would not reveal stalkers using active camouflage. As they moved, he was paying more attention to his motion tracker than he was his own eyes, and he did not order to clear the side rooms as they passed them by.

The recruits obviously hadn’t absorbed the room clearing exercise Tar had put them through two days ago in one of Paxopolis’ crowded storage facilities. She shook her head - not a good start.

They quietly passed two doorways, which Tar looked through as a reflex. She saw base workers slumped over the workstations, their seats and the floor covered in blood. The Brutes hadn’t even given them a chance to fight back.

Footsteps, fast approaching from another doorway to her right. She pivoted as quick as her feet would allow, brought her Mauler to bear and fired.

The blast impacted a Stalker’s shield barely a metre away before the now half-visible Brute crashed into Tar.

She was lifted off her feet and propelled backwards through another doorway where they both clattered to the floor.

Her Mauler blast had evidently damaged Stalker’s shield, because it fizzled out with a loud ‘pop’. In the dim, light Tar found the bright red beam of the Stalker’s single helmet lens a few inches from her face. Huge tombstone teeth gnashed at her as the Brute wrestled past Tar’s raised arms and got his hands around her throat. She spluttered as her windpipe instantly closed with the Brute crushing the life out of her. She knew she only had seconds to react as dark spots danced in front of her vision.

---

Shih completed the first part of Aviza’s request before she finished her sentence, though in this case, she did not have the option to comply with the second. “I have compiled a report, and I can queue it for transmission, but our mandate for long-range radio silence prevents me from sending it back to the Thunder. At least until we positively identify the location of the insurrectionist base.”

Once he had his weapon returned, Vael went to the Mammoth’s armory to secure his sentinel beam and replenish his ammunition. The Spartan, Rex, did so as well, though the two spoke not a word to one another. Even among the other Humans, Rex kept to himself when not performing any tasks. In any case, Vael had no reason to disturb him. He had more pressing concerns in mind. First and foremost, he moved up to the top deck to check on the status of the Mammoth and its pursuers. Even lightened as it had been, the Mammoth could not hope to outrun sentinels, but fortunately, it did not need to. Once their vehicle moved far enough beyond what the sentinels were protecting, they simply disengaged. Looking at the outside plating, Vael could see plenty of scorch marks and melted armor in places, but it all seemed superficial. For now, their mission could proceed. There was no choice but to have the pilots of the Pelican join them, but as long as nothing else went wrong, that would not be a problem.

For a few moments, Vael observed the environment around him. They had landed in an arid, rocky desert, and he was unsure of how far it extended in any direction. Only a small fraction of Sarcophagus’ immense surface had been mapped, and the area they were in was not among it. There was as much distance between their current location and Paxopolis as there was between Sanghelios and its primary star. Truly, they could not know what was ahead of them; they would just have to be adaptable.

Heading back into the Mammoth, Vael decided to use the time in which they would be stuck traveling, though he was not sure of what he could accomplish that would be of value. Space was limited for a team of ten, plus the Mammoth’s crew, so that restricted his options. He ended up returning to the lower deck, and eventually set his attention on their most conspicuous team member: the Mgalekgolo Tasuma. While their kind were exceptionally durable in their armor, Vael did have concerns over how it might fare on an extended mission. As Vael approached, he took a moment to examine the Hunter’s armor. Though its base was still made of familiar nanolaminate alloys, there were some additions that were unmistakably Human. He had not yet had time to read Tasuma’s file fully and learn its background, but it was obvious that it had been working with the Humans long before the idea of Aegis Team had been conceived. “Tasuma, what is the status of your armor? Are repairs possible?”

Tasuma stayed put in the troop bay, fearing that the stairs leading up to the 2nd and 3rd decks weren't rated for its weight. It instead passed the time by watching what Grik was doing. In honesty the Hunter was more interested in the pile of scrap metal than what the Unngoy was doing. But he felt it was impolite to impose, it seemed that Grik was familiar with what he was doing, and Tasuma knew that some people became irritable when their work was disrupted. When Ben offered his help, Tasuma turned his attention away, not wanting to bother them. Perhaps he would browse through the metal later, when it was piled and stored away for cataloging.

It turned to examine the Warthogs mounted on the rail above it, they were extremely common in the UNSC, and extremely versatile. It took a moment to admire the vehicle, it knew its abilities in battle, as an enemy and an ally. It felt a Sangheili approach, but Tasuma wasn't sure which one it was just yet. It turned its head to look at the Elite.
“Tasuma, what is the status of your armor? Are repairs possible?” Vael asked.
"Commander." Tasuma addressed. It bowed its head slightly, in respect. "Armor integrity, full. Shield integrity, neared melting point in battle. Will cool, and return to optimal status with time." Tasuma reported. Concerning repairs, that was a much more complicated outcome. Depending on the part, a full weapon forge or weapons factory would be the best option to repair the armor plating. He knew that the UNSC were constructing one such specialized factory at Spatha Base on Earth, for the Iteyi Recovery Project, to produce spares for Tasuma and to experiment with nanolaminate materials. Out here in the field, if Tasumas armor split, there would be no feasible way to repair and reshape the armor to specification. However, the ODSTs did have a few tricks up their sleeve, it remembered. "If armor fails, we will require a Forge to repair to operational status. Or... 'duck tape'."

The dumb A.I. that was built into Aviza's ARGUS-class Mjolnir was informing the Spartan III that the area the Mammoth was currently traveling though was arid, rocky desert that had a current high temperature. Aviza knew that the armor would make adjustments to help her stay nice and cool in such unfavorable weather, but wondered if the others had been lucky enough for such modifications to be installed into theirs. This thought ran through the Spartans mind as she walked through the interior of the Mammoth, also heading towards the armory, following a few of the others who had decided to do that same. Instead of putting her weapons into the armory locker, she had decided to re-arm and re-gear for whatever was next for them. New clips, a few new grenades, and a new melee weapon were carefully selected from the stock that was currently available. The melee weapon that Spartan Aviza had picked out was different from most others, while it was an energy sword, the blade was a bright red, unlike the vibrant blue that she had always seen, something about it had called to her, and she had answered. With the unique energy blade in hand, she approached Vael 'Virisusai and spoke.

"Pardon me Vael, but I wanted to ask you a personal question." She would power up the energy blade and show it to the Sangheili before her. "I hear that these energy swords hold a special and deeply profound meaning among your people. I do not wish to offend you or any of your kind, and wish to ask for your permission to wield this weapon upon the field of battle. I have seen blue energy swords upon the field of battle, but have never seen one that had a red blade before. Something about it feels, ominous, perhaps I have heard of red bladed energy swords somewhere in my past." Aviza paused for a moment as the memory came back to her, "Spartan Killers, the Silent Shadow, that is where I have heard about red energy swords." The Woman held up the unique energy sword to get a better look at it, "Perhaps using a normal energy sword would be better, less distasteful, and less disrespectful."

Tar groped desperately around with her right hand for her Mauler, but it had skittered away into the gloom. So instead, Tar pulled her energy sword from his mount on her left thigh, activated it and thrust it into the Stalker’s abdomen.

He let out a furious roar and tried to dismount her. Tar wrapped her right arm around the Brute’s neck and stabbed him four more times in the stomach with her left. The force of her last blow pushed his now limp body off to the side, where he lay still.

Tar quickly rose to her feet and holstered her sword. The recruits had entered the room and were staring at her. Tar spotted her Mauler lying under a desk and picked it up.

Satisfied all her gear was together, she quickly strode to where Ryssa stood and shoved him against a wall.

“One of your teammates just died. When I show you tactics I expect you to use them. We always check corners and clear rooms. Fail me again and you’ll do this simulation alone, Is that clear?”

“Yes, Commander!” Ryssa replied, almost on reflex, though he still frantically looked around with some confusion after taking a more literal interpretation of her reprimand. He had seen the tail end of the short fight, but from what he could see, everyone around him was still alive.

“Good.” Tar grabbed the recruit and shoved him towards the doorway. “Take point.” The Major, stood slightly outside the doorway, snarled and turned away.

Ryssa followed his orders to the letter and took point, this time making sure to clear the rooms they passed on the way forward. It seemed, at the very least, that Tar’s harsh reminder was enough to get him to pay more attention to what he was doing and follow his training.

Not only did he continue checking his corners, but he did not need to be told where to go once they reached the junction in the hallway. Data centers, or the commanders themselves, were the most likely target of an attack like this, both of which took them down the left hallway.

As the team headed up the stairs to the next floor, there was a spike of activity on their sensors. All at once, each of their motion trackers started showing multiple red dots, on their level as well as above and below, moving frantically all around them.

Jurna immediately raised his carbine and pointed it ahead at the top of the stairs above, though quickly turned around to point it back the way they came. “They’re surrounding us!” He shouted, unsure of where he should be focusing his attention.

---

Vael briefly turned his attention to the Mgalekgolo’s shield. Generally, they were durable enough to be all but impervious to the majority of small arms, but sentinel beams could damage even starships. Still, even in a damaged state, it would likely be serviceable against Human and Jiralhanae weapons. By Vael’s assessment, Tasuma was still equipped to fight. However, there was more for Vael to be curious about, especially the more he observed Tasuma’s armor.

”You seem ready for battle, but there is more I would know about you. I was given a document with your history, but I would prefer to ask you myself. You are unusual for one of your kind. Your armor, equipment, the way you act towards them…you have worked with the Humans long before the idea of this team was conceived. You also fight without a bond brother, yet the spikes on your back show that you do, or did, have one. I am curious what events brought you here.” Vael questioned Tasuma, though the two of them did not remain alone for long before there was an interruption. The Spartan, Aviza, approached bearing an energy sword.

Vael glanced down at the crimson blade. ”I question what such a blade is doing in a Human armory, but…it does not matter. In the hands of a Sangheili, a sword is the weapon of nobility. Of honor, and the symbol of our skill. Swordsmanship is among our most respected practices. You are correct that the sword has meaning to us, but you are not of our kind. In your hands, there is no meaning. Some may disagree with me, but for you to wield a sword, there is no honor to be gained, nor lost. You are not Sangheili, and you are not under our command. It is not of our concern what trophies you take. Regardless, our rules and customs regarding the sword are primarily respected outside the military. On the field of battle, even a lowly Minor may pick up a sword if the situation demands it.”

Again, Vael put his attention to the blade. His answer might have seemed dismissive, but he said what he believed to be true. Her use of a sword was not something worthy of offense, though at the same time, her mere use of it would not gain respect. In any case, he had no qualms about informing her on a subject about which she clearly had little knowledge. “To wield that sword in particular is not a matter of honor nor respect, but skill. That blade burns hotter than the average sword, but that heat gives it a fine edge in more ways than one. It can cut through more armor, stronger armor, with speed and efficiency, but with that blade it is possible to cut too quickly. When rending flesh, it burns hot enough to cauterize immediately. There is less bleeding, and if the wielder cuts too quick, less damage to surrounding tissue. If the cut does not find a vital area, your opponent may survive. A wielder of that blade is one who is precise, restrained, and skilled enough to always find his mark.”

Aviza listened intently to every word that Vael 'Virisusai said about the Crimson Energy sword, and the special significance that it held to his people. She took no offense to the fact that he felt there was no honor to gain or to be lost from her using the weapon, his beliefs were his own. In fact, the Spartan had her own opinion on the use of the blade after listening to Vael, but would not share those thoughts with the Sangheili. However, she did comment on how he obviously thought she was ignorant of what the weapon actually was and how it functioned. "Thankfully, I am not woefully ignorant of how to use an energy sword, or how one functions. The holo-decks and training facilities have ensured that." Glancing at the Crimson Energy Sword once more, Aviza powered it down and attached it to her armor for later use. "I merely wanted to know if it would offend you or anyone else if I used it, but I do appreciate the information you have given me about the weapon, and its cultural significance."

Aviza would pause for a moment, carefully and gently removing her helmet, resulting in a soft, almost inaudible click. The helmet was now placed below her left arm for the time being, "We should move to the command deck and plan our next move from there, you lead and I shall follow."

The calm had not quite settled in Yalu's mind by the time the others started to slow down. He escorted his commander Vael to the roof, as much to carry out his duties as to see what was going on. Thankfully he did not need to fire another shot. After stepping back into the mammoth, he took a deep breath and holstered his carbine. On any other mission, there would have been a few friendly bodies left behind by the crashed pelican.

"I'll be listening for orders, commander," Yalu mentioned to Vael before wandering off. Now that everything was well, he had a burning curiosity about the vehicle they were housed in.

Yalu stopped by every space on the mammoth, from the rear to the drivers seats up front, though the latter could be described as a bridge. He had piloted just about every covenant military vehicle there was, but human wheeled vehicles were a rare treat.

In his wanderings, Yalu happened to be in a position to eavesdrop on Commander Aviza's castigation of the runaway special operations warriors. Yalu had not judged them too harshly -- humans had a different idea of honour after all. At the very least, he thought Aviza wise to not give Roy's explanation any attention. It was provocative. Aviza was clear enough.

Do humans have just as much pride as sangheili? How did they not cut each other to pieces without sangheili honour?

Yalu shook his head and headed to the bridge again to see where they were going.

"Pilot," Yalu said to the human in the primary driving seat, possibly giving both the driver and co-driver a fright. "Once we are out of danger, I am interested in learning more about this vessel."

Grikgar /Grik/ Seeker

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

Grikgar continued his single minded attraction to the sentinel pieces, a few of the others showed interest that he could see but little else. The Lekgolo seemed to look in his direction but little more, Grik was certain that it was looking for metal scraps more than tech though. The Spartan that had been talking to him earlier and seemed to be the nicest towards him so far stepped forward and seemed to question what the Unggoy was doing.

The grunt looks up from his work for a moment and tips his head to the side. “Grikgar does not know, only ever saw Huragok repair sentinels once in this way. It attached two power sources together and it stabilized the power source.” Picking up the part and moving it around to see the different sides of it. “Like this, Grik does not know why but if combined with another explosive has….” He paused for a moment trying to grasp the right term. “Unexpected result? If anything at all. As humans say wild card.” Placing the part between the two of them.

Grikgar then began to go over the different scraps of armor and metal frame, again placing those that he deems unusable in a pile. The Unggoy began to put some of the scraps up to his armor looking like he was seeing if they would improve it or not. Again he put more parts into the scrap pile until only a few frame pieces where left in one pile and other inner working parts in another. Moving the more complicated but still technically good parts next to his locker with the few good Frame parts. “Ok now Grik has things to repair his armor with and tinker.” It was his way of keeping away from boredom while also being resourceful.

“Tasuma!” he called out to the Lekgolo in his high pitched voice and waved his arm as if his voice didn’t get its attention. “If you want those scraps Grik is done with them.” Motioning towards the small pile. Spartan Ben was still examining the power source so Grikgar began picking up the sentinel beams and placing them in the armory next to the other.

"If you aren't certain what the result is when combining them, it probably wouldn't be a good idea to combine them. I doubt either of us has the luck of John-117. Oh, you might know him as Master Chief, or "The Demon." He has unnatural luck, you know. If it was him, the effect would be just what we needed at just the right time. If it's anyone else, we're likely to end up deader than Roger Wilco on a trash hauler. Oh, the Wilco thing is from an ancient piece of human media."

Ben continued to examine the power source. He was fairly certain that he knew what this was, but couldn't be entirely sure. He lowered his voice, not wanting anyone to know what he was saying.

"Phong, does this match any device on record?"

"Scanning. Processing. Cross-examining device with other records. Match not found."

"Match not-? The UNSC has had the opportunity to examine hundreds of Forerunner devices, including sentinels."

"Thousands, actually. The Forerunners had a very different approach to technology compared to humanity or the Covenant. While interchangeable parts were employed, they were only used to the extent that interoperability within the same class of structures was allowed, and sometimes, not even then. In other words, each class of Forerunner installation operated on a different basis, in a manner not dissimilar to how ancient human kingdoms each had their own types of weight and measurements."

"Meaning what?"

"Meaning we don't know what the effect of the Unggoy's tinkering will be. It could be harmless, or it could be catastrophic. I am unable to calculate odds based on the data available. It would help to know precisely what the Unggoy intends to do with the Forerunner technology, but even if he told us, further analysis is impossible without the proper equipment, and there are only five laboratories in the entire UNSC properly tooled to handle Forerunner-"

"Thank you, Phong. I'll trust Grik on this one." Ben set the power source down and looked out at the wilderness around them, if that was the proper term for their environment.

Paxopolis Simulated Training Centre

---

The Major grunted dismissively at Jurna. He did have more experience to recognize what was actually happening. “No, fool. They’re jamming our motion trackers. Rely on your own two eyes, not your sensors.”

While the team had stopped, Tar was turned and covering the bottom of the stars with her Mauler. "Make a decision, recruit. Get us off this stairway." She said gruffly over comms.

Again, Tar’s instruction quickly set Ryssa into motion. “Move ahead. Carefully. Daha, cover our flank.” He instructed, prompting the generally silent Sangheili to give a brief acknowledgement, then follow with his gaze directed behind them.

The next floor mostly consisted of a large, open plan office space. A poorly lit walkway ahead of them cut through arrangements of workstations and holographic screens on either side. Flimsy plastic room dividers offered a degree of privacy for the worker bees in this area. In the middle of the room were a set of meeting rooms, partitioned by floor to ceiling plate glass.

Even without night vision, the team could see a faint red glow reflecting on the ceiling near the centre of the office space. Tar suspected Ryssa and The Major knew what it meant, but neither immediately acknowledged it so she focused the team’s attention.
"That's the Brute radar jammer on the floor over there. We need to destroy it."

Ryssa was quick to follow Tar’s instruction and gesture to them to move forward, but the Major was hesitant. He stayed in place, raising up his storm rifle and scanning his surroundings with his gaze. “Wait. If the jammer is here, then so too are the Brutes.”

Each of the recruits raised their weapons in turn, looking in different directions all around them. Beyond the team itself, the whole floor seemed to be but stillness and silence. The Jiralhanae attack was meant to have taken place at night, so there were no bodies of workers here, and the offices seemed to be undisturbed.

There was no shattered glass, broken doors, or overturned tables, just…silence. In that environment, it was easy to become acutely aware of every small sound that could be heard: the tapping of their armored boots against the hard floor each time they shifted their feet, the slight stretching and compression of their undersuits each time they turned their heads or sufficiently moved a muscle, and even the breaths they took.

Among the recruits, it was actually Jurna’s eyes that were sharp enough to notice a slight shimmer through the glass on the far side of one of the meeting rooms. He was not sure of what he saw, nor how he should react, but he did nevertheless point his carbine directly at it.
The shimmer seemed to react to this, moving abruptly towards the edge of the plate glass wall and into the open.

Tar, who was covering the rear, detected a very faint haze moving between them and the stairway they had just ascended, cutting them off. “They’re behind us.” She reported, raising her Mauler even though they were out of its effective range. “It’s a tra-”.

Before she could finish, a fire bomb flew past her visor and landed right in the middle of the group. Flames exploded outward into a pool on the floor, lapping at the shields of Ryssa, the Major and Daha, who were up front.

---

Vael felt some irritation. He had been speaking with Tasuma before Aviza’s interruption, and he still wanted to learn more of the Lekgolo’s connection to the Humans. However, if Aviza wanted to make their plans now, his presence would likely be required.

Vael turned his head briefly towards the Mgalekgolo. “Tasuma, I want you to move around the vehicle and see if there is anywhere you cannot access. Try to get up the stairs if you can. If you are able, then you may join us on the command deck.”

As requested, Vael moved up the stairs to the middle deck, towards the Mammoth’s cockpit, which was where everything relevant to the vehicle’s command was meant to be centered. Curiously, Vael found upon entering that he and Aviza were not the first to arrive. The other Sangheili, Yalu, was at the front of the cockpit speaking to the drivers.

The driver to Yalu’s left was surprised to hear his question…and even more surprised to turn back and look at him. The Mammoth’s crew had naturally been informed of the nature of their mission, but that did not make it less strange for him to have a Sangheili asking him about his vehicle. ”Well, um, those sentinels have backed off for now, so we’re not being shot at anymore. It’s heavily armored, if that’s what you’re worried about. It would take a lot more than those beams to get through the plating.” He answered.

”You seem ready for battle, but there is more I would know about you. I was given a document with your history, but I would prefer to ask you myself. You are unusual for one of your kind. Your armor, equipment, the way you act towards them… you have worked with the Humans long before the idea of this team was conceived. You also fight without a bond brother, yet the spikes on your back show that you do, or did, have one. I am curious what events brought you here.” Vael said. Tasuma thought to itself, unusual yes, and yes, it had worked with humans before Aegis was created. The Sangheili was a perceptive one, but then again, Tasuma knew that most were. Its story was quite a long one, and it began to think about how to structure the story, or even how to tell it. It knew that humans liked to embellish their stories, inject humor, draw the listener in with drama and tension. It knew that some Sangheili enjoyed heroic tales, by human standards, like their ancient epics. Or status reports, Tasuma supposed. Lekgolo communicated stories very differently however, and it likely would not be biologically feasible to do it the way the Lekgolo do it.

Thankfully, they were interrupted. Spartan Aviza had appeared with a query, concerning an unknown pattern of Energy Sword she had in her hands. Giving the colony time to collect its thoughts. But... the sword was a 'Spartan Killer'? Of the Silent Shadow? Tasuma looked at the blades hilt with curiosity, it had heard of no such thing before. It knew that the Spartan Clans were the greatest warriors of humanity. These red swords must be rare, for it to have appeared here in this vehicle for use by the team, someone must have 'pulled some strings', as the humans called it. Spartan Aviza then took off her helmet and suggested they go up a deck to plan out the next move. Commander Vael felt... Tasuma rose its spikes in an attempt to hone its sense. Anger? Most Sangheili wore anger on their sleeves, even to allies and each other. Irritation? And an attempt to be civil in a strange alliance? Tasuma wondered, but ultimately, the colony was amused. Most didn't care for the history of Hunters. Though the Commander did give Tasuma an order to explore the vehicle, a wise decision, if there was an attack the Hunter would need to know where it could go and where it couldn't. Showing that Vael liked to know the abilities of the team, in its environment. Then the Spartan and Sangheili departed, going up the stairs.

With Tasuma looking around the vehicle, it wasn't long that another grabbed its attention. Grik called the Hunter over, and Tasuma walked towards the friendly Unggoy. Grik gestured to a pile of forerunner metals, saying that he was done with his work. Tasuma was pleased, it would get to taste Forerunner material so soon? It wasn't exactly what its ancestors feasted on many years ago, but it was close enough. The metal-skin of Forerunner sentinels, the Holy Warriors of The Sacred Rings. Tasuma waved its assault cannon over the pile, its claws sifting through the pieces. After a moment it picked out a clean piece of scrap. It rose the piece to its helmet, so that the others knew it was examining it. Its team was being sociable, getting to know each other. Perhaps it should attempt to do the same.
"Ancient Lekgolo consumed the Rings of Te... we always wondered how it tastes." Tasuma spoke, looking at the metal. Just under its helmet, a hole appeared between the individual lekgolo, and Tasuma placed the scrap inside. The hole closed. It was... "Disappointing." Tasuma remarked. But it didn't spit it out, instead it rolled the metal inside of the colony, chipping away at it little by little. "Hard. Reminds us of Nanolaminate. But Nanolaminate becomes... chewy. Titanium-A. Easily best, to us. Cold, when brittle, becomes crunchy. A pleasant snack. Like... big potato chips." Tasuma said to Grik and Ben. Tasuma then picked up the pieces and walked over to the lockers, placing them inside. "We will clean them later. They will make a good snack for long deployments. Thank you." Tasuma said.

Tasuma then turned to the stairs and approached the right side stairwell. One of the Mammoth crewmembers, monitoring a console on the side of the troop bay, saw the Hunter and ran up to it.
"Woah woah, hold on there big guy, I know the stairs are rated for Spartans but you're like... ten of 'em at once!" The crewman said. In response, the Hunter looked at the man for a moment, then leaned over him menacingly, craning its neck to seem taller. Though, the Hunters spikes remained still. "Ah- I mean, you're looking great for a Hunter, slim and strong, not saying you're fat. You're just-"
Tasuma interrupted him with a, "Ha! Hah, hah."
"You're?" The crewman was confused, "Laughing? Ah you big joker." he chuckled nervously. Tasuma went back to its normal posture and looked at its shield. "Ah maybe if you- yeah, uh huh." Tasuma walked over and placed both its assault cannon, and two ton shield, under the stair well. "Maybe on all fours? Spread out the weight a little, it's why the Mammoths wheels are so wide. If they were any smaller it'd just sink into the ground and get stuck."
Tasuma followed the crewmans instruction, and placed its two hands on the stairs first, widening its grip, taking up two stairs per hand. It looked to the crewman, who nodded. The Hunter then carefully walked up the stairs, and after a few moments, the Hunter had successfully ascended the stairwell without falling through the stairs itself. It looked back at the crewman, who gave it a double thumbs up. Tasuma in reply nodded in thanks. It walked over to the cockpit, where the command section was, arriving several minutes into whatever conversation was happening.
"We are present." Tasuma announced in a well practiced 'inside' voice. Though its heavy footsteps may have given it away before his announcement.

A deck below, the Crewman returned to his post. "Man the girlfriends never gonna believe that I was on the ass-end of a Hunters joke. Didn't even know they could joke."
The other crewman next to him snorted with amusement.

"Yes," Yalu replied. "The weight and material is impressive. I expect no remnant or swords ground vehicles short of a scarab focus cannon could puncture it. And that could take more than one direct hit." He turned an eye to look at the pilot rather than ahead. "How is this Mammoth's movement powered? It must be something more potent than the hydrogen cells of your smaller vessels."

Yalu did not have the tact to make the human pilot entirely comfortable, but he did learn a few technical details. The conversation was not especially long. It ended once Commander Vael called Yalu over to discuss plans with the team.