Tar swore as her Spectre creaked again, trying to fly away in the howling wind. She was taking on a worrying list; her engines whined as she turned the front into the wind and squeezed every ounce of power from them. “Lean into it or we’ll go over!” She bellowed at her passengers. Rain splashed directly into her face off the front hull of the Spectre.

“We should find shelter. This is the rainy season - the worst could still come!” Tar knew all too well the perils of braving events like this, especially on the exposed plateaus where they were headed. Many Sangheili had spilled their blood on the rocky outcrops below.

She frantically cast her eyes around for somewhere they could go while trying to control her Spectre. Visibility was almost nil outside the basin they had been riding through. Then Tar saw the dark green vines plastering the forest floor on one side. She knew immediately what that meant. “Up on our left! There’s a cave system!” Tar called, pointing with her free hand.

Yalu kept his hand calmly hovering over the emergency brake every moment he could. Lower visibility meant following closer behind the commander's Spectre. The speed they were keeping up did not help the risk either. Though, he did not falter — he was not on the team for being an average driver.

Tar's directions caused Yalu to bank hard to turn in her new direction. He made the repulsors weaken to almost nothing as the wind turned his vehicle into an aerofoil for a moment. It was all he could do not to have the whole thing flip over and injure his passengers.

He said nothing but a quick acknowledgement to keep down on radio chatter. His questions and concerns about the weather would have to wait.

"Son of a bitch!" The sudden gust of wind nearly tore the SPARTAN-IV from his seat on the Spectre and he find himself stowing his rifle just to find a better grip. If Tar hadn't already suggested finding cover, he would have just based on the fact the storm hadn't abated but had, instead, gotten stronger. When they got close enough to the caves, Ryker was tempted to get off and run in on his own, but with as strong as the wind was, he questioned if he'd even land on the ground.



More experienced with being a passenger on a Spectre in poor weather than her Spartan compatriot was, Comi had stowed her weapon away when the weather first showed signs of getting worse instead of better and hugged the hull of the vehicle as much as she could, throwing her weight behind any adjustments that were made in order to help stabilize the vehicle as much as possible. The storm they were in now reminded her of some of the worse rainstorms of her childhood, but they had never gotten worse with time, only better, though the rain would often persist for days at a time. "We need a new plan of action, Commander!"

---

For Vael, he knew when to take charge himself, and when to defer to the expertise of others. In this case, he knew they could not continue making progress in this storm, and Tar was the one with the local knowledge to help them navigate to safety. Even when speaking through the team’s communications channel, it was somewhat difficult to hear over the roar of the storm just outside their helmets. ”We cannot stay in this storm; we will wait it out in the caves.” He ordered.

Even at low speeds, it was still a challenge just to drive. At one point, a powerful gust of wind pushed against Vael’s spectre from the side and forced the side of his canopy into a tree. Fortunately, at such low speeds, it did not cause real damage, but it did illustrate the danger the storm presented. Had he hit somewhat farther back, his passenger’s leg could have been crushed. ”Tar, guide us into the caves! We need to shelter our vehicles as best as we can as well. We will need all of them to make it to our destination.”

Tar responded quickly to the orders, banking her Spectre to match where her finger was pointing. The right side of her vehicle clipped a tall tree where she’d under-compensated for the wind. Her Spectre swung the opposite way, towards Yalu’s craft that had turned off earlier.

Tar yanked on the controls and they peeled away from each other after a light bump on opposite wings. She activated the boost and her Spectre whooshed up the side of the basin towards the caves. The underside of her vehicle clattered against the forest floor, drawing a few horrendous scraping sounds which reverberated up into Tar's legs. The wind plastered wet leaves, mud and small animals to the hull as she drifted around another tree with spiky purple leaves. “We’re close; up here!”

Eventually, the basin wall levelled out onto a small ridge. In the middle, two black cave entrances, surrounded by lighter rock, hunched against the storm. The same dark green vines Tar had seen down in the basin evidently originated from these caves, as they crept across the rock, nestled into natural grooves. The tendrils were thick and fewer, which indicated to Tar that this was an older specimen. Still alive and dangerous though, as shown by the small pink flowers dotting the vines.

She’d alert the others once they’d parked - no sense in complicating things. “Let's shelter inside!” Tar recommended, moving her Spectre towards one of the dark cave entrances.

---

Vael followed behind Tar as best as he could, given the circumstances. He had to stay close enough to keep the glow of the spectre’s engines in view, regardless of how the winds wanted to push them. They were moving into the wind at this point, so Vael had to periodically use the vehicle’s boost to regulate his speed, which was a challenge in variable winds.

As they headed up the basin, Vael was just able to keep up long enough to come within sight of the cave entrances. Approaching the mountain did reduce the headwind, though ironically, that caused just as many problems on approach. Vael had been boosting into the wind, so as that wind weakened, his approach ended up faster than he intended. He reacted quickly, pulling back and to the side to slow his speed, though the side of his canopy still ended up scraping against the cave wall through some of the vines. His passengers might have been shaken up somewhat, but it was at least not a dangerous collision.

Vael pulled back away from the wall and brought his spectre to a stop. They were finally out of the rain, though he was not going anywhere at that very moment. ”Stay on the spectres until all of us have come to a stop.” He ordered. If any of the others came in as quickly as he had, then it would be easy for anyone standing around to be crushed.

Grikgar /Grik/ Seeker

// Unggoy Ultra // Demolitions and Artillery // Location: Waiting in a cave

Rough insertion, fast cars, and bad weather. What more could a grunt ask for other than maybe some food. The high humidity and low temperature was familiar and unwelcomed by the grunt. Preferring warmer climates to the bitter cold of frozen planets or the vacuum of space was nice. The storm would also help to mask their approach but make his life currently a bit more uncomfortable.

Grik chose the right side of Veal’s specter the grav boots he had requisitioned for his updated combat harness was something he was glad he added. Sticking to the side of the thing in a spot meant for Elites was not an easy feat even with them. With a plasma pistol in one hand and his other grappling the side of the vehicle he was satisfied with his placement.

The demolitionist couldn’t wait for the anti-air cannon to be taken off line. Its destruction would mean that the Goblin would be dropped off with their assortment of fighting vehicles. This would be the first official test of the mech’s ability’s in a combat situation and he was very excited for it. All he had to do now was hold on and wait for the others.

Guiding the Spectre into the cave felt a little too much like landing a plane for Yalu's liking. He came in as carefully as he could while maintaining enough speed not to be blown into the ridge either side. His right passenger got close enough to the cave walls to touch then.

He felt a hissing in his ear holes as the rain outside muted and the engines of the Spectre eased to an idle. He let out a breath he had been holding for the past minute.

"I fear our plan for a rapid engagement may be finished." Sighing, Yalu clapped both his hands either side of his seat and pushed up out of the cockpit. "Is everyone status green? No one overboard?"

---

Vael opened the canopy of the spectre and climbed out once the last of the vehicles had reached the entrance of the cave. They were able to at least mostly fit the spectres in the mouth of the cave, though it did narrow to the point that they could not move them in any deeper. Water flowed downward under their feet, forming a small stream that moved down into the darkness of the cave. The walls were entirely overgrown by a dense layer of long vines that released something of a sweet scent into the air.

”As long as we are not detected, our mission is not over.” Vael remarked. Pausing for a moment in thought, he soon ended up looking at Aviza, though it was not for the attention of the Human in the suit. ”Construct…Shih. Is it possible to send a message to the Magnificent Defiance?”

Shih immediately replied through the team’s comms. ”Spartan Aviza’s suit can make a connection, most likely. Although, this close to the Keep, I can’t guarantee that it won’t be intercepted, even in this storm. They wouldn’t be able to decrypt it, of course, but just knowing that we’re here could be enough to compromise the mission.”

Vael grunted. ”Then we keep radio silence. If our ship is monitoring this storm, then a delay will not be a surprise to them. We need only wait until the storm lets up enough for us to travel. With luck, we will still be able to use it to mask our approach.”

With the spectres taking up most of the space in the mouth of the cave, the space they currently had was cramped with standing room only, unless they wanted to try moving deeper in.

Tar slowly edged her Spectre forward into the cave, careful not to disturb the vines on either side. The tunnel ahead narrowed quickly, so she proceeded in front only until a person could just about squeeze past either wing, then stopped and powered down the vehicle. The canopy hummed open and she clambered out, leaving her carbine in its holster. “We’re alive.” she reassured Yalu.

Tar walked a few paces further into the cave, until she was nearly swallowed by the darkness. She then silently unhooked one of the blades from her back and turned it on. An eerie red glow threw long shadows on the walls, exposing thick vine trunks that dug into rivulets on the floor, walls and ceiling. There were pink flowers even here, despite the lack of sunlight.

She gently moved her sword closer to one of the vines on the wall, and with a distant sound like bloody innards slopping from a stomach wound onto the floor, some of the flowers turned to face her. “This Tengmaa is awake. Do not touch the vines. It may try to constrict us.” Tar growled softly, looking around to see if any of the other boughs were moving.

Once all the Spectres had stopped moving, Lucas went to hop off his chosen ride, the one with Commander Vael, until he heard Tar's warning, which prompted him to immediately withdraw his foot from the ground. "Nope, not tempting fate today, not even a little bit. I can handle Covenant remnants and killer animals, but will hard pass a killer plant every time." He remembered during one deployment during his days in ONI black ops that they'd watched an entire patrol of Brutes and Unggoy get slaughtered by some kind of living plant thing and he'd avoided similar situations ever since. However, as he glanced at Comi on the Commander's Spectre, he grimaced behind his helmet and stepped down anyways due to the look of shear disappointment on it. "Fine, fine, good god..."



After giving a facial compellation to get her Spartan friend off his ass, she drew and activated her own energy blade, the elongated outer guard, along with the soft golden color of the blade, marking it as starkly contrasting to standard energy blade designs. "Commando Tar'Mdalak, is there anyway to discourage the Tengmaa from attempting to constrict us?"

---

The sound of another blade igniting briefly filled the cave as Vael drew his from his hip. He had been close to the wall of the cave and felt the pressure of something wrapping around one of his feet. With a flick of his wrist, the tips of the plasma blade burned through the thick vines, and some of the stone underneath.

”Away from the walls!” Vael shouted, backing up as far as he could, barely managing to stop himself from trampling over Flint. Though, there were few places for him to go. It was already crowded in the cave as it was, and they could not simply go out into the storm for long. ”Would there be any hazard to simply cutting the vines to pieces?” Vael asked Tar.

Xenobotany was never one of Yalu's interests. He warily eyed the vines either side of his spectre. They did not hang low enough to grab him around the neck on his way up and out to the ground, or at least they decided not to try.

"Any suggestions which won't make this defend itself?" Yalu added.

Tar growled and turned around when she heard Vael cut through the vines. The rest of the team were framed in the dark by the cave opening behind them. Sheets of rain gyrated in the air, buffeted by howling wind. The noise from outside was deafening, but Tar still heard a gentle *puff* from nearby. “The spores released if you cut are toxic, and might grow one of these inside of you.”

As her eyes adjusted to the gloom and the fog cleared for a moment, Tar realised this cave was familiar to her. The vines and overgrowth was new, but the way the treeline of the basin below failed to hide a mountain range far in the distance - jagged basalt peaks with sloping plateaus. That was ingrained in her memory. "I have been here before, as a child!" Tar failed to completely suppress her excitement, despite the danger they were now in.

"I think this cave winds up the mountain, to a high ridge. If we want to make progress without the spectre, we could take that route. It will probably mean killing the Tengmaa bulb though - not a task I take lightly. We'll need explosives and fire." Tar noticed a bit more movement in the boughs, and imagined just how much chaos they could cause if this plant realised it was under attack. The end of a thin vine tickled along the top of her foot, and she carefully but firmly lifted her leg to step on it.

---

At first, Vael stepped back as far as he could from the vines, more towards the middle of the cave entrance. They needed a safe place to wait out the storm, or at least, that was what he assumed at first. When Tar mentioned that the cave could contain an alternative path up the mountain, however, that was enough for him to pause in thought. This being may have been a plant, but it seemed to be just as much of a predator. Going into the very heart of its lair felt like willingly walking into the maw of a helioskrill. But, the team was well-equipped, and they had numbers to be able to support one another. There were few simple creatures in the galaxy that could withstand the power of superior technology.

”If there is a path through this cave, then we need not wait for the storm to subside. In fact, the storm can provide cover for our sabotage, if we can move quickly enough.” Vael remarked. He stepped forward towards the front of the team, the blue glow of his sword illuminating some of the darkness ahead of them. The cave was narrower past the entrance, but the walls and floor were still just as thick with vines. Some seemed to hug tightly to the surface of the stone, while others were actually embedded into grooves in the stone itself. ”If there are toxins, then we cannot afford anyone to be injured. If someone is grabbed, be ready to assist quickly.”

Glancing back outside, Ryker mentally kicks himself for not bringing a shotgun and puts the butt of his DMR to his shoulder before reconsidering and stowing the rifle in favor of his pistol, which would work better in the cramped corridor of the cave. "We still need a way to deal with this Tengmaa to move forward though right? The Spook makes a point, anyone bring a flamethrower or some kind of fire weapon?"



Comi kept the glow of her sword focused on the vines around her feet, stomping on a smaller one that was trying to be sneaky about moving to wrap around her ankle before glancing at Ryker. He and the ONI agent both made good points, they could not safely cut through the tengmaa with their energy blades if there were toxins involved, especially as many of the team did not have sealed helmets, if any helmet, on them. "Perhaps we can manipulate the tengmaa to move itself? Though Commando Tar'Mdalak is the most knowledgeable in this situation."

"I prefer fire," Yalu said. As he retrieved his weapons and dismounted his spectre, he kept his scattershot up to his shoulder. His other hand held up a plasma grenade. "Plasma may induce fire. Lacking firebombs of our own, perhaps our demolitions specialist can turn this into all the fire we need."

Yalu followed along with his weapon faced as safely as he could. It could save their life in an emergency, but there was a higher risk of deadly ricochet in his cave. Better to use a wristblade if possible.

Grikgar /Grik/ Seeker

// Unggoy Ultra // Demolitions and Artillery // Location: Waiting in a cave

Grik watched and listened to the others talk about their new obstacle. A semi sentient plant was strange but he has also fought against a parasite that threatened the entire galaxy at one point. It seemed like everyone was a bit hesitant but Tar was certain that she had been in this area before and new of a shortcut that went through the cave system and possibly out to a good flanking position. At least carrying around your own methane supply meant that environmental hazards in the air were less likely to affect you.

The Unggoy approached a section of vine that held a flower, to him it almost looked like it could absorb nutrients through this. Being fully aware that the others had already warned not to get to close he decided to be cautious about approaching it. He did have an idea after all even if it was a bad one.

Pulling one of the small tubes of rations he had and slowly opened it. It was similar to the food nipple in covenant instillations but improved. More sugars and sweeteners were added with the help of the human cuisine. It essentially was a full days’ worth of nutrients in a tube at least for a grunt.

Grik had befriended several alien creatures before during down time on alien planets. It was hit and miss but sometimes it would be fun to do this. He was unsure of the result for this experiment with the knife in one hand ready to cut himself free Grik used the other one to pour the food stuff into the flower. If this didn’t help he would always be able to just use small portions of his explosives to burn their way through but he wouldn’t be an ultra if he wasn’t able to think outside the box and know that force wasn’t always the best option.

“This plant isn’t going anywhere - they nest for life.” Tar responded to the new Infiltrator while Vael shuffled past her towards the front. She looked back towards the cave entrance, trying to remember what the interior layout was like. Nothing came to mind though, except the striking view of outside. Tar cursed herself for not paying more attention.

Then, Tar noticed their team’s Unggoy Ultra crouching down facing the wall. Lights from his suit illuminated a cluster of pinkness. “Grik, get away from the flowers!” She growled, taking a step back toward him. She stopped though, when a salvo of soft pops and poofs sounded up and down the tunnel.

Pfff
Tssssss

Pfff
Tsssss

This was accompanied by an almost indistinguishable rustling from further into the darkness. Tar breathed in, and almost immediately detected a much stronger sweet smell in the air. She thought it seemed quite delicious, like some delicacy from her childhood.

The rustling died down, replaced by a soft rumble that shook the cave very slightly. A pungent wave of treacly air wafted past them and out of the cave. As if to say ‘there is more inside!’.

Tar looked around her, and noticed that the pink flowers which dotted the vines were oozing an amber nectar, intensifying the saccharine odor. “It wants to eat us now. Good work, Grikgar.” She muttered, turning back to Vael. “I can’t say this is a good idea. Maybe even the opposite.”

Remembering what she’d been told about this ancient predator, Tar looked back at the entrance again. The Tengmaa wouldn’t seal it off, unless it sensed that their group was making a concerted effort to leave. Prey that didn’t feel trapped until it was too late was more likely to investigate further into the cave, which reduced the subsequent effort on the plant’s part.

“We could still leave, if we went slowly, one at a time, perhaps.” Tar cautioned.