Ryker doesn't notice the smell thanks to the filters in his helmet, but does hear Tar's comment Grikgar and sighs quietly, shaking his head. "That storm is still raging and we can't get to the target in time if we leave them here. Like it or not, we're going to be stuck in this cave one way or another." Pulling a flashlight out, he turns it on and shines it down into the darkness of the cave. "

Looking around, he tries to find a section of the cave that wasn't covered in the Tengmaa's tentacle-like vines, but he couldn't see anything, and he wasn't overly eager to venture any deeper than he had to. "That all said, I'm OK with facing winds over murder plant any day."



The sudden scent of one of her favorite childhood dishes filling the cave almost immediately put the Infiltrator on edge and she rests her other hand on her plasma pistol in response to the plant's attempt to lure them in. "I have decided that I greatly dislike this plant. I will follow whatever our commander decides however."

---

Vael grunted as he glanced back towards the entrance of the cave. The storm still raged outside, and showed no signs of weakening. ”We do not know how long this storm will last. If we can reach our objective through this cave, then it is where we must go. I will lead. Tar and Ryker, move behind me. Grikgar, Roy, Elna, and Flint move in the middle of us. Everyone else guard the rear. Have your blades ready to cleave any vines should they attack. We have the weapons to destroy this plant if need be.” He ordered definitively.

As they moved deeper into the cave, light from the outside became more and more dim, though the low-light vision provided by Vael’s HUD was more than sufficient to allow him to keep leading without issue, not to mention the bright blue glow of his energy sword.

Eventually, the relatively narrow passage opened up into a much larger chamber. The small stream on which they had been walking flowed down into a basin, filled with water, surrounding the massive Tengmaa bulb. That sweet smell in the air had only grown stronger the deeper they went, but now that they were in the main chamber, one could finally see that the scent was a mask as well as a lure. In the basin surrounding the bulb were a large collection of carcasses in varying states of decay, though not rotting exactly. Something about the water seemed to be preventing the normal stages of decay, though the animals caught within did seem to be dissolving over time.

At first, the movement around them was subtle, and easy to miss if one was not attentive. Thorny vines moved towards their feet from below all around, looking to puncture their skin enough to apply its toxin.

"I have been in many storms before but this is something entirely different." commented Aviza as she held up the rear of the group with the others who had been ordered to do so. "The sensors in my Argus armor are not showing any other life signs besides from the basics that are expected. I am half tempted to remain at the entrance of the cave to ensure we do not get flanked from any hostiles but I am sure my armor and Shih will be more than enough help if something does decide to flank us." continued the Spartan, who checked over her armor and weapons, while carefully stepping over the remains of the tentacle-like vines. Without saying a word, she powered on her crimson colored energy sword in her left hand as if having such a thing was nothing out of the ordinary. Of course, Aviza knew that not only holding but also fighting with one of these weapons could be seen dishonorable to the teams Sangheili, but she was losing her reason to care.

As they entered the much larger chamber, Aviza quickly scanned the room and took note of the massive Tengmaa bulb, considering tossing a grenade or explosive charge down at it but decided to speak with her team before taking such an action. "I have a few M379 Explosive Packs and some grenades, my thought is using one of them, any other ideas?" asked Aviza as her HUD then informed her of the movement around them. "Oh also, sensors are showing movement again, so let's make a choice quickly." said Aviza as she grabbed onto a M379 charge and waved it about as if trying to entice the others.

Nodding an affirmative to Commander Vael at his order to move forward, Lucas took his position and moved with the rest of Aegis Squad, storing the pistol and activating his singular energy blade on his wrist, the blue glow adding to the light from their mission commander's own blade. Silence reigned as they moved forward, with the occasional sound of someone lashing out to put a troublesome vine out of commission. However, the sight of the flower in its lair drew a little bit of disgust from him. "Well that's...something."

However, the sound of vines rushing towards them drew his attention to their surroundings and he quickly slashed down a pair of them that got too close before storing his flashlight and drawing his pistol and firing rounds into the vines he could see going for Aviza, thankful for his silencer . "We should really go, like, now. Or blow the thing up, but we need to make a choice."



Playing rearguard was normally boring, but with the vines trying to stealthily snag them and drag them away requiring the use of her sword arm kept her warmed up and aware of her surroundings, so the increase of the potency of the smell around her only served to raise her alertness level and, sure enough, the cause came into sight, the heart of the Tengmaa Plant. Even as her SPARTAN-IV friend spoke, her golden blade was lancing out in curving arcs and cutting down several vines. "I am in agreement, Commander. Whatever the plan moving forwards is, we need to carry it out soon."

Spotting a vine about to get Grikgar's ankle, her plasma pistol comes out and fires three times, putting the vine out of commission. "Watch your six, lads and lassies, this thing won't be fightin' fair."

Tar tapped her bottom mandibles together in disgust at the sight and smell of this chamber. Though the entrance to the thin ledge was tight for her Sangheili frame and light was sparing, the stench from this pit threatened to overwhelm her senses. A pool of water below lapped against the rocks - with her eyes now adjusted to the low-light she could just about make out the bodies suspended in it. As she watched, a mesh of vines floated to top all along the pool’s surface, in between the bigger carcasses.

“Look. Grenades won’t reach the bulb.” Tar pointed as more vines began shaking all around them. She knew that if something fell on top of that mesh, it would sink under the water before trapping whatever it had caught. Countless animals would have drowned in pure panic down there.

A glimmer of light reflected off a shiny stone embedded in the exposed stomach of a beast in the pit. Tar looked up. An opening was just visible on the other side of the chamber, angled up towards the sky. “There is the path up the mountain!” Tar gestured to the chute, and began looking for a way across. For some reason, she remembered there being hand and foot holds across, but couldn’t see any beneath the melee of vines coating the walls.

“Move back!” Tar growled as someone from the team behind her pushed out of the throat and onto the platform to assess the situation. She dug her heels in and spread her arms wide, which unfortunately coincided with a vine surfacing from the groove it had been resting in. It took her weight, then abruptly reared up and pulled back towards the bulb.

Tar lost her footing and slipped over the side of the platform. She turned as she fell, and her hip clattered onto the ledge. Making a split-second decision, Tar dropped the blade in her hand and used both to grasp at the rocks as she fell. For a heart stopping moment, it didn’t feel like she had anything. One hand passed by the edge of the precipice, but her left arm juddered in its socket as she held firm on a point of rock on the very edge. She could hear her sword snicker against an outcrop below her, then plop into the water with a loud fizz, cutting through a clutch of cilia.

All hell broke loose in the chamber. Every vine which wasn’t yet moving burst into action, either actively seeking out the intruders or trying to deny any purchase on the rocks. The smell intensified, and the sound was that of guts slopping around in a bucket.

---

All at once, this entire cave had become their battlefield. They had reached the heart of this monster, and it would do everything it could to protect itself. Vael’s blade had already been at the ready when the vines started to move, and it begand to slice with precision the moment they did. He was still near the front of the group, behind Tar, who had gone ahead as they had entered the chamber. He was not worried about thorns being able to pierce his armor, but they could well have the strength to pull him in if he was not cautious.

Vael could not help Tar at first, as merely protecting himself required all of his focus. Smaller vines could do little to affect him, so his principle focus was on the larger ones. The first wrapped around his right foot faster than he could react, but before it could pull him off-balance, he quickly brought around his other foot to crush part of the vine under his boot. With his sword, he focused on vines moving in closer from different angles towards both himself, and Ryker nearby. He was still in tight quarters with his allies, so his swings had to be calculated and precise.

Unfortunately, Tar had been caught and dragged down towards the pit, though she did find a handhold to resist being pulled in completely. Vael drew his plasma rifle with his free hand and fired on the bulb itself for several seconds. The plasma could easily burn through the outer layers, but it was a massive being, and the heat seemed to be trapped in those outer layers. It would take far too long to damage it with anything short of heavy weapons, but right now, Tar was too close to use such weapons safely.

“Grik, ready your fuel rod!” Vael ordered before rushing forward to try and assist Tar. ”We must get her out quickly!” He said to the others.

Grikgar /Grik/ Seeker

// Unggoy Ultra // Demolitions and Artillery // Location: heart of the beast

The situation was begging to deteriorate. His idea didn’t seem to work like he had hopped and it would seem that violence was the only way to solve this issue yet again. Oh well survival of the fittest as the humans say. The large predatory plant at least wasn’t puffing out any more spores but was now emitting a sweet smell.

This was a trap everyone could tell. However, it was this things way of pulling in the local fauna and eating it. This was definitely an interesting creature. The stillness of the interior bulb room with its pit of acid and vines lining the entire room was a bit curious, Grik was wondering if its vine locomotion was similar to the lekgolo or the huragok in function, perhaps maybe some type of hydraulics with its one natural muscle fiber.

He was pulled from his thoughts as the new elite team member shot a vine next to him. With a shrug the Unggoy ultra was about to draw his pistols when he noticed tar slip down toward the bulb and everyone spring into action. So instead he pulled up his Fuel rod gun as Veil called out to him. “On it, could cause a cave in.” he called out to the comm’s as he lined up a shot that aimed for the top of the large bulb with two arcing shot’s. “Ready to fire.”

Yalu could only watch and listen from the rear of the group, at least initially. His hanging back gave him fewer vines to worry about when they slung into deadly action. One vine curled around his wrist from above and another few around his feet an ankles. His wrist blade burned into shape and sliced through each with three decisive gestures.

It was now or never to enable his team ahead of him. He levelled the scattershot up above the team's heads at the vines pouring down to restrain them and squeezed the trigger. It had more recoil than expected, sending out a bright cluster of forerunner shot which burned through the organic canopy and vaporized the bulk of the vines. Another shot atomised even more. The shot lost energy before it could bounce off the stone above and pose a threat, thankfully.

"We cannot cut them all! We must kill it!"

---

Yalu was most certainly correct about this plant. Destroying the source was the only way to stop this swarm of vines, and they needed to do it quickly or be overwhelmed. Grik had the firepower, but Tar was still too close to the bulb as it pulled her ever closer to the basin. She had to be pulled away. Quickly.

As he reached the edge of the basin, Vael reached down and grabbed a hold of Tar’s arm, his fingers wrapping around it in a vice grip. The number of vines wrapped around her provided a great deal of resistance, but the power behind a Sangheili warrior was just as substantial. Some of the vines stretched and snapped as he started to slowly pull her upwards, but Vael soon felt his own body being pulled down as well. More vines twisted around his legs and back. A wide swing of his blade severed many, but not all were easily within reach.

”I need…help!” Vael shouted, his progress stalled.

Lunging forwards ahead of Lucas, Comi's golden blade slashed in an arc to remove the remaining vines grabbing their mission commander, her plasma pistol firing to the point of overheating keeping new vines from taking the place of those she had cut away. A peppering of pistol bullets bought her some time to cool the overheated weapon, but she ultimately holstered it to activate her energy dagger and cover Commander Vael's back that way. They would need to move fast the way these vines were going, but she couldn't help pull the Commando back as it was all she could do to keep them free. As if to emphasize this to her silently, a pair of vines nearly pull the Infiltrator off of her feet before she can cut them off.



At this point, Ryder was no longer standing still and he was doing everything he could to avoid the vines and still help his teammates with their less than favorable situation. "Beginning to think we should have waited out the blasted storm!" They weren't equipped or even prepared for a fight like this and the longer they were here, the more impossible it would get. All the same, when the chance presented itself, a couple moments later, he dove in to help pull Tar back up up on the ledge, straining against the vines with all his might.

Evolving to live in cave systems afforded a few natural advantages to Tengmaa plants. The rocky cliffs sheltered its delicate bulb from the brunt of Brissekh’s unforgiving weather cycles, and providing a safe place to grow.

The channels of water had also carved downward slopes and collection points over millennia, allowing the use of gravity to deliver its prey. The steep slide down into the basin chamber which Aegis team was still traversing was testament to that. Many creatures found it difficult to get back up.

Crucially though, the studious Tengmaa had realised these cramped tunnels leading to the basin provided an ideal oesophagus to force food into its stomach. It expended a lot of energy, but often resulted in the target plopping into the water, where the dense mat of cilia quickly trapped and drowned it.

Realising it had something with searing weapons in its throat, the Tengmaa activated its oesophagus mostly out of desperation. Aegis team may have noticed this first as a rumbling and rattling back up at the top of the cave system. Thick vines underneath the parked Spectres flexed and warped, sending the vehicles crashing against each other.

This tension moved down quickly down the throat, with vines on all rock surfaces bowing outwards to push everything towards the bulb. In a couple of seconds, this wall of matter would smash into Aegis’s rearguard like a truck, most of whom were yet to find space on the narrow platform above the bulb chamber.

With both a Sangheili and a mechanical Spartan pulling against the determined vines, Tar hissed from the pain in her arms and down her sides. For a moment, she thought her arms would break, but just before they did, those vines relented their grip and she flew back up onto the platform.

Toxic vapour from the pool and the cut vines was filling the air, so Tar could scarcely breathe without coughing when she tried to breathe through bruised lungs. “Fire! Fire!” She wheezed, barely audible over the general chaos of the chamber.

Yalu looked over his shoulder to the sound behind him. He immediately whirled around and let loose with one more round of precious scattershot ammunition. He cycled the weapon halfway before the rushing wall of vines hit.

"Cave in-!" He couldn't finish one step back before being swept up helplessly in the wave. Yalu quickly lost track of which way was up. His wrist blade cut through one or two threads before it was forcibly deactivated upon almost slicing through his own arm. His limbs swaddled quickly in the vines and soon he was in a deadly cocoon. He held his breath as hard as he could closed his eyes to embrace whatever may come.

Grikgar /Grik/ Seeker

// Unggoy Ultra // Demolitions and Artillery // Location: heart of the beast

Grik held his fire for what seemed like an eternity. The vines were thrashing more and more and Tar was still within the blast radius of the fuel rod. He knew he couldn’t fire prematurely that would cause serious damage to Tar and the others but how much longer could they hold back the ever approaching vines.

Hearing a cacophony of noises behind him made him glance back only to see a wall of vines surging towards them. The sight of it reminded him of his encounters with the Parasite. That was a creature that he very much wished never to encounter again. It seemed the plant was trying its best to get rid of something that was stuck in its throat as it continued to thrash and lash out.

That’s when he saw it loose its grip on tar as she was pulled back up. Grik didn’t need to hear the order to fire. The moment they were out of the blast radius he squeezed off two rounds with mere seconds in between each shot to make sure they wouldn’t collide. If they found its mark at the middle and top of the bulb he was sure it would kill it. However, his comrades were still a bit close and may be hit with at least some of the heat from the explosive.

---

The damage that the fuel rod gun caused was immediate and pronounced. The sheer intensity of the heat was enough to penetrate deep into the bulb. The vines again reacted, but this time it did not seem to be a coordinated defensive response. Rather, they moved and spasmed seemingly at random for a few seconds. As the bulb served as the being’s “mind”, damaging it was like damaging an animal’s brain. Those who had been constricted by them would find it as an opening to act.

Vael and Ryker had only just managed to pull Tar from beyond the blast radius. Even still, Vael’s shields flared from the heat. However, this was an opening on which they had to act. Grik had created an opening to the creature’s core, so as soon as Vael could get up off the ground, he took aim with his plasma rifle and fired straight into the wound at the top of the bulb. The plasma could now hit straight to the core of the bulb where it was vulnerable, causing yet more random thrashing among its vines.

The helmet Yalu wore picked up the ensuing sounds. Some parts of him were constricted tighter, some slackened, including his left hand holding onto the middle of his scattershot. The weapon was still stuck fast. He let go and tugged at the vines keeping his right arm pressed against his chest and wriggled it free. He ignited his wrist blade, grabbed at the vines holding his head and shoulders, and sliced them off in one draw. Finally, he fell free and found himself swinging upside-down from vines closer to the ceiling.

The situation he took in was self explanatory. Catching his breath, he reached over his shoulder and found a grip on his needle rifle. He drew it and aimed forward.

"Good hit, Grikgar! Our turn now..." Yalu said. The sight flipped up -- towards the ground from Yalu's perspective. The bulb lit up in the crosshair. He pulled the trigger as rapidly as he could. He did not need precision as much as enough blamite crystals in close enough proximity within the creature's new wound.

The heat from the explosion caused the SPARTAN-IV's shields to flair, but it wasn't enough to break them fortunately even as he fell backwards from the sudden lack of resistance from the plant as Tar rejoined them on the platform. Standing up quickly, Ryker pulls his DMR free of it's place on his back and fired on the now exposed weakness of the Tengmaa. "Burn in hell, you crazy, carnivorous freak of motherfucking plant life." He fired most of his clip into the thing before stopping, taking a moment to see if the hail of fire had the desired effect as he quickly swapped out the clip, six rounds still in it for later.



The moment the explosions were done, Comi drew her plasma pistol once more and fired into the bulb with the rest of her new team, stopping her barrage just in time to allow the weapon to cool down before she resumed firing another burst. She would repeat this until the order to stop firing came from Vael. Her energy sword remained active and she would use it to lance out at and slice any vines that got too close down, though with the wounds inflicted to the bulb made their efforts weaker and less concentrated.

The suggestion that Spartan Aviza had made about using the M379 charge against the massive Tengmaa bulb apparently went unnoticed among the squad, since there was no comment made about it in the slightest. The charge would have been quite dangerous to use but even more so effective against the hostile force that was trying to turn them into it's next source of nutrients. Instead, they focused upon cutting down vines that got to close to them and attempting to do any sort of damage. Thankfully, Aviza had decided to stay back from the edge of the pit that lead to the heart of the carnivorous plant, using her SRS99-S7 AM Sniper Rifle to fire upon the vines in the distance. If they managed to get close enough, she would then switch to either her underslung shotgun upon her MA5B Assault Rifle or Energy Sword to cut through them.

A few of the vines had managed to end up getting a bit to close for comfort, drawing her attention away from what was happening at the pit to make sure she did not end up with a barb somewhere soft on her armor. The sound of her underslung shotgun firing off flechette shells echoed through the chamber as they tore through the vines with great ease. What did bring her concentration back to the center of the chamber was hearing from Vael that Tar had been caught by a few of the vines. Aviza swiftly moved to the edge of the pit, but kept herself at a safe enough distance to not be grabbed and dragged in afterwards. Without saying a word, Aviza took a half knee stance and aimed the cross hair of her SRS99-S7 AM Sniper Rifle at the vines below, firing off a few rounds that would hopefully do massive damage to the vines. The thought of tossing Tar her Energy Sword came to mind but that might end horribly, instead she kept aim, firing at what she could.

This continued untill Grikgar fired off a few rounds from his Fuel Rod cannon at the Tengmaa bulb, giving them their chance to put it down for good. The intense heat from the explosions going off caused Aviza to shield her eyes for a few second, moving backwards in case Grik fired again. Lowering her arm to look at what remained, she noticed that they now had the chance to do some damage. Instead of firing immediately, Aviza took her M379 charge and tossed it down into the pit where it landed safely. It would not go off untill she detonated it, and she was going to make damn sure everyone was outside of the cave before she did so. For now, she returned to firing off high caliber explosive rounds at the massive Tengmaa bulb. As she did so, she checked her teams coms and spoke, "Does anyone need any medical attention? I can tend to injuries immediately." Aviza would then reach out to Shih, "Two things, I would like full medical diagnostics on the team and then I would like an update on the storm outside please and thank you."

A Tengmaa bulb’s hide was tough for a reason - all of the plant’s digestive and nervous capacity was contained within that control centre. However, the plant’s evolutionary pathway evidently hadn’t prepared for a barrage of radiation, explosives and bullets. So when the bulb’s vulnerable innards were exposed under the water and promptly cut to shreds, the Tengmaa quickly lost control of its numerous appendages.

The first to go limp were the half dozen thick trunks which stretched all the way out into the sunlight, gradually tapering at the end. Next were the serpentine manipular vines coating every surface of the cave interior. Then, with nothing left to distract the invaders, the throbbing cilia inside the pool trap promptly died.

And with that, the Tengmaa bulb unmoored from the position it had held over the cave’s onward descent for decades. First came a sickly snapping noise as the struts supporting it detached. Then, with a sound like a giant toilet flushing, it disappeared into the large hole on which it had previously been sitting. This was how it had filtered waste water out of the chamber to stop it flooding before.

The water rushed over the rocks, disappearing down the waste chute after the bulb. The chamber was filled with this roaring sound for a while. This new opening also helped disperse some of the toxic particles from the room, though Tar still choked uncontrollably as she struggled to her feet and surveyed the area. Water was pouring in from the opening above their head and another gap along the wall from them (the other cave opening, most likely). It wasn’t enough to refill the bowl below them though, so it quickly emptied until just a few carcasses lodged in place remained.

Fanning her mandibles with one hand, Tar got up, walked to the edge and wordlessly jumped down into the barren bowl. Her energy sword’s pommel had fortunately gotten stuck in a crevice and hadn’t washed away, so she carefully picked it up. Looking up toward the ceiling and coughing lightly, Tar returned her lost sword to its mount on her back, with the other one.

She pointed upward, to the feeble shaft of light shining down on her from above. “I see the way up the mountain! I remember now - it is an invigorating climb.”

---

Aviza would hear Shih’s response in her head right away. ”I’m not getting any major alerts on anyone’s vitals. Nothing worth mentioning. As for the storm, though, the mountain we’re under is blocking most of the useful data from our sensors. Best I can tell you is probably the same thing you can hear from that opening up there: it is still going strong.”

Even after the bulb made its apparent retreat, Vael stood on guard for a few moments. He continued pointing his plasma rifle down the pit, watching for any signs of movement. It was only once Tar called their attention to the way out that Vael moved his gaze elsewhere. ”And it will be a dangerous climb. It is steep to start, and the rain from the storm will only make it more difficult.”

Vael walked up towards the wall, looking up at the exit above. ”But this approach shall allow us to reach our objective undetected. Tar, Ryker, and I will climb first. Grik and the Humans will go next.” He said, referring to the unaugmented Humans among them. ”The rest of you will watch for any more attacks from this beast, then climb up behind us.”

After the death flurry of the Tengmaa plant jostled Yalu free, he secured his weapons and shot up to his feet. He breathed a sigh. He was glad to kick off the initial anticipation of danger on a piece of flora. And it looked from a quick glance that everyone had come out of the situation in one piece.

Yalu reloaded, narrowing his eye at his dwindling scattershot charges. "Yes, commander," Yalu said. "I wonder if any of those bodies in the pit were once our enemies."