---

Vael gave a glance down to the pit, but did not take much time at all to dwell on it. ”The dead matter no longer. Keep our focus on the mission ahead. The cannons still lie above us.”

Even for beings as agile as Sangheili or Spartans, the climb was not an easy one. While there were vines and some jagged rocks on the cliff to provide handholds, the stream flowing down from above made the climb precarious. Especially with the storm outside, there were few paths outside the path of the waterfall. Nevertheless, Vael did not intend to hesitate in pressing forward. Since Tar had been here before, he allowed her to take the lead and followed her path up, while the others kept an eye out for any signs of activity from the Tengmaa.

While it was not a quick climb, the first three up made steady progress to the top. Along the way, Vael used an energy dagger to make small cuts in the rock to mark his path for those behind him. Hopefully, it would make the task at least somewhat easier for his allies. After he, Ryker, and Tar made it to the top, Vael ordered the rest of the Humans to follow suit. It would be a more difficult task for the unaugmented Humans like Roy or Flint, but Vael had Aviza climb near them to give assistance if need be. Grik would have a harder time than the Spartans, but the oversized forearms of Unggoy did make them rather strong climbers.

At the end of the climb, making it to the top was ultimately not much of a relief, given that the storm was still raging at near the same strength as it had been when they found the cave. The terrain around them was rocky and uneven, the rain made it hard to see in much detail beyond a few meters, and the winds made it a challenge just to move around properly. Even just to communicate, they were dependent on their radios. ”Even in this storm, it should not take long to reach the cannon, and it will serve to mask our approach. It is vital that the Keep not learn of our presence, so we must either not be seen, or leave no survivors.”

All Lucas could think of as they made their way up the slope to the outside world again was that this was incredibly reminiscent of more than one mission he took for ONI back in the war. Not that he was surprised, they were presently on what was more or less a black ops mission. Though from his conversations with ODST and marine vets, the overall feel of this was more common for standard UNSC missions than they want to admit, especially for the Hell Jumpers.

Once they reached the top though, his DMR was on his shoulder, watching the cliff edges above them the best he could in the still raging storm. When there was mention of making sure the Keep didn't know about them, Ryker grinned. "You have at least two members of Aegis trained in assassination and covert obstacle removal here. Once we can see the cannons, give myself and Infiltrator 'Masam a few minutes and we can do both."



Following behind the commander, Ryker and the Commando as ordered, Comi came out just in time to hear what Lucas said and nodded. "Aye, we could do it, though if there are more of us that are trained in the skillset Infiltrators use, then the more the merrier. Honestly, this storm is good enough cover, our sniper equipped allies could remover any guards higher up and leave us to clear out the lower area without concern."

Yalu was the last to make it to the summit. The rain-covered surfaces did no one any favours, let alone himself. It felt like training. Just without the elder elites climbing after you to pull you off the climbing surface. He pulled himself up onto solid ground and shook his arms out. "Last man," Yalu mentioned to prompt the team that no one was left clinging onto the cliff.

A pattern could be sensed in the radio chatter, Yalu noticed. They were thinking too far ahead for practical measures. He took out his needle rifle to peer down the optic at their surroundings. Good cover indeed.

"Ryker, has a Promethean Vision module." Yalu gestured to him with his elbow. "Seems we have that as an edge. For now, it is time to move in silence."

Yalu secured his needle rifle -- turning off the optic and bringing the needles back into the body of the weapon to shut off any bright lights on his person.

Tar had always loved climbing, so pursued the dim light at the top of the Tengmaa’s chamber with vigour. Brissekh was packed full of cliff faces to scale, and in a way she could remember the routes up and down them better than her way around the frigid woodland. It was the excitement of knowing a shortcut which stuck in her head, Tar supposed.

The rock face here was shrouded in vines, but the Commando quickly figured out a way up, spotting hand and foot holds which jogged distant memories of this place before it became a death trap. The fresh water streaming in from above was cold and refreshing after the warm, smelly interior. The sound gradually built to a crescendo of howling winds and rain at the top, perfectly masking the sound of Tar hauling herself up.

As soon as she was away from the hole, she crouched down and drew her Carbine. The spikes on her feet scraped against the craggy ridge. Visibility was shockingly bad, but Tar knew that could all change in a moment if the wind changed direction. “If they have any sense, they will be inside until the storm passes - we should move quickly. We do not want to be up here if the wind speed increases.”

---

Vael heeded the advice of the others. A sudden shift in the storm could easily worsen their situation, so they needed to act quickly. ”Come, follow quickly. There are some rocks closer, at the base of the ridge, we may use for cover.” He ordered.

Visibility was particularly terrible, but a combination of sensors and multiple perspectives from the team did reveal some about the area ahead as they moved down the ridge. Obviously, the most prominent feature was the anti-air cannon itself. The weapon was massive, as it had to be powerful enough to be able to damage capital ships. Given the rough, uneven terrain of the mountains, it was placed on a large, artificial platform. They could also make out multiple structures on the platform as well, in which most of the guards were likely taking shelter from the storm. If, for any reason, they ended up alerting the enemy, it was from there that they would need to expect reinforcements.

Currently, there were only a few hostiles out patrolling on the platform. All seemed to be Unggoy that were unlucky enough to be burdened with the duty in the storm, and even they were trying to take cover as best as they could against the winds. The storm certainly would impact their perception, but unfortunately, it also meant that they would be more alert than they might have otherwise been, if only for the fact that they could not sleep if they wanted to. The winds and rain would severely limit the effectiveness of active camouflage, so it would not be effortless to walk past them unseen. There were only a sparse few objects surrounding the cannon at the moment. Anything not secured to the platform had likely been moved inside before the storm. For the most part, it was an open, flat area.

”We must decide how to sabotage the weapon. Anything we do cannot be detected before it is time for the attack on the Keep. Your…engineer can do this, yes?” Vael said, glancing down to Flint. ”Or we can simply plant a powerful enough remote explosive, if we can place it somewhere it will not be seen.”

Grikgar /Grik/ Seeker

// Unggoy Ultra // Demolitions and Artillery // Location: the climb

The climb up out of the cave and to the top of the ridge was difficult even for him. His species had natural enhancements that helped them climb but even climbing up this he could feel his methane tank catching the gusts of wind with its bulk and pulling him off balance occasionally. When finally at the top he made sure to stay low with a hand running along the stone next to him so he had something to grab on to if he was caught in another gust. At least now that they were getting closer they could see their massive objective a bit closer now.

Speaking his opinion over comms as they continued their approach, “If we are not concerned about keeping the gun mostly intact to use after this engagement. Grik believes he has enough explosives combined with the remaining magazines for his gun to destroy the platform supports or its foundations to topple the gun.” He couldn’t tell if the platform had supports but it was likely given the terrain being uneven. Even the subtle erosion from fresh drilling and stormy weather could assist with this plan.

---

It took only an instant from the others’ perspectives, but Shih ran as thorough of an analysis as she could on the practicality of sabotaging the platform from below. The others hardly had time to consider the suggestion before she started giving her report. ”The storm is giving too much interference to my sensors for me to give a definitive answer. Whether or not an explosion of that yield could sufficiently destabilize the platform would depend on how well it is anchored. It is possible, and would certainly deal significant damage to the platform in any case, but it is possible that the cannon may remain operational.”

”So we could not simply place an explosive and leave. We would need to remain to ensure the cannon is disabled, and to kill any survivors.” Vael remarked.

”Yes, and I can jam their communications if it comes to that. As long as you leave no survivors, the Keep will not be alerted.” Shih added.

It seemed they did have options. Attempting stealth could allow them to silently achieve their objective without a firefight, but it was risky. Discovery would place their infiltrators in an exposed position, and they would have to fight the enemy at full strength. Opening with an explosive, even if it did not destroy the platform entirely, would still likely kill some, and disorient the rest. But, they would be guaranteed to have to fight here.

”Spartan Ryker, your Forerunner sensors would make you the best suited to try to silently get close. Active camouflage will be useless in this storm, and the platform has little cover. I am not convinced that a silent approach would be best here; Grikgar’s plan may be more likely to work. But, I would hear your assessment first. Vael requested. Compared to any other Human, Ryker would know best what Vael was asking for here. Unlike many other Sangheili, Vael cared little for pride when it came to strategy. He wanted to know, objectively, if Ryker believed his infiltration in this situation would be more likely to succeed than the alternative.

Recognizing what it was that Commander Vael was asking of him, Lucas sighed quietly and looked up towards the cannon, swapping modules over to the Promethean Vision and seeing what he could see, which was more than he would have admittedly given it credit for, as only heat signatures seemed to register, but even with that...We'd still need to get up the rock face, get Grikgar and his explosives in place... His brain continued to go over the details of what they would have to do in either situation and, while it couldn't do it as fast as Shih could, still came to a conclusion fairly quickly.

"They're both uncertain and come with unique dangers and challenges. Mine comes from the fact that I'll be alone, Grik's has a chance of just not working like we need. So speaking objectively...I have to say stealth over chance. I've been in and out of plenty of Covenant installations, even before I was a Spartan. This? Nothing new. My concern is we know these guys are allied with the Prometheans, won't they have access to the Promethean tech as well?"

"We put the gun on a sudden lean, everything tips over," Yalu thought out loud. He held out his rifle horizontally in both hands, looking at it as he tilted the barrel end down. "What remains on the higher end, with their feet set to EVA combat, may fire stably down upon a stricken foe which wants for cover. A victory as swift as gravity."

The suggestion had holes, Yalu knew. He was jogging tactical considerations as much as hoping such an approach might allow for a survivor or two, albeit alone in the jungle.

While listening to the others discuss options, Tar sniffed the air and looked around. A tingle ran all the way down her arms and into her chest, taking cues from atmospheric pressure. Thinking back to when she was last here, Tar finally understood what was coming. “A rolling bank approaches… I say we use speed over stealth; take those buildings to shelter if it passes over.”

She scraped a couple of steps forward and looked through her carbine’s scope just as the rapidly darkening sky suddenly lit up like daylight for a split-second. Tar studied the platform, looking for any signs they had been spotted. After a few seconds, a deafening boom washed over the mountainside they were on. The sky lit up again, and Tar growled. “We’re exposed - whatever we do, we have to do it quickly!” The Commando looked over at the squad leader.

---

Vael heard and considered the advice of the members of his team. They all had their own expertise, and he could benefit from making use of it. Still, though they had a few options, a decision still needed to be made, especially when there was no clear “best” choice. ”We cannot carry out our ambush and attempt stealth. An infiltrator would be in range of the explosives, if discovered. An ambush is the safer course. Most of their warriors will likely be in those structures on the east side of the platform. There are no guards underneath the platform, so Grikgar, you should be able to plant the charges on the supports underneath them.”

Pausing a moment, Vael started designating positions on the team’s collective HUDs. ”As Yalu suggests, we shall take positions on what will become the high ground. This ridgeline here will give a strong position for most of us. Aviza, Ryker, Yalu, take a position on the western ridge to create a crossfire. When the charges detonate, the Unggoy outside will most likely panic, so they will not be our priority. We will instead focus our fire on the exits to the structures to cut down the rest as they try to reach safety.”

Grikgar /Grik/ Seeker

// Unggoy Ultra // Demolitions and Artillery // Location: setting up for the big boom

Grik nodded in agreement with Vael’s decision and began to get his gear situated. Turning off his shield and camo he looked to the leader. “Ok Grik will move to the position and plant the explosives. It might take Grik a little while, might have to crawl or climb over the edge momentarily depends on cover.” Turning for a moment to survey the land in front of them that he could see to plan his course accordingly. “If there is nothing else, Grik will head out now while the storm is still providing cover.”

The grunt sounded excited to go and blow something up. He was well aware of what he needed to do and how to do it. His low sturdy frame making the strong winds less effective against him and would help to blind the grunts on patrol if they didn’t have goggles. The rocky sometimes steep terrain was well suited to his climbing ability. All he had to do was stay low and slow but still move with purpose to lay the explosives and start their assault. With the rest of his ammunition and his proximity to the structure when he arrived Grik decided that he would take a flanking position on the opposite side of the structure after the explosives were set and open fire after the others start to. Giving them a false sense of a larger force and to give them nowhere to hide.

Nodding an affirmative to the plan their commander decided on, Lucas joined Aviza and Yalu in heading up to the western ridge. His DMR wasn't quite suited to this kind of bad weather fighting, but they should be close enough that his shots wouldn't be overly affected by the wind speed. Glancing at the others, he grins behind his helmet at the sight of Aviza's sniper rifle. WIth that, the plan should go over well enough. "So, how do we want to space out?"

A quick affirmative and Yalu was in line with Ryker. He strode forward with his needle rifle down and to one side. With any luck, the engagement would finish rapidly after it started.

Yalu had to perform some mental unit conversion in his head to give Ryker an answer. "21 metres during combat. Until then, Tar is the huntress here." He did not elaborate. "Grikgar, signal ten seconds before detonation. We will ready weapons and shields as late as we can."

It was tempting for Yalu to take off his helmet to see further past the storm cover. Every second leading up to the clash was making him more tense. Until then, more climbing, more stalking.

Tar growled softly over comms when her plan was disregarded, but moved off with the rest of the team nonetheless.

With the storm front rumbling over the mountain peaks behind them, Aegis team fanned out to surround the gun platform. Tar’s clawed boots scraped lightly over the uneven granite rocks as she carried on along the western ridge, passing the others as they got situated. It was impossible to be totally quiet, but it didn’t matter anyway. Almost all noise the team made was completely subsumed by the hammering rain, wind and thunder.

There wasn’t much cover on the outcropping furthest from where they’d emerged from the caves. So Tar just lay prone at the edge with her Carbine barrel wedged into a groove that let her peer down onto the platform below. Water whipping across the rocks found its way inside her armour and pooled around her abdomen. Lightning flashed in the thick clouds behind the massive cannon, which sprouted up from the platform below to tower over them.

She watched through her scope as sheets of rain alternately obscured and revealed frozen Unggoy sentries. The wait seemed to go on forever. Then came a verbal confirmation from Grikgar, another wait, then the explosion.

It married perfectly with a thunderous boom rolling over the western peaks. A gout of blue-green flame erupted from one of the supports, licking the cliffside underneath where most of Aegis was hidden. The ground shook, and a hideous note of rending metal carried on the wind.

For a moment, nothing happened. Then, the platform started to tilt. A startled Unggoy lost balance and began sliding towards the cliffs. Suddenly, a jagged bolt of lightning flickered down the side of the cannon snout, lighting the whole scene. “Hit.” Tar confirmed from her angle, turning her attention to the nearest structure sat atop the listing platform.

---

As the charge was planted, Vael took up a position prone, obscuring himself as best as he could on the edge of the ridge. He braced his carbine between two rocks and set his sights through his scope on one of the doorways. There were just a few chokepoints that the enemy would be funneled through once the fighting started, so they would want to maximize the damage they could deal in that time.

The detonation sounded out like thunder, though the roar of the storm still overtook it. After a moment, the whole platform in front of them started to list to one side, but Vael adjusted his aim to keep it trained on the doorway. The moment he saw movement, he opened fire. The green glow of the projectile lit up the area around it in the rain, though it cut through the air in the blink of an eye. The first one hit was an Unggoy trying to rush out the door. The carbine shot pierced his torso armor, followed by another, and another. Plasma and bullets joined in pelting the doorways. Unggoy that tried running outside at first were cut down in the doorways or shortly outside, but the better-shielded Kig-Yar and Sangheili could make it farther. The team on the closer ridge could not keep the doors suppressed indefinitely as they started to need to reload or let their weapons cool, but the marksman team on the other ridge would find the targets scattering across the platform had been softened.

Having set up just behind one of the few rocks actually sticking up on the ridge, Ryker set his shoulder against the back of it along with resting his DMR against the side, aiming at the doorway he could see. The others had all set up with their own lines of sight for the crossfire, so as soon as their resident demolitionist blew the charge, they'd begin. As he waited for Grikgar's confirmation and the boom, time seemed to slow down for the SPARTAN-IV, even as the Unggoy's verbal confirmation came in. This was a key mission, he would help here to shut down the turret, kill it's crew and then follow up with oversight to find out if he was to remain with the team or move on the Zealot that had been mentioned in Sydney during the briefing.

However, as the bomb went off and the tower listed, he focused back in on the mission. The first enemy Unggoy out was dropped by someone on the other side, and soon he could see Sangheili and Kigyar running out as well. Noting one of the Sangheili with weakened shields, his silenced DMR fired, the muzzle flashing once as the round pierced shield and brain at the same time. The next muzzle flash dropped one of the Kigyar as it turned to fire on a carbine wielder on Aegis. This proceeded methodically, his muzzle never flashing more than once per target. However, they could only fire from the ridgeline for so long and eventually he radioed Vael. {Permission to move into close range combat, Commander? This will only work for so much longer.}

Grikgar /Grik/ Seeker

// Unggoy Ultra // Demolitions and Artillery // Location: Two big booms!

The path the unggoy ultra had chosen to keep him unnoticed was a bit more treacherous than he originally thought. Clinging to the stone walls and cliffs edge during a raging storm was the most fun he was having so far yet his main motivation other than completing the mission was knowing that his goblin was waiting for him with the hot drop of heavy weapons. That knowledge alone was enough for him to quicken his pace while he crawled hugging close to the stone and towards the platform.

Grik moved quickly under the platform and quickly looked around the pillars when something caught his attention. A small patrol of three Unggoy moving slowly under the structure, “why are we here?” one of the two orange-colored grunts spoke with an anxious tone. “Because yap-yap ate to much from the food nipple again.” The other orange grunt retorted quickly. “At least I don’t fall asleep on watch Blip.” The red colored unggoy among them spoke with an irritated tone that made the other two shut up as the slowly made there way through and around the support pillars.

Grikgar knew he couldn’t sneak around them forever and he needed to complete this quickly. Silently he moved from pillar to pillar until he was right behind the red grunt, ODST knife in hand. Plunging the knife into the back of the grunts neck and quickly with drawling it to lunge at the next closest squad mate who didn’t seem to be able to react in time as Grikgar buried his knife in its skull. The surprise and hesitation from the third were all he needed to tackle him and swiftly break his neck in a choke hold.

Grikgar remained still and quiet for a few moments before quickly carrying on with his objective and retrieving his knife. Picking up a small piece of scrap metal from the ground and climbing up to the base of one of the exterior pillars. Grik knew where he was in relation to the rest of the structures and placed the magazine where the platform and pillar met angling it towards the intersection of the two, then he glued it in place with the adhesive of the first plasma charge he had.

He did this again on another pillar a bit farther in towards the other side of the structure he knew was above him but outside of the blast zone of the first explosive. using the thick chunk of metal, ammo, and plasma charge with this one facing it straight up instead of into the pillar with the chunk of metal against the platform and the other two layered beneath it. Quickly the grunt slid down the pillar and to the opposite side of the platform from the others stopping only for a moment to pick up two more plasma pistols and a couple grenades off the dead grunts before continuing to sprint to cover up the hill with a bit of a height advantage over the platform below.

Grikgar blinked his indicator light green twice to signal the others that he would detonate the first explosive in 10 seconds. The reason he went to so much trouble to set up and layer the explosives like he did was to create a shaped charge that would sling a piece of super-heated metal through the structure along with the explosive. 4… 3… 2… 1… BOOM! A blinding light and deafening explosion for him but it was enough to shift the structure slightly. Then the dazed and disorientated defenders would wander into a kill zone.

His allies were making good work of the situation, Grikgar stayed hidden but watched with glee as the defenders began to rally themselves into cover and began to put up a fight. By what he could tell at least some of the defenders began taking up positions near where he had placed the second explosive. That is what you did after all, one explosive to scatter and send your prey into a choke point or central area then detonate the second explosive for maximum effect.

Sending a message to the rest of the team, {“Hold for secondary explosive.”} The glee in his voice was nearly unprofessional but he did not disappoint, setting off the secondary explosive and hopping his shaped charge idea would help to cut a hole in the platform and scattering the defenders once more.

Yalu was less precise than his squadmates opening fire. The grunts were easy pickings. The elites and jackals might actually triangulate them. Yalu peered through his scope looking for Kig-Yar holding long weapons. They got a needle to their shooting hand, or their jaws. Disabled as they were, it would only add to the confusion. Sangheili caught a burst of needles until their shields flared. The light made them easy pickings for their marksmen.

Time came to reload. Yalu rolled from his prone position behind a shrub on his back, took a couple of plasma grenades, and tossed them over to the enemy in a high arc. The reload came after, timed to spot the enemy by the time they decided to move away from the explosives. Wouldn't be long before it was time to assault the platform itself.