[IC] Halo - The Hyperion Incursion.

[WardenCelestine]

[PROLOGUE]

[Time: 06:30 UST Location: UNSC Planetary Space Station Aurora.]

Music to set the mood

"Good morning Aviza, it is currently o-six-thirty universal space time on Friday, June thirteenth. You have four tasks scheduled for today." The electronic female voice that came from the digital clock upon the small metal desk to the left of her bed informed her. It continued to speak and lay out all she had planned for the day while Aviza became fully conscious. "O-seven hundred is breakfast in the mess, o-eight hundred is live fire practice and obstacle course training..." Aviza reached out with her left hand and pressed down upon the silence button that was conveniently placed on-top of the digital clock. It immediately fell quiet, leaving the soft and ever constant low hum that originated from the air filter, the now only sound in her room.

Pushing herself out of bed and letting her feet make contact with the cold metal floor signaled yet another day in her life of being a Spartan. She had lost count of how many times she had sat up in this certain bed, how many years had passed? It did not matter anymore, all that mattered was the day ahead and whatever it held. Wake up, get ready for the day ahead, have breakfast, live fire training and obstacle course, receive daily briefing, meet fellow Spartans upon the planet Teldris and carry out any orders given to them. This had been her life for the last five years on almost a daily basis. There was an odd comfort in doing the same routine day in and day out, even though Aviza found herself wanting to take on more important missions, away from the safety and comfort of Teldris and the UNSC Planetary Space Station Aurora.

Ten minutes would pass before the door to Aviza's private quarters would shut behind her, locking itself as she left. As a Spartan, she had her own quarters upon the UNSC Planetary Space Station Aurora. The room was not much bigger than a single room apartment but was much more preferred than sharing a room with others. The large hallway that lead out of the space stations living quarters was brightly illuminated, and had a number of other Spartans departing from their private quarters for what was most likely the same destination she had in mind, the mess hall.

Unlike a ships mess hall, the UNSC Planetary Space Station Aurora was fully stocked and held a number of chefs that could make almost any food you could want to order, that only happened Friday through Sunday though. On any other day, there was a set menu that you had to choose from. Today the mess hall was filled with not only Spartans wearing their black under armor that went underneath their MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armor [GEN2], but also a mix of quite a few UNSC and ONI operatives. This was not a rare sight, what was a rare sight was how many of them there were. It was apparent to Aviza that something big was going on, and she had yet to be informed about it. The thought was pushed from her mind for the moment being, and she made her way over to the line that had neatly formed along side where one could order food.

While waiting for her turn order, Aviza listened in to conversations happening around her to help pass the time, though one caught her attention and held onto it. "It is not like it is hard to miss, the Infinity Class Super-carrier Solares is docked on the other side of the space station, I have seen massive ships before but never have I seen one this size, it is a beast to say the least. I wonder what kind of armament it has on it? More importantly, I wonder why it is here, nothing ever significant enough happens in this sector of space for one of those to show up. Aviza turned to face the Spartan who was talking, he was a cleanly shaved looking man at least a few years above her own age with blue eyes and a handsome look upon his features.

"My apologies but I could not help overhearing your conversation, did you say there is an actual Infinity Class Super-carrier docked here at the station?" The handsome Spartan nodded his head at Aviza, who stood at his same height without armor, an oddity for the both of them. "You heard correctly, they do not bring those out here for no reason so something big is happening and we have yet to be let in on as to what that is." Aviza nodded her head with a look of thought upon her features, "No doubt we will be informed sooner than later." The two broke eye-contact and went back to waiting for their chance to order food, the other Spartan that the handsome one had been talking to earlier, did the same.

When it was finely Aviza's turn to order her breakfast, he mind was no longer on food but now centered around the Infinity Class Super-carrier docked on the other side of the station. "What will you be having this morning, Spartan Aviza?" Aviza pulled herself back to reality and then ordered what she rarely had, due to how unhealthy it was. "French toast, four slices, four scrambled eggs, four sausage links, four pieces of well cooked bacon, some orange juice and a coffee." the male chef pressed some buttons upon a screen then handed Aviza a small pager like device that she would place upon her table so they would know where to deliver the food once it was ready.

Finding an empty table that overlooked the viewing window that showed the planet Teldris below, she found herself allowing her mind to wonder once more. Very shortly after, her food was delivered upon a plate, with the two drinks alongside it. A couple other tabled glanced over at her for a moment to see the large amount of food she was about to put down then went along with their own meals and conversations. The planet below them, known as Teldris was much like Earth, and sustained a high population like that of Earth as well, though large parts of it had been turned into military training grounds or other areas of the such. There was an almost constant flow of ships coming to and leaving the planet, or heading out into the vastness of space.

Reaching down with her right hand to grab her mug of strong and freshly brewed coffee, Aviza found it to be empty, along with the cup that had held orange juice. Her plate had also been complete cleaned, it took her a moment to bring back the thought of putting down all that food. Two people approached her now, one with a thermos of coffee to refill the mug, and one with a data-pad. The woman with the thermos reached her first and poured coffee into her mug. The other woman carrying the data-pad stopped and waited for the waitress to leave before picking up her step once more. Her professional stride and the way she carried herself said a lot about the position she held. Pulling a chair out from across the other side of the table that Aviza sat at, the woman wearing all black saluted the Spartan then took a seat and offered the data-pad to Aviza.

Upon the top of the data-pad was the ONI symbol, Aviza placed the mug of coffee down before even being able to take a sip of its new contents. The ONI officer took the mug and downed its contents while Aviza read over the data-pads contents, not paying attention to what the other woman was doing. "Right now?" asked Aviza, lifting her gaze to see the ONI operative with the mug of *her* coffee in her hands, drinking its contents. The woman downed the whole contents of the mug in one go before placing it down upon the table and nodding her head with one, swift nod. "Get into your armor and meet us at docking bay [A1-33] Everything else you will need is upon the ship waiting for you." The woman stood and added, "Thanks for the coffee." before taking the data-pad from Aviza and vanishing from sight.

Aviza gave herself a few second for what had just happened to fully come soak in before standing up and pushing her chair in, heading for the armory without any hesitation or distraction. On the way there, she went through what she had just read upon the data-pad. She had been hand picked from a number of important officials that could not be named to assist the Infinity Class Super-carrier Solares and her crew on a top-secret mission of utmost importance. She and the other Spartans that had been picked were to move out immediately to the armory, to gear up and then meet at docking bay [A1-33] That docking bay was in ONI territory, and off limits even to her without strict permission and an escort.

Orders were orders though, so she went and did as she was told. Sure enough, there were crew members waiting to help her get into her GEN2 Mjolnir Powered Assault Armor – [Argus Style Modification] Apparently the captain of the ship wanted them to look their best when they arrived, which was understandable. The armor she had picked out was extremely comfortable and fit her like another set of skin. It interacted directly with her body, allowing her special capabilities giving her a huge advantage upon the field of battle. Due to her preferred route in combat, she had chosen the Argus Style Modification, made by the Watershed Division and also worn by the famous Spartan Linda-058.

With armor equipped and fully geared, she now found herself waiting at docking bay [A1-33] along side two male ONI operatives that stood at either side of the entrance of the ship. They had informed her to please hold her position until all the other Spartans had joined them, then they would be escorted to the deck of the ship to meet Captain Nicholas Young and the ships AI, Nova. She was also informed that the ships AI was extremely advanced and the first time that they saw her, it could quite possibly cause some unease. For the moment though, all there was to do was to wait for the rest of the squad to show up. Until then, her mind could wonder and think about whatever it wanted.

[fallenstrife6]

“Stations in sight, we’ll be touched down in just a few minutes.”

Adam stood up from his seat in the back of the Pelican and walked up into the cockpit. He looked out over the station, but more importantly the Infinity-Class Supercarrier docked at its side. He knew it was the reason he was here. His contacts at ONI were able to let him know he’d been selected for a High Priority mission. Besides that, though, no one knew too much. It wasn’t long after he discovered his selection he was delivered orders to hitch a ride on the Charon-class frigate Forward Momentum.

The Pelican flew into one of the Hangars and set down gently, the rear hatch opening for Adam to step out. He was already in his armor, the GEN 2 Warrior Variant. Which was commonly used, but his had definitely seen its share of combat. A few Engineers paid a curious stare as the lone Spartan stepped out of the pelican an onto the hangar floor with a thud. Though they quickly went back to their work. Adam looked around and quickly met the gaze of a man standing in a tall dark ONI uniform. He recognized the man as one of his superiors.

“Didn’t expect to see you here, Sir” Adam said as he approached the man.

“I didn’t want to be here,” He replied as he handed Adam a data-pad. “Walk with me.”

Adam took it and began scrolling through its contents as he walked. There wasn’t a lot of context or detail, and it didn’t tell him much more than what he already knew. Aside from the fact the he wasn’t the only one selected, and that he would indeed be reporting to the Solares.

“This doesn’t tell me much,” Adam said as he handed the data-pad back.

“You’ll know everything you need to know when you need to know it.”

“That’s a very ONI thing to say.”

The two continued to walk in silence after that, the corridors filled with plenty of ears that could hear anything they said. Adam assumed that’s why their conversation had been so absent. They continued through the station until they arrived at the section that was off-limits to standard personnel. They stopped at a door, which opened shortly after the agent was scanned. Which led to another hallway that eventually led them through an operations room, and then into another hallway. This hallway was surprisingly empty, and at that point the agent turned to Adam.

“All I can tell you, is that the higher-ups chose you first and foremost because of your connection to ONI. They will try to use you to accomplish whatever goals their after, goals not even I have a remote sense of knowing.”

Adam thought to himself for a moment. It was true that ONI had taken a certain disliking to him after he stepped down from being an active operative. He committed himself more to military aspects of the UNSC, especially since the events of Requiem, and the Forerunners. He looked towards the door on the other side of the hallway, marked just in front of it was [A1-33] the hangar he assumed he’d be meeting others like him at.

“I can handle ONI, not like we’re on different sides right,” Adam smirked as he looked down towards the man next to him.

“Good luck.”

Adam stepped forward towards the blast doors. They hissed as the slowly retracted to either side. Despite the cryptic warning he had sort of been given, he was ready to get into some action. He’d been idle for too long, and it was starting to make him stir-crazy. Serving on the Solares, on some top-secret mission couldn’t help but get him a little excited. He stepped through the door as it finally had opened enough to accommodate his size. He immediately saw another Spartan standing ahead of him. He could tell she was female and wore an Argus type armor. Also ahead of him were two more ONI operatives. It was already becoming apparent to the importance of the mission he was about to embark on. He stepped up besides the other Spartan and turned back to face the door.

“Adam,” He introduced as he crossed him arms to wait with her.

[Eisenhorn]

"...and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil."

Voss stood up from his kneeling position at the end of his bed, in the standard issue room that most Spartans received as part of their position. It was still something he wasn't used to, remembering bunking with his buddies in the ODSTs, and generally found it was far too quiet for his own comfort typically. A glance at the digital clock confirmed that, as usual, he had wrapped up his morning routine around 0630, which meant others were still just waking up. Walking over to his desk, he checked the noted events on the digital calendar, and the lack of deviations was rather infuriating, really. While he wasn't as gung ho or loud as his peers, it didn't change the fact that it got old waiting. Oh sure, the busy work was there, but after awhile, the busy work didn't do the job of keeping someone's mind occupied. Pinching the bridge of his nose briefly, he went about showering and getting dressed in the typical attire issued to Spartans when not in their armor.

Owing to the fact he routinely skipped breakfast, it gave him time for his other pursuit outside soldering. Sitting at his desk, he resumed working on the latest treatise on modern architectural practices compared to those employed by humanity past, as well as those encountered among alien species. He was attending a college program that he kept up with between involved missions, the college in question catering specifically to UNSC combat personnel and their sometimes unique needs due to deployments and the like. Sure, he didn't expect to get out of the UNSC in any way except a coffin, doubly so now that he was a Spartan, but it didn't feel right to just sit on his ass and not keep preparing for the potential future. He had a good hour before he had to report for live fire exercises. If memory served, today was in longer range weapons, not his preference, but he didn't have the luxary of being able to specialize anymore. He'd gotten better than he ever had been as an ODST with long range weapons, but compared to most marksman in the Spartan branch? Not winning any ribbons for marksmanship, that was certain.

Around 0745, as Voss was saving and securing his computer, came a sharp series of knocks at his quarter's door. Odd, he wasn't late for anything, nor was he expecting anyone to come by and make sure he didn't lose track of time for another five minutes at least. Answering the door, he was faced with a woman, likely mid fourties, holding a data-pad, and his instincts promptly told him this was likely an ONI spook. He'd kept in touch with the ODST forces on the station, and they had told him, quietly, the spooks were up to something, that they were getting tasked with more unusual missions than usual from the ONI lot. Voss didn't like ONI, despite playing a similar game of secrecy as he did, but was obligated to work with them as much as any Spartan was. "Spartan Voss."

The ONI spook's curt greeting got a brisk nod in return, and the data-pad was promptly handed over to the former ODST as he read over what little details were on it. Get in his armor, report to Docking Bay [A1-33] for a mission on board the Infinity Class Super-carrier Solares, and follow orders from there. Not a lot of information to work with, and as typical of the spooks, it wasn't likely he was going to pry any information from the woman as he handed the data-pad back. "Understood." Whether or not the woman was expecting more of a response or not from the Spartan was unknown, but he stepped passed her and locked the door to his quarters, sealing it and heading off towards the armory. He didn't like the lack of information right now, but if he was getting tasked, that meant odds were that things were about to get noisy for the poor sods on board the Solares. It certainly was better than sitting around on some space station, doing the same thing day in and day out though, so he couldn't readily complain there.

Sure enough, his armor was on stand by when Voss arrived at the armory, a Gen 2 Ricochet model. He got a lot of looks for that choice, considering someone would think a man as involved with demolition as Voss would have wanted something sturdier. But he much preferred the lack of interference the Ricochet offered in terms of maneuverability and weight, offering a rather nice balance between weight and protection. Covered vitals, didn't restrict range of motion, and at a relatively light weight for a Gen 2. He had initially worked in the ODST inspired Helljumper variant, but quickly ditched it in favor of the Ricochet once he got his eyes on it's specs. Suiting up in record time, another perk, he was off towards [A1-33]. The sight of a fully armored Spartan moving at a brisk pace caught some attention, but at the speed his walk was carrying him, no one had time to question him or otherwise say a word otherwise.

Upon arrival, he saw a pair of ONI operatives as well as two Spartans that had arrived before him. The first, a female based off stance and armor fit, was utilizing the Argus variant. Good recon set up, far as he read on the variant, and more information gathering capabilities was never unwelcome. The other Spartan, male, was wearing a Warrior variant of the Gen 2 armor. Pervasive, wide spread in use, and for good reason, given its improvements in most fields of use. He had also been introducing himself upon Voss' arrival, Adam. Either the female Spartan had already introduced herself, or had yet to respond to the introduction given. Either way, it would be fitting for an introduction to be made, since it was likely he would be working with them on this secret mission dumped on them by ONI. "Weiland Voss, a pleasure."

[Nallore]

Jeanna slowly opened her eyes as she heard her alarm going off, she rolled over onto her side as she turned off the alarm, and slowly climbed out of her bed. She had been assigned to the station for the last several months now, and she had gotten used to her usual routine which was whatever orders she was given, training others, or doing some live round training in the stations Wargames Simulations deck to keep her focused. Jeanna headed over to her closet and started to put on the GEN2 MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armor undersuit that they always had to wear. For her she didn't really care for it. Before she became a SPARTAN she was an ODST, before then she was handpicked to be one of the next generations of SPARTANs

Jeanna made her way towards the mess hall of Aurora, as she got in line and waited patiently as she got her order, overhearing that there was an Infinity Class Supercarrier docked at the station. She was assigned to Infinity and fought during the first battle of Requiem which was a very weird planet to her. Jeanna then turned her head when she felt her shoulder being tapped turning around Jeanna turned her head to see a young ONI agent, and handed her a data pad. "For you ma'am your new orders." He said before turning off and heading off to wherever he was coming from.

Jeanna quietly read over her new orders she was told to go to docking bay [A1-33], she was hungry and once she got her food Jeanna headed towards her table and started to eat rather quickly as she could. Jeanna then made her way towards the armory where she had her armor waiting for her, which was a new set of HUNTER variant. As she went into the machine and the techs quickly started to get to work as the armor was quickly put on. Jeanna didn't put her helmet on as she made her way towards the ONI section of the station, she eventually found the docking pay and spotted three other Spartans there. Jeanna smiled and waved to them as she tucked her helmet under her arm. "Nice to meet you all i'm Spartan Jeanna Grayson." She said.

[GingerBoi123]

Terry slowly stirred awake to the buzzing sound of his alarm as he woke up for another day on the UNSC Aurora. As usual, the Bear started his routine with some morning exercises including push-ups, sit ups and lunges. Terry set his alarm an hour earlier than most to fit this time in. It was an effective wake-up call for him, and anything that was physical always seem to put Terry in the right frame of mind to start the day right. After that, it was time for a nice shower and suit up in the standard issue MJOLNIR undersuit that every Spartan wore when not on the battlefield. Next call of business: breakfast. A hearty one at that. A nice protein shake in a disposable carton and a big bowl of oatmeal with berries and bananas mixed in. Terry shook up his shake before helping himself to a spoonful of porridge, overhearing murmurs of some sort of Supercarrier was in proverbial town. If that meant anything, that meant more ONI.

Terry took the time to properly look around for the first time this morning. Sure enough, there was a huge surplus of the regular amount of people operating on the Aurora at this time. It was time like this that took him back to events like Reach, and the Ark. Where the whole of UNSC was being forced to pool together resources to fight back huge threats. Although, if it was something like that then at least the Spartans would've known already. After wolfing down his porridge and guzzling his shake, Terry was about to take his tray onto the trolley when an ONI agent came up to him with a datapad. "New orders, Bear. Get to the docking bay ASAP." The stranger said. Terry quickly scanned over the information before turning back and nodding. "Roger that."

Secret missions, huh? Being all quiet and hush-hush wasn't exactly Terry's style, especially on the battlefield, but if these were direct orders from ONI then it had to be at least somewhat important. Whatever this team was, seems like ONI had thought through who and what they would need to get the job done. Fine by him. Terry exited the mess-hall and made his way to the armoury to get suit up in his PATHFINDER GEN 2 armour. While you'd expect Terry to boast some more bulkier armour, the PATHFINDER is unprecedented in dangerous terrains and environments, combining both mobility and survivability. It was amazing the amount of progress the UNSC had made since Reach. Terry was new blood in terms of being a Spartan at that point. Now everything was sleek and could take a punch. It's a good reason to learn how to adapt when they can't just send as many rounds as possible to the enemies like Terry prefers. Oh well. His stealth scores have been improving in the simulations. Once he got suited and booted, Terry quickly made his way to Bay A1-33 where he was checked by two more ONI before being given clearance. With his hand nestled in his arm, the Bear grinned at the line of Spartans waiting.

"I'm Terry. People call me Bear." He greeted.

[Skyrte]

Spartan Alexander Mann

Alexander slept soundly, dreaming of a sunny day and a juice box, peacefully on his bunk. At first it was strange for him, having a mattress, pillow, and blankets. Too many nights slept on concrete, dirt, starship floors, leaning on his fellow soldiers, anywhere but a bed. But now he was more or less used to it, that strange sense of peace and safety that reminded him of his early childhood. It was alien to him, but now he found himself dreaming and thinking more about those more innocent days. Juice boxes, bologna sandwiches, fried rice for dinner and egg tarts for dessert. In the dream he finished his juice box and dropped it into the trash can... then the world was wrong. A siren blared and he felt heavy, the weight of battle armor on his shoulders and a rush of adrenaline, he saw a rifle in his hands before abruptly awakening. His body tensed poised to strike, he found a pencil already in his hands, the closest sharp object he could grab. But there was no threat. No enemies. He was on a UNSC space station, over a UNSC world, in UNSC space. The alarm clock rang again.
"It is currently 0630 Universal space time on Friday, June thirteenth."

Alexander shut the damn thing off before it could say any more. He set the pencil down on his nightstand as the lights flicked on, sensing that he was up. The Spartan grabbed a bottle of water and took a quick swig, calming himself down. He hated the alarm clock, and he always set the thing on silent but it seemed to reset itself back to default settings. He hopped off his bed, his feet not quite touching the cold metal floor. A long time ago he'd found that the sensation of placing his feet on the cold as ice floor right after waking up wasn't fun, as a solution he had begun throwing his spare pairs of pants on the ground by his bed. It was infinitely better, and it wasn't like the floor was particularly dirty anyways. Having slept in his skinsuit, Alexander only needed to slip on his solid dark grey titanium nanocomposite bodysuit, the layer of armor sandwiched between his battle plate and skinsuit, it was shortened to 'techsuit' most often. He grabbed a cup with a brush and toothpaste before leaving his quarters.

The restrooms had everything a home bathroom would have, toilets, sinks, towels, showers. It was only down the hall, but the number of Spartans just waking up made the walk a little longer than it should have. Some talked and bantered, others waited for their friends to wake up, others like Alexander headed straight towards where they wanted to go. After brushing and washing his face, Alexander dropped his cup off at his quarters before heading to the mess hall. At an incoming T-intersection, he spotted a familiar face. A taller, caucasian man wearing a black ONI field agent suit.
"Ah! There you are!" The agent exclaimed, he held a datapad and walked quickly to Alexander.
"Agent Hayes. Sir." Alexander greeted, giving his a fairly loose salute. The ONI agent returned it, even though he didn't need to. The returned salute was something else, it meant that he respected the Spartan.
"Got some new orders for you." Agent Hayes said, waving the datapad, "Talk on the way to Spartan Town? You can speak freely."
"Of course, Sir." The Spartan nodded, and the two began walking to the mess hall. Agent Hayes handed Alexander the datapad, and the Spartan began skimming what was on it.
"An actual deployment. No week and a half vacation. By the way I visited the place, it's rebuilding well."
"That's good."
"Someone in the city's been selling action figures of you." Agent Hayes said, Alexander stopped and rose an eyebrow at the ONI Agent. "Yep, 'Spartan Mann- complete with rubble lifting arms', comes with a six inch you and a piece of plastic rock. Selling pretty well too, think you're a local hero to them now."
Alexander smiled and glanced away shyly. "I only did my duty."
"Yeah? So did the Chief, basically. You're a big deal to them now, so don't die on this deployment you hear?"
"Yes sir." Alexander simply said, feeling those warm fuzzies, and the two began walking again.
"I'm only going to let you have that stupid grin on your face for another five minutes soldier." Agent Hayes joked.

Spartan Town. The S-Deck. The Armory. It went by many names, while it wasn't as impressive as some other S-Decks in the UNSC, it was still a sight. Rows of Brokkr Armor Mechanisms, the circular Da Vinci rigs, mostly tucked in stand by. A few were active, and the pair could see a handful of Spartans suiting up, walking in, walking out. Alexander saw a technician wave him over, and the Spartan went over. On the ground next to another tech was his helmet, resting on a white towel. Just the way he liked it.
"Good morning." Alexander greeted the techs, they smiled at him and greeted him back as he stepped onto the assembly system. It was always strange, being helpless while suiting up, but the whole process thankfully only took a few moments in total. He watched the various arms move in with his armor plating, attaching them to his techsuit. In just a few minutes, the whole process was complete. The armor was unpainted, but his modifications were still in place. The many pouches he had the techs add onto his armor were empty right now, but during battle they would be full of supplies, ammunition, and anything else the team needed. One tech bent over, picked up Alexanders Scanner helmet and presented it to him. The Spartan accepted it, "Thanks." he said to the technician team. He slipped the helmet on, watching the armor systems link and his heads up display come to life. "Good morning, armor." Alexander said as he stepped off the platform.
Alexander made sure to greet his armor every time he donned it, he knew from casual conversation with the technicians that each GEN2 suit held a number of AIs of both sorts, helping the user by filtering through the incoming data during battle and doing all the paperwork. Although he knew that the suit AIs were passive helpers and they wouldn't reply back, maybe they could hear him.

Agent Hayes then lead Alexander to Bay A1-33, in the ONI section of the space station. On the way there, as they talked about Alexanders armor, the halls became more and more empty. Less Navy, Marine, Army and Spartan uniforms and more black ONI uniforms. Though the fully armored Spartan got a few looks his way, nobody stopped them. When they reached their destination, they were checked by two other ONI Agents, then the doors hissed open. Revealing a mostly empty hanger. What stood out was a gathering of Spartans. Alexander looked to Hayes, who nodded.
"Play nice, I'll see you around." Hayes said, waving good bye.
Alexander waved back and walked over to the gathering of Spartans, "Spartan Alexander Mann, reporting for duty." He said, snapping off a salute. They definitely looked his senior, every other Spartan there wore specialized armor, likely customized to their liking. Alexander however still wore the standard Recruit variant issued to all newly inducted Spartans, the only piece of special armor he had was his Scanner helmet.

[WardenCelestine]

Music to set the mood

A slight nod of her head combined with a half wave of her right hand was the only acknowledgement that Aviza would give the new Spartan arrivals at docking bay [A1-33] This was not due to disrespect, in fact she respected each and every Spartan equally. The reason was quite simple in fact, she wanted to introduce herself to the whole squad at once when they had all gathered. As each new Spartan arrived, Aviza's tactical visor would automatically do a quick scan of each of them, gathering basic information and then storing it for later use. This was done so that if any injuries were sustained upon the field of battlefield, she could quickly and effectively treat them. Each of these Spartans that had been hand picked by the council wore a unique set of armor that made them stand out from the others in the squad. She figured that each of them had their own unique abilities as well that would help them all form a very tight, capable and formidable squad.

There were now six Spartans standing outside the large metallic doors that lead down a long and brightly illuminated hallway which lead to one of the many airlocks upon the Infinity Class Super-carrier Solares. Finding a break in the conversations between the squad, Aviza inhaled and was about to introduce herself when the large metal doors behind them opened with a hiss. Turning to face the doorway, Aviza found herself only a few feet away from the Captain of the Infinity Class Super-carrier Solares. "So this is my squad of Spartans then?" the man that stood in front of them wore the clean and highly polished uniform of any well respected Naval Captain. Upon the left breast of his jacket was a large patch that showed his rank, a number of his accomplishments that were impressive to even Aviza, and his full name, Nicholas Roger Young.

Nicholas Young stood up straight at roughly over sit feet tall, the mans face was grizzled and warn from years of combat both upon a Naval fleet but also being feet first upon the ground during some of the most infamous wars the UNSC and ONI had seen. His eyes were a strong azure blue that seemed to look through those he talked to. He kept his facial hair at an almost permanent five-o-clock shadow, his body was muscular and very well taken care of, even though now a days he barely saw any combat first hand unless someone was stupid enough to attack his ship, the Solares. "Welcome to my ship, the Solares. She is a Infinity Class Super-carrier designed by ONI roughly around the same time the Infinity was being produced. I'm sure all of you are curious as to what our mission entitles, if you follow me to the command deck of the ship, all will be explained by myself and the ships AI, Nova." By now, Nicholas Young had turned his back to the Spartans and was now heading to the airlock in front of him. Once they reached the doors, they would open and all of them would step inside. The room would decontaminate them, scan them for any abnormalities, then allow them to enter the receiving area of the ship.

The first thing they would all notice was the mass amount of active personnel upon the ship. No one really seemed to notice the Spartans arrival, they were nothing new and everyone had their own assignments to carry out swiftly and to the letter. "I run a very tight ship here Spartans, everything is done to the letter without any messing around. The ship has over twenty thousand personnel working at every second of the day to ensure everything goes smoothly. For your information, there are other Spartans on-board the Solares, they will carry out their own assignments separate from your own. I have no doubt you will see them sometime during our assignment, in fact, I know you will. They are also acting as back up in case shit hits the fan and I need them to clean up a mess, which it seems to always do when ONI gets involved." A sly smirk spread across Nicholas's face at this last comment, he was UNSC and ONI himself, but knew how much trouble the two could cause for each other.

The group would reach a large elevator and step inside of it before the doors would shut, sealing them in as it quickly ascended to the top floor of the ship, the command deck. All the noise within the arrival area of the ship faded way and all that could now be heard was the soft hum of the elevator. The elevator would come to a stop upon the command deck and the door would open with very little sound. Upon the command deck, many operatives of both the UNSC and ONI were hard at work, interacting with a number of interfaces, large screens, holographic tables, and many other electronics that made everything function perfectly. within the middle of the room was the largest holographic table that Aviza had seen, around it were angled monitors that showed random but crucial information about the ship and its surroundings. Nicholas stepped out of the elevator with his hands clasped behind his back and approached the large holographic table in the middle of the room, staring out into the vastness of space through a massive window directly in front of him.

"Nova, detach couplers and prepare for jump." Nicholas would motion for the Spartans to join him around the holographic table if anyone was lagging behind. In the middle of the table, a very realistic and life like female figure wearing a set of ONI flight combat fatigues would instantly appear as the Captain approached, giving him a stiff salute. "Already on it Captain, engines are at ninety-five percent capability and all systems are green, let me know when you would like to depart." Nicholas would nod his head at Nova in thanks before noticing that they were already a safe distance away from the space station where they would engage the ships drives. "You have my permission, let's get this show on the road." Suddenly, the ship would accelerate at and travel at a tremendous speed, the only sign of the ship moving so quickly was how everything outside of it turned into multi-color streaks that flew past them, seeming to create some kind of tunnel that they traveled through.

Nova reappeared once more upon the large metallic holographic table in the middle of the room, this time she was wearing a set of female Spartan flight armor, without the helmet. "So these are the Spartans that were referred to us then? Welcome to the Solares. I am Nova, the ships advanced AI. I will not only be helping the ship function to its full abilities, but I will also be picking one of you to join while on the field of battle. I can interface with both the ship and the person I choose to pair with at the same time, a little perk that was created not that long ago. Once we arrive to the Hyperion solar system, I will choose. For now though, I must review each and every one of your records, abilities, history and current status. Regardless of who I choose to pair with, I look forward to working with all of you. Please let me know if any of you need anything while on board the Solares." Nova would give a stiff salute with a smile across her face before vanishing from sight.

Nicholas would take center stage once more, clearing his throat to get everyone's attention before speaking. "Now that we have that out of the way, let us talk about the situation at hand. Deep from within the Erathellian Cluster of the Milky Way, an encrypted emergency distress signal is being sent across all secure ONI and UNSC receivers. The message explains that an unknown force has attacked the Hyperion solar system, effectively decimating any opposition that tries to interfere. The message is cut short by what is apparently an explosion and panicked shouting in the background. The Hyperion Solar System holds a large number of highly populated planets that contain important UNSC and ONI facilities as well as a Forerunner planet we are currently trying to crack the secrets of." Nicholas would then press a button upon the large metallic holographic table and the message would play for all of them to hear, once it came to an end, he would speak once more. "As you can tell, we need to face the situation immediately, we do not know if it is a trap or not but we are fully prepared for anything any hostile can throw at us. Now, I have some time before I must retire to my private quarters for a very important meeting. If there are any questions about the situation at hand or anything else, please go ahead and ask me them now."

For the first time since all of the Spartans had gathered, Aviza spoke, her accent easy to pick up on and quite pleasing to listen to. "I have a question, you said we could be heading into a trap with an unknown hostile of unknown size and strength. Do we really not have any other information about the situation at hand? I know these planets are covered with sensors, video feed, and other important items of the such to help inform people like us when something goes very wrong." Aviza's eyes never left Nicholas's own as she spoke, and they held contact untill he was done answering her. "Most camera feed, sensors and items that would help us identify the hostiles were somehow taken offline, this could be due to an EMP type of attack or something else that is interfering with the solar system. We managed to recover a very blurry and short video of what we think was the initial attack." Nova would had been watching and listening to the conversation, quickly faded away, being replaced by the footage Nicholas had just discussed.

The video first showed a man in a building up a couple of stories, filming the chaos that unfold below him upon the streets. He was shaking so badly that it was very difficult to tell what exactly was going on or what was attacking civilians and military personnel below. The video would go on for around thirty seconds before a large plasma bolt would collide directly with the building that the man had been taking cover inside of. There was a massive explosion and yelling as the camera went flying out of the window and landing on the ground below, just in time to show one of the modern civilian living complexes fall into itself with a massive plume of plasma fire and smoke. Something moved by the building, picking up a solider and using what could no doubt be an energy sword to cut the man clean in half. The footage would end abruptly with something running over or stepping onto the camera. "The footage was thankfully being broadcasted live to anyone that was listening, we were lucky to pick up the signal and record it before it was destroyed." said Nova, chiming in.

"Clearly, that is an energy sword being wielded by a Sangheili. We all know that the Covenant broke up into different factions at the end of the last war, and not all of them take kindly to our existence. The best example of this would be Jul 'Mdama, but from last I heard, he was active on the other side of the galaxy, so I very highly doubt it has to do with him. My educated guess is that it's one of the left over shards of the Covenant causing trouble down there, that or something much worse is happening, maybe a new faction has formed?" Aviza shrugged. Nicholas, nodded his head in thought, "I agree with you Aviza, it has to be a splinter group from the Covenant, at least that is what I hope it is, if it's another faction that has formed since the fall of the Covenant, this will become a much bigger issue for not only us but the rest of the galaxy." There was a pause, but Nova broke the silence, "Captain, we will arrive at the Hyperion Solar System in three hours. I have contacted Sargent Mattson to show the Spartans around the ship before we arrive, if they are done asking questions, that is." Nova looked around the room at each of them, crossing her arms over her chest.

[fallenstrife6]

Adams suit informed him he had been scanned, but it was nothing out of the ordinary. Fortunately, everyone was always on time in the military, so he didn’t have to wait long. He stood relaxed as the other Spartans showed up. Each one easily discernible from each other. None of them appeared green either. Of course, if this hush-hush mission was important as it was starting to appear, he didn’t expect them to be. He took notice of their armor, and how they had a good deal of mobility. He glanced at the Spartan that arrived their first, noting that Argus was a powerful choice for Recon as well. He’d probably fit well with this squad based off first impressions, at least in combat.

He turned to the sound of the large doors opening behind them, where a gruff looking man in a Captain outfit stood tall.

"So, this is my squad of Spartans then?"

He glanced at his nametag and nodded to acknowledge him, but more as a reaction of his approval of the Captain. He hadn’t liked a lot of people he’d served under, but anyone this decorated was to be respected regardless of what he thought of them. He continued to think to himself as they were decontaminated. After that he followed the Captain through the ship with his new squad, taking in all the active personnel and the general layout of the ship. He listened to the Captain speak, breaking his gaze from the ship back to the Captain as his mention of ONI and their messes. Messes he had a lot of experience making and cleaning up for that matter.

They finally entered the bridge after a short elevator ride, and it was a sight to see. Adam had wanted to serve on the Infinity during the Battle of Requiem. However, he was already tasked with uncovering and bringing down remnant Covenant cells. A lot of sleepless nights, a lot of wet work, and a surprising amount of politics. Something he was good at but would rather leave to someone else.

"Nova, detach couplers and prepare for jump."

He was eager to get on the move, and curious to know about their mission. Though those thoughts faded by the wayside as the ships AI Nova, appeared on the table. He hadn’t seen an AI as advanced as her. He’d had quite a few papers fall on his desk about the newer models thought he’d never met one in person. The ship jumped into slipspace and Nova appeared again, in Spartan armor. She introduced herself and Adam stepped to the side of the table as she did. He crossed his arms and shifted his weight to his left side as she finished with a smile a disappeared. The fact she was going to accompany one of them had him very interested. The Master Chief had been able to accomplish incredible things with Cortana, he couldn’t imagine what a pocket AI could do for him.

The captain spoke once again and began explaining the situation, and their mission. Playing the message for them and then explaining the importance of the of an expedient deployment to the Erathellian Cluster. It wasn’t much to go off, he generally liked a little more intel, with his intel. Though it could be worse. As the yet unnamed Spartan began to ask the right questions, more footage played. Showing that it was highly likely it was a Covenant splinter group responsible for the whole thing. Though if it was just that, it wouldn’t be cause for one of the most powerful ships in the fleet to be sent out. Unless something was hidden there that could change the fate of humanity.

Adam finally got the Spartans name, Aviza, as the Captain said it. She was more talkative then he was. It helped that she was asking the right questions. He did chime in after they finished answering Avizas questions.

“M’dama makes sense. Halsey knows a lot of our secrets. I wouldn’t rule out a connection.” Adam added.

He had done enough research on Requiem to know nearly everything that transpired there like the back of his hand. Mostly because the Prometheans could pose a great threat against humanity. Also, because Halsey could pose a great threat to humanity. All it did was to justify needed a special team of Spartans to handle the situation, despite Solares being equipped with its own. He continued to think to himself, but he had done his share of talking for now. He wanted to see the Cluster for himself before he tried to set any of his conclusions in stone. He stared back down to Nova before he scanned the rest of his team to see if any of them would add anything.

[Nallore]

Jeanna turned her attention towards the airlock and the door shortly opening as the captain of the Solares came out, and approached the group of Spartans. She quickly stood at attention and saluted the captain as she listened to him, before following shortly after him and started to make her way into the massive ship. It wasn't the first time she stepped into an Infinity Class, since she had called The Infinity her home for awhile before being reassigned to the Aurora and now apparently on here now. Jeanna remained fairly quiet as she listened to the captain and made their way towards the elevator.

Jeanna remained quiet as she heard the humming of the ship and the elevator as they were transported directly to the bride of the Solares, the moment the doors opened she followed shortly behind the others. Jeanna only came onto the bridge whenever she was needed, which was very rare, as Jeanna leaned forward setting her helmet down on the holo table. Then the ship's AI Nova appeared before them all, eyeing the AI for a moment taking the appearance of what looked to be an ONI agent.

Jeanna remained fairly quiet as she started to listen in on the briefing and when they started to play the video, she instantly ruled out any Prometheans that may have appeared. She knew that they were former humans at one point or another digitized and turned into those things, she started to think of what Covenant factions remained. There was Jul's faction, and the Swords of Sanghilios ran by Thel'Vadum, but instantly ruled the Swords out as well since they were more allies now since the ending of the war.

"It could be the Banished." Jeanna finally spoke up as she eyed the others in the room, she wasn't sure, but she had only ran into them once during her time as an ODST that was a disaster of a mission back during the war that did result in the death of her own squad she was the sole survivor of hat operation.

[Skyrte]

Spartan Alexander Mann

As soon as Alexander arrived, it wasn't long until another set of doors hissed open. It wasn't another Spartan, nor was it an ONI Agent. It was the Captain of the Supercarrier they were about to board. "So this is my squad of Spartans then?" He spoke. Already Alexander heard the authority in his voice, an experienced man, the Spartan thought. He heard that tone and inflection of speech before in seasoned NCOs and veteran Captains. Judging by the salad bar of ribbons and medals pinned onto his chest, the Captain, a Nicholas Roger Young, was certainly an experienced captain. Alexander saluted him, but was quickly waved to stand easy. "Welcome to my ship, the Solares. She is a Infinity Class Super-carrier designed by ONI roughly around the same time the Infinity was being produced. I'm sure all of you are curious as to what our mission entitles, if you follow me to the command deck of the ship, all will be explained by myself and the ships AI, Nova." After the introduction, Captain Young spun and marched towards an airlock, with the Spartans at his back. After the decon procedures, they were let in.

An Infinity Class supercarrier. A truly massive vessel, one of the most powerful vessels in both the UNSC and the Covenant, if they had any of those during the war they would have done far better. It embodied the will of humanity, Alexander thought, a war weary, battle tested humanity that still looked to the stars with hope and a curiosity that fueled exploration. The Spartan was no stranger to star faring vessels either, having been on at least a dozen UNSC vessels, and a few Covenant ones. But even still he didn't know how to navigate the halls of any of those vessels without a map. It had taken him a whole year to get used to the Space Station Aurora, the maps on the walls and the arrows on the ground helped, but he was just stepping onto one of the most modern vessels in the UNSC Navy. Without the other Spartans and the guidance of the Captain, he would have gotten lost in the maze of corridors and swept by the ocean of personnel. Captain Young spoke again, explaining that how he ran the ship, and that there were other Spartans on the vessel, of which Alexander had no doubt.

They reached an elevator and left the mess of sounds that made up a busy ship just leaving port. After a moment the doors opened to the bridge of the supercarrier, a much quieter, but still just as busy deck. Captain Young left the elevator and made a beeline towards the holotable at the center of the bridge. Alexander, not quite knowing where to stand, opted to stand near his fellow Spartans. The Captain and the AI in charge, Nova, exchanged a few words and the ship accelerated. Alexander wasn't an engineer, but he knew that the Infinity-Class Supercarriers held extremely advanced Shaw-Fujikawa engines in her, and it showed. The acceleration was hardly felt, but the view screen ahead swirled with streaks of light that turned into a tunnel. Alexander was mesmerized by the display of light for a second, having never seen slipspace with his own eyes.

Nova interrupted his sightseeing, materializing on the holotable in a new suit. This time a set of Spartan flight armor, helmetless. "So these are the Spartans that were referred to us then? Welcome to the Solares. I am Nova, the ships advanced AI. I will not only be helping the ship function to its full abilities, but I will also be picking one of you to join while on the field of battle. I can interface with both the ship and the person I choose to pair with at the same time, a little perk that was created not that long ago. Once we arrive to the Hyperion solar system, I will choose. For now though, I must review each and every one of your records, abilities, history and current status. Regardless of who I choose to pair with, I look forward to working with all of you. Please let me know if any of you need anything while on board the Solares." The AI saluted the Spartans, which Alexander returned, and then she disappeared from the table. Nova said she was able to link with both the ship and an individual at the same time. The Spartan looked at his fellow teammates and wondered which one she would choose. Captain Young stepped up and cleared his throat to get the attention of the team. He spoke up, in a tone that he recognized, that kind of voice that many officers took on while briefing a unit of troopers, one that silenced any conversation and kept all attention on the speaker. Spartan Alexander was silent, and kept his attention on the Captain.

The briefing was short but held important information, and it included a distress call. As Captain Young spoke, explaining that the star system, Hyperion, Erathellian Cluster, Milky Way had been attacked by an unidentified force. As an explosion cut the message short, Captain Young explained that the star system held a number of planets of importance. Highly populated, UNSC and ONI facilities, and a Forerunner world. Alexander closed his eyes for a second. Now he knew why he was selected. He pushed those thoughts to the side. Captain Young finished up and asked if they had any questions. It wasn't a heartbeat later that the Spartan in Argus armor voiced a concern. She spoke in a smooth, easy to listen to, English accent. She asked if there were any sensors, video feeds, anything that revealed the enemy. Captain Young explained that there was an EMP that disabled the majority of sensors on each planet. Alexander furrowed his brow, EMPs on a planetary scale were strange. That was conventionally a human tactic, he had never seen the Covenant use EMPs on a scale anywhere close to this. Captain Young brought up a video, taken by a civilian. Alexander understood why that wasn't on the briefing, civilians were unreliable sources of intelligence, he thought as the video continued. He saw as the camera was knocked away from the owners hand, and it fell in a position that revealed a soldier being sliced in half by an energy sword. Alexander grimaced at the sight, being sliced into two by an energy sword wasn't an uncommon way to go out during the war.

The Spartan in Argus armor continued, saying that it was clearly a splinter faction of the Covenant. Alexander disagreed, by now Covenant weapons would be in the hands of the Insurrectionists. A particularly clever Insurrectionist group could be using Covenant weaponry to hide their identities and to place the blame on the Covenant remnants. But that was unlikely. Alexander stayed quiet as Captain Young agreed with the Spartan in Argus, Aviza, he called her.
"M’dama makes sense. Halsey knows a lot of our secrets. I wouldn’t rule out a connection." A male Spartan agreed, wearing Warrior armor with white and red.
"It could be the Banished." A female Spartan offered, she wore Hunter armor, suggesting she had some connection to ONI. Alexander had only heard of the Banished, a mostly Covenant mercenary group, ruthless and deadly. Not bound by any laws of honor that the Covenant used to have.
Alexander only looked around, and stayed quiet. He was a soldier, not a strategist, nor in any position of leadership. He took a deep breath and waited to see if anyone else had any questions. Covenant, Banished or Rebels, there possible survivors, soldiers, scientists, people who had nothing to do with the military. If his superiors let him, he'd try to rescue all of them.