[IC] Halo: The Erathellian Incursion. [Revamped]

The sound of hastened footsteps echoed through the dimly lit halls of the command deck of the UNSC’s new heavily modified Phoenix-Class Support vessel, the Celestian. A female figure wearing the typical black and grey uniform of an ONI officer gracefully dodged her way past staff and other shipmates, while very carefully carrying a small, square shaped data-pad under her left arm. This woman, who would normally stand out anywhere else outside of the ship, quickly found the Captain who spent most of his time at the Bridge of the Celestian. “Captain Colistis.” The woman’s powerful voice pierced through the sound of random chatter and the ambient noises of numerous electronic devices upon the bridge. “I have a message, for your eyes only.”

Taking a few short steps forward, she outstretched her arm and offered the data pad to Captain Colistis. The Captain carefully took the data-pad from the ONI Officer with his right hand and then used his left hand to swipe across the devices surface. It would quickly power on once his identity had been verified. Upon its screen would appear a high priority message from high ranking ONI Member Jen Pierce. Apparently, she had classified information for his eyes only, and was requesting his assistance with a very sensitive assignment that would be discussed more in his personal quarters.

With an almost inaudible hiss of pressure being released from somewhere inside of the doors mechanisms, the door to Captain Colistis’s private quarters shut closed behind him after he had stepped inside, locking itself securely. The interior of the Captains quarters was not only much larger than other ships, but had been custom outfitted with whatever Colistis desired. One of the many perks of being the first Captain upon the Celestian. After taking a moment to ensure that he looked as professional as possible, he connected into the private video chat that the high ranking ONI member had set up for their very confidential communications. The image of a female wearing what appeared to be the same uniform as the ONI officer who had informed him of this conversation, appeared on a massive screen that covered most of the wall that made up the very rear of the room.

“Good evening Captain Nickolas Colistis. I hear you were put in charge of the newest Phoenix Class Cruiser that has come out of Oria armory. How are you adjusting to the Celestian?” This woman spoke in an emotionless tone, hiding her true intentions, and if she even cared about what he thought of the new ship. Something always felt off about talking to ONI Personnel, but they had helped create the magnificent ship he was now fully in charge of. He knew better though, if ONI wanted their expensive toy back, he would be moved elsewhere.

“I was given a full tour of the ship and will admit that it is a beauty and technological marvel across all aspects. I am honored to have the chance to command her and her crew. The ships AI has been extremely helpful as well. It can run most of the ships functions by itself and even be in multiple places at once. I was unaware that a ships AI could be tied to someone’s suit while also assisting with a ships day to day functions.” In truth, Captain Colistis had heard about this technology but had never seen it firsthand. He was sure that Dr. Catherine Halsey was largely to thank for this innovation.

“I’m glad to hear it Captain Nickolas Colistis, the UNSC and ONI as a whole have put a lot of trust into you and the crew of that ship. Speaking of which, we should start discussing why I wanted to talk to you in the first place.” Jen Pierce appeared to lean back in the chair she was sitting in, her figure vanishing for a moment then reappearing on the screen. Wherever she was, the room she was sitting in had very little light in it. “Let me start by asking, do you know of the Erathellian system?”

“Yes Ma’am, it is what some would call a newly colonized system near the outskirts of the Milky Way. The system is known for a number of important things, such as a UNSC high-orbital Star-Ship facility, UNSC training grounds, the human colonization movement, and the large ONI facility upon the main world Solares. I hear it has become quite a popular location to live at. I am sure you already know I grew up upon Solares, that I learned all I know about the UNSC from within their academies, and that I learned how to become the star-ship captain I am today, from this system.” Captain Colistis let his mind wonder, thinking back to those times that seemed almost a life time ago.

“I am indeed aware of these things and more. You have quite the impressive track record as well. What I am mostly surprised about is the fact that you turned down the chance to become a Spartan. You took part in the battle upon Earth when New Mombasa was attacked, fought the covenant upon their own ships and held your own against overwhelming odds more than once across multiple planets. We honestly thought that you would welcome the chance, but as we can both see, you went another way and have proven to be even more than what we once thought.” Jen paused for a moment, crossing her arms over her chest, then spoke once more.

“I trust in your abilities completely and so do many of the others. Due to this fact, we have decided to inform you of the fact that your home system is under-attack by what appears to be a splinter group of the covenant. We have very little information into what happened and what is currently going on. As to why I contacted you, I am sure you are now aware of. We want you and the Celestian to head to the Erathellian Solar System and report back any findings from the surface of Solares. With this information, we will form a forward plan of attack and act upon it the way we see fit.”

“Why would a splinter group from the covenant attack that system? Do they even have the resources to make an invasion? What would they possibly want to accomplish by attacking us?” asked the Captain, it was clear he was trying to find a logical reason for what was happening but could not find one as of the moment. “I accept the assignment and will brief the crew as soon as we are finished here. I know a group of Spartans who are perfect for this assignment.”

“I have more information that I will clear for you at a later date, for now though, carry out your orders. I will be in contact with you soon enough. Remember, this is a very delicate assignment, and not only I but many others are trusting in you and your crew to get it done.” With those final words, the transmission was cut and the screen now showed the UNSC and ONI logo.

For a short moment, Captain Colistis was alone with his thoughts as he planned his next move. He swiftly came to a conclusion and made his way to the bridge of the ship, picking up the small microphone that would allow him to speak to all those aboard his ship at once. “Crew of the Celestian, I have just received word that the Erathellian Solar System is currently under attack by an unknown splinter group of the covenant. I will not lie to you, the casualties are high and all messages coming from the planet have ceased. I do not know what we will find when we arrive but together, we will put an end to these hostiles and secure the system once more, enabling the future for our loved ones and our species.” There was a pause while the Captain placed the microphone back on its dock. Walking over to the command table in the middle of the room, a holographic image of the system they were heading to now appeared.

“Captain, our path to the Erathellian Solar System has been plotted. I will commence Slip-Space travel in thirty seconds.” The ships advanced AI known as Alyn, had appeared in full form next to Captain Colistis. This AI had the appearance of a female Spartan in Mjolnir Mark VII Powered Assault Armor without a helmet and stood at roughly the normal height of one as well. The holographic image was so life like that many had mistaken her for an actual human. She had managed to cause slight panic as well to new crew members upon the ship when she would simply vanish from existence.

Carefully, she placed her right hand upon the Captains left shoulder, a look of concern spread across her face. “Captain Colistis, are you alright? I know this is your home system and I understand how difficult this must be for you. Please know that I am always here if you need someone to talk to.” There would be no reply.

[WardenCelestine]

As many times as Aviza had sat upon her bed and watched the stars shift elegantly as if alive through her viewing window, she would always find herself adrift with her own mind. Today was no different, her duties had been completed for the time being and once more found herself wanting to reflect upon her past. The tranquil infinite of space was a simple way to do so. It always listened intently, never spoke back, never questioned or judged her, was always there, and would remain to be long after Earth and humanity had vanished.

So lost in her mind, Aviza had not noticed the first ring from the door to her personal quarters. The second ring did manage to pull her from her semi-unconscious state of mind, though. Standing up slowly and carefully, she walked over to the light switch next to the door, gently pressing down upon its surface. Aviza's personal quarters illuminated with a soft but warm light, what she was most comfortable with. Pressing a button near the light switch, the door slid open with an almost inaudible hiss. Now standing in front of her was one of the ships ONI Operatives, the woman made direct eye contact with the Spartan before speaking in her normal, emotionless tone.

"Spartan Commander Aviza Morgestern, by orders of Captain Nickolas Colistis, you are ordered to report to the command deck of the ship with the rest of your squad while fully mission ready. The armory is aware of your arrival and will be ready to assist you. Thank you for your time, ma'am." The ONI Operative would salute Aviza before quickly turning and leaving the Spartan to herself. Aviza had heard the Captains announcement and was aware of when the Celestian made the slip space jump, but was not expecting to be called to active duty so quickly. She was guessing they would have twelve hours to a day to prepare, but it was clear the Captain wanted to get their assignment moving.

Within a few moments, Aviza had managed to take a shower, perform other daily tasks, be in the outfit all Spartans wore under their armor and heading directly towards the armory where her Mjolnir Powered Assault Armor/Argus [GEN2] and other equipment was waiting. Her chosen set of armor came from the highly secretive ONI division known as Watershed. Not even she knew much about the Watershed division, but was right out denied any other information she already had about them. It was better to not ask any questions, even more so when it was ONI, and merely be thankful for the chance to use such a suit of armor.

Getting into armor these days went much more smoothly and quickly, compared to the old days. New technology was to thank, along with better training and better armor. Aviza found herself fully equipped and mission ready in less than five minutes, which was a new record for herself and the team that helped her. They had brought this up to Aviza after she had finished, informing her that hopefully they could make the process even shorter with given time. The thought was a welcomed one, the faster the better, it would mean they would be able to fully gear Spartans and get them out into the field of battle much quicker, with obvious results.

Moving with a purpose, Aviza dodged passed fellow shipmates that crowded the halls of the Celestian. It appeared everyone on the ship had an assignment of their own before they arrived at the Erathellian system. This was no surprise, the magnitude of the assignment had said enough to really push everyone. It would not take long for Aviza to find the ships main lift, a large and heavily decorated elevator that had enough room in it to hold a few M12 Warthogs and their crew. Stepping inside, Aviza noticed that a number of normal UNSC marines were also on the lift, but these were pilots. Most likely on their way to the hanger, quite a few floors above them. As soon as the doors shut, the lift quickly ascended the multiple levels of the Celestian, gently coming to a stop at the main hanger. The UNSC pilots saluted Aviza before stepping off the lift and disappearing into the crowds of fellow soldiers who were all carrying out their own duties. The door would shut once more, now quickly taking Aviza to the command deck of the ship.

Whenever she visited the Command deck, Aviza took into account how different it looked and felt from the rest of the ship. Its design was much more clean and sleek looking. Instead of being brightly illuminated like most of the ship, this area was actually quite dark. Computers and monitors lined a good amount of its open space, all being manned by personnel who had received intensive training and knew exactly what they were doing. In the middle of the room was a massive holographic table that could be used to show all types of important information. Of course, this level of the ship had the best view, one that Aviza never got tired of seeing. From here, you could see most of the ship and most of its surroundings. Standing on a glass viewing platform overlooking the vast emptiness of space or whatever planet they were in orbit above, was something special to behold.

"Spartan Commander Aviza Morgenstern, welcome to the command deck of the Celestian." Captain Colistis approached Aviza, offering a hand which the Spartan Commander carefully shook. "You are the first of your squad to arrive, which is nothing new." The captain flashed Aviza a quick smile before moving over to the large holographic table in the middle of the room. It currently showed the Erathellian Solar System in great detail. "I hear the rest of your squad will be here shortly. Once they arrive, I will explain the situation at hand and what our mission is in whole. Though just between you and I, Alyn chose to accompany you while on this mission. She has shown interest in doing so in the past but this time, I am allowing it. Having an AI merge with your armor systems can be disorienting at first, but I am sure you will have no problem adjusting to it. Just keep in mind that in a way, there are two of you in there now and I expect you both to watch other for each other." Aviza nodded her head once in acknowledgement. The fact that the ships advanced AI had chosen her to assist upon missions came as a surprise, even more so that the Captain allowed it this time around. "I understand sir, I have no doubt we will get along just fine. It is an honor to have such an advanced AI hand pick me." said Aviza, taking a few steps forward, placing her hands upon the large holographic table in front of her. For some reason, Alyn had not commented on the situation, but Aviza knew she was listening.

[Krayzikk]

UNSC Celestian, Armory

---

Helljumper, Helljumper, where you been.

Into more fights like this than most.

Looking casual at the next best thing to seven feet, clad in the sublayer of the most expensive armor known to humankind, cradling a rifle so small it looks like a toy isn't easy. Nik managed it somehow, his practiced motions looking almost languid as he meticulously inspected his weapon. Every moving part, every point of failure, down to checking that the ammo counter would function correctly. Not that he needed it, his HUD kept track. Not that he needed that, either. If you weren't keeping count you needed more training. The MA5K was quick and easy, the Magnum took half a thought. He could have field stripped and reassembled his old SOCOM with his eyes closed, but the M6H2 just wasn't that familiar yet. He'd resisted swapping over for an age and a half. It kicks, he used to argue. The SOCOM had an integrated suppressor and brake, it didn't move a hair when you fired. Made the next shot right on target. You could compensate, sure, but why bother? What good is that much extra range without a scope? You might as well switch to your primary if you're taking a shot that far.

Nik, someone finally had said, how long's it been since you felt a gun kick at all? Take the extra damn range.

Couldn't argue with that.

The boss had come through a couple minutes into the carbine's check but he wasn't even sure she noticed. Probably fine to let the techs do a rundown on it all, but it'd be a cold day in hell before Nik didn't check his own equipment. You drop behind lines without checking your own gear, anything that comes next is on you. Who's gonna offer you a replacement part? The Covenant? No, no. Personally double check. No, the orders were to report fully mission ready. If the boss didn't like the extra minute or two she could bring it up, and he'd be happy to have a long talk about the time a trooper dropped without checking his rifle.

He'd still be ready second, anyway.

When Nik was satisfied he set down the weapon and its magazines and uncoiled to his full, cross-a-room-in-a-single-stride height. It was time to get suited up. He hadn't been around for the old days, when putting on MJOLNIR took three techs and an act of God. Thank the big guy, honestly, he'd have rather dropped in his old ODST gear than stand there for however long. The Brokkr did it quick and easy, all he had to do was stand in place.

Recluse-type Gen 2 armor. Not that it had any marks or specs or anything like that, the thing didn't exist. Or it wouldn't, if he hadn't made a request. ONI probably trying to curry favor. Spooks planned years if not generations in advance like always, and they probably figured they could nab him after a few years. They used to have some Spartans working directly for them, and they'd never forgotten. Honestly, they probably still did. Not like the end of the war made them more forthcoming. Especially when depending on who you asked it never ended. Still he wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth; whoever made the thing, it ran like a Swiss watch. He'd insisted on a different helmet, though. Partially because the new one could get stomped on by a Hunter and never notice, but mostly for the fancy toys under the hood.

"Run an uplink check yet?" He asked the nearest tech, as soon as the LOCUS helmet was properly fitting around his head. "Don't wanna fly blind down there just because someone got dust on the networking gear."

"All clear, sir."

"Thanks."

Double check the gear. Always.

The rest he could check himself, though. There wouldn't be any feeds to coordinate until they dropped. He could check what assets were in the area during the briefing. Weapons were cleared, armor was cleared, uplink was green, Nik was good to go. So he finally started making his way to the Command Deck as ordered, passing orderly through the corridors. There wasn't a lot of room for him to go around; mostly people went around him, and he did his best not to look too spooky. Smile and a nod didn't do much from inside a closed helmet. The Celestian was a good ship, though, and it never felt too cramped on his way to the lift.

The Command Deck itself, about ten years ago, would've been the most impressive thing he'd ever seen. Now it was like just about any other, even if it was cleaner. See a dozen ships and you've pretty much seen 'em all.

"Captain. Boss." He said by way of greeting, crossing his arms when he came to a stop next to the holographic display. It wasn't unfamiliar, he'd been going over what data was available for a few hours before beginning his maintenance check. "How long until the drop, and where's the rest?"

[UltimoScorp]

Kathrine Vail
UNSC Celestian Bridge

"Right behind ya, big guy~" came a cheery, albeit filtered response. The voice in question belonged to one Kathrine Vail, clad in her own suit of the eponymous MJOLNIR armor. Intruder class. A classic look with some nice tech under the hood. Kat had gravitated to the angular suit as soon as she'd seen one, and had painted it and her helmet a striking crimson with grey accents. Speaking of her helmet, it too was an iconic design. Mark V, with all the latest firmware and software patches to keep it functioning smoothly with the Gen2 BIOS. Even the VISR had been brought up to modern standards, it's gold-orange sheen a striking contrast to the red of the Titanium armor. Some thought it an archaic design, but most agreed that it was hard to argue with a helmet that had so successfully served in the most grueling of conditions and kept on ticking.

Across her back rested an M395 DMR. A powerful mid to long range rifle, it struck a balance somewhere between the BR-85 and the SRS99-S5. A bit of an unusual weapon for someone who specialised in CQC but ever since Requiem the youthful Spartan-IV had been a bit leery of getting too close to anything forerunner. Not to mention she was still getting fully adjusted to her Dominant hand prosthetic. The advanced robotic limb was practically the most advanced one could get, but it still wasn't -hers-. On her left thigh, held in place by mag strips built into the armor, was an M20 PDW submachine gun. This had been her preferred weapon before her arm had been amputated, and she was still deadly with it. Up close it chewed through shields, armor, and flesh with impunity, and unlike the older M7, was even fairly accurate at range.

She gave Nikolai a subtle nudge to the shoulder as she came up from behind the taller Spartan.

[Nallore]

Mariana woke up early that morning, she started to get changed into the undersuit that all of the Spartan IV's wore which helped attaching the pieces of various armor that they wore. Once she was finished getting changed Mariana started to make her way down the hallway towards the mess hall. She was pretty hungry right now as well, and she remembered that they would be going on their first mission as well once Mariana had finished up her lunch she started to make her way towards the Spartan Deck where they had the on the ship. She started to head down there rather quickly seeing some of the other Spartans on the deck were either doing some maintenance on their armor, or some techs were helping getting it on.

She gave a smile towards one of the techs that was there, and motioned for her to get onto the machine that fitted the Spartan's armor on. She leaned back as the little arms were putting the pieces together. It didn't take to long and eventually she was able to get off, and smiled towards the techs before making her way over towards the bridge. She had her helmet tucked under her arm as Mariana made her way to the bridge to meet up with the rest of the team.

[Caasicam]

Alyia

With its distinctive metallic report of mechanisms swinging free the entrance to the bridge opened once more, admitting the next member of the Spartan squad onto the command deck. Her armored footsteps, reverberating on the deck plating, followed shortly thereafter as Alyia strode onto the bridge proper.

She was clad in her own suit of the advanced Mjolnir combat armor which the rest of the Spartans had arrived in, both similar and yet markedly different from those worn by her comrades-in-arms. In the Marines armor was interchangeable, and nearly disposable in some cases. In full battle dress one soldier was indistinguishable from the next, it offered a sort of solidarity among those in the Corps; they all fought together under a common banner. Every one of them had been through the same regimented training, so everyone one of them earned the armor. When it came down to it, that meant every single marine knew they could rely on one another as much as they could rely on their own flesh and blood.

And while Alyia was no longer a jarhead, past lives had a way of sticking around. It was... different for Spartans. Individual talent was fostered, their differences are what made them strong, and even stronger while working together as whole. The Mjolnir armor she wore now, neck to toe with matching helmet tucked under one arm, was proof of that. Uniquely colored and even more uniquely designed, it was nonetheless recognizable as part of the whole because of it. Of course, there were far more important differences than just the fact that their armor did not match.

Her armor in the marines had been heavy, not a fact that any would begrudge after it saved their lives, Mjolnir was heavier and yet it felt like it weighed nothing. She knew consciously that part of it was the armor itself, and part her own greatly enhanced capabilities, but it was difficult to shake the feeling of vulnerability from the apparent lack of heft to it. A good weapon kicked and good armor made you work for it.

Now no weapons kicked so much, and the armor helped her work.

It was different.

"Reporting in," Alyia announced, as she slid in place next to Kathrine. While not as heavy as it once was, her accented still ever so slightly colored her words as she spoke. Her gaze flicked from the others nearby before finally settling on the captain himself.