[OOC] Halo: Aegis Team

[Muttonhawk]

Here's my application...

One Solitary Lekgolo...

Just joking, here's a sangwich:

Name: Yalu 'Suumko

Rank (If applicable): Major (Swords of Sanghelios)

Species: Sangheili

Appearance: Standing at 252 cm (8'3") and keeping his brown eyes to himself most of the time, Yalu is the model of any Sangheili soldier. His average grey complexion only conforms him further. Without his armour, he barely sports a somewhat wide chest and mandibles to give him an individual appearance. His combat harness at least allowed the expression of his lineage; a refurbished assault pattern harness he brought out from family storage shortly after The Great Betrayal ensued.

Skills: Close to medium range combat, vehicular combat, and just about any situation requiring improvised solutions under pressure. Not the strongest or most resilient, but fast of body and mind.

Preferred Weapons/Equipment:
- Type-57 Carbine [T-57 C] or Needle Rifle [T-31 Needle Rifle], though any good marksman's weapon will do
- Concussion Rifle [T50 DER/H]
- A Brace of Plasma Grenades [T1 Antipersonnel Grenades]
- Wrist-mounted energy dagger
- Whatever else is at hand

Background: Yalu began his career from an unassuming life on Sanghelios, indoctrinated like many of his peers into the Covenant dogma and piped into its military training. It quickly became clear that he was a fast fighter and a faster learner. Merit in training carried him into promising early missions for his masters. He distinguished himself enough to earn respect -- a reliable soldier with strong initiative, a level head in a crisis, and always looking out for his team mates. His superiors saw enough potential in him to present fitting challenges, but he generally fell short in one key aspect. His kill count was low for a soldier of his capabilities. He was promoted to major only when most at his cohort and skill level were already each majors for at least three years, and he never earned the right to carry a sword.

Those Yalu worked alongside could not begrudge any lack of skill or courage. He knew when to strike and was a fantastic shot in amongst any firefight, not to mention no one could recount a time he seemed to panic or give any indication of retreat. When the time for slaughter came, he simply feigned advance when everyone else rushed forward to take scalps for personal glory.

Superior officers spoke with him about his reticence, but there was always an excuse or a dodge he had. They most eventually tolerated his behaviour as a lack of ambition. That was until he was assigned to an Ultra with a deep seated bloodlust during the Human-Covenant war. Yalu faced the most dangerous months of his life in that time, as he was thrown into mission after mission with the tacit (and sometimes clearly stated) objective of killing as many as possible. It was in this time that he grew resentful and empty. He might have lost himself completely as he justified the missions as a path to the Great Journey.

Then the prophets stole away everything. The Sangheili were replaced by the Jiralhanae and the truth came out about the Halo rings' purpose. Yalu's commanding Ultra tossed aside any notion that the prophets were in the wrong as if there was hope on the other side for any of them. Yalu, with the support of the soldiers around him, called the Ultra out, accusing him of dishonourably feasting on blood rather than granting mercy to worthy opponents. The Ultra drew an energy sword and a duel followed. Yalu won out by taking a cheap strike at his opponent's jaw to shed one drop of blood, before claiming it was the only honour he had to spill. The Ultra lost his temper and fell into all of Yalu's traps until he collapsed into a battered heap, beaten to within an inch of his life by the butt of Yalu's carbine. In one more act of mercy, Yalu obliged the Ultra's next order to end his life to cover his shame.

Thankfully, Yalu was not the only one resentful of their position and betrayal by the prophets. The battlegroup agreed to find and defect to the separatists. Once again, Yalu fought for a cause in a way he could agree with.

After the war, Yalu's body count was still abnormally low. While respected by his peers, his new leaders resented his lacking approach to his personal honour and glory. The prospect of Aegis Team was the perfect way to dispose of Yalu while still providing a top notch fighter with a cooperative spirit to joint operations.

[EliteCommander]

@Muttonhawk Almost had me there...

You've made a pretty interesting Sangheili, in my opinion, and that is a pretty good reason for him to have been selected. I don't see any problems, so I accept him.

I have one other person who has sent me a CS, and I expect to be accepting that one as well. I believe I will work on starting the IC tomorrow (technically today for me). We will start off getting introduced to each other and the mission, so I will still be accepting for a while, in case there is anyone out there who is interested, but hasn't yet said anything. @DeadDrop, I remember you expressed your interest in the IntChk thread. Are you still wanting to join?

[ReusableSword]

@EliteCommander how does a Ungoyy Ultra artillery/explosives expert sound? a bit of comedic relief.

[WardenCelestine]

Aviza Morgenstern

Name: Aviza Morgenstern

Age: 32

Sex: Female

Rank: Spartan [UNSC Navy] Senior Chief Petty Officer

Specialization: Special Operations / Infiltration / Assassination / Marksman / Recon / Demolition / Advanced First Aid

Appearance: Maintaining a strict military fitness schedule, Aviza keeps herself in top physical condition, though still has the slim female form that other female Spartans retain. When out of her armor, the first thing one would notice would be the color of her eyes, a very vibrant azure blue. She keeps her black hair short, and combed back. Due to her genetics, she is lucky enough to look a bit younger than her actual age, which has led to accounts of confusion in the past. The only Tattoo that she has is from the early days of being one of the first Spartan IV’s.

Armor: Mjolnir Powered Assault Armor/Argus [GEN2]

Weapons:

Primary: Sniper Rifle System 99-Series 5 Anti-Materiel (SRS99-S5 AM)

Secondary: MA5D ICWS + Underslung Shotgun.

[Other attachments can be added / removed at will to both weapons.]

Personality: Having been born very shortly before the Human-Covenant War, Aviza was brought up during what was undoubtedly the most difficult and pernicious time for Mankind in its existence. Her parents did their best to assure her of her safety upon Earth, though the news reports of planets like Reach, Harvest, and many others who met their end at the hands of the Covenant, made what they said feel hollow. Even if they did not show it, fear of an invasion upon Earth and the extermination of their species ran through all of humanity.

After enlisting into the UNSC, all new recruits went through an extensive period of psychological testing and reprogramming. This was done to help gage if the civilian was mentally sound enough to become a solider, and if they would be able to put up with what was laid ahead of them. There had been rare accounts of soldiers snapping either in training or upon the field of battle, attacking friend and foe alike. A much stricter test had been implemented after these events, and still remain to this day. After two weeks of this intensive testing, Aviza with the rest of her fellow recruits, were cleared to become Marines.

With each month that passed, they would cover a different area of training, sometimes returning to improve upon some areas at the order of those who watched them to insure they were becoming the soldiers that the UNSC and humanity needed. Such traits as bravery, honor, respect, patience, endurance, commonsense, the ability to follow orders quickly and to the letter, and many others were repeatedly taught to them so that such would become second hand nature. The Spartan Program that Aviza took part in helped reinforce these traits but also used some implants to help upon the field of battle.

During these new days of uncertainty, all of her experience over the many years of her life have turned her into a Spartan that others can look up to. She is one to care not only for those who she teams with but also any allies that made need her assistance. Upon the field of battle, she is known to carry an advanced medical kit, tending to the wounds of her squad or any other friendlies if the situation allows. Unlike most of her fellow soldiers, she has a cold and stern demeanor about her both in and outside of combat. At rare times though, some of her humanity shows through, reminding everyone that Spartans, being elite super solders, are still humans underneath all of that armor and training.

History: Born within the Earth capital city of Cali-Mesa, which had been known as California up until the mid-twenty third century, Aviza was the first born daughter to Athena and Adrian Morgenstern on January 13th, 2525. Both of her parents were high ranking officers with the 314th Naval Regiment of the UNSC, who had purposely taken a large step down from their recent positions within a Special Operations branch of ONI. The Morgenstern family had molded its now highly respected name over the many years they served with the UNSC and ONI, creating a legacy that was expected to carry on for many more generations. From a young age, Aviza was informed of her family’s legacy and that she would follow in the footsteps of her parents, which they had done themselves.

Once she was the age of ten years old, and the Human-Covenant War was in full swing, she would begin her first steps towards what her parents had extensively planned for her. Every day, she found herself furthering her knowledge in the normal areas of any other student but also military history regarding her family, the UNSC, and in some rare cases which were becoming more and more frequent, tactical combat. At the age of fifteen, with her parents permission and blessing, Aviza enlisted into the UNSC Academy upon Earth. She found herself greatly motivated by the war that raged around her, and what her parents had told her before she had left them. The very existence of mankind hung on by a string while the Covenant mercilessly attacked and slaughtered any humans within their sight.

As the years passed her like a blur, she found her skills and prowess while in training, either live fire exercises or mock prisoner of war interrogations. She surpassed those around her, catching the eye of the higher-ranks who had observed her in person or had heard of her exploits. It was said that by the time of her graduation, that she should be a corporal. This was dismissed and it was decided that a trial by fire should be conducted before any such impetuous actions were taken.

At the age of 18, she was deployed on her first assignment, the trial of fire that those who had witnessed her potential had sent her on. The UNSC had plans to send her to a small outpost to help defend it from a small Covenant force that had been harassing them for the last week. It was said not to be much of a real threat, but the information about this small outpost was missing important details that the ten man squad would soon find out first hand.

The outpost known as OP-7141 was stationed upon the planet Tareal, a large Earth like planet that had been colonized many years before the Human-Covenant War had begun. This outpost had been positioned near an important rare-mineral farming facility that helped the planet survive and supply the UNSC. A large number of these rare-mineral farming facilities covered the surface of the planet, but strangely enough, this was the only one to come under recent attack.

The team of ten Marines were dropped off by Pelican and told to quickly reinforce the area with the rest of the Marines who still remained. They had been informed that this was a simple defense mission that would pose little threat, but would still help them get a taste for what real war was like. Defenses had been set up in strategically sound areas and the Marines waited for the long night, wanting for the action to begin. The sun set shortly after, and as soon as the stars in the clear night sky could be seen alongside two moons, plasma fire began pelting the exterior of the outpost. At first, the location of the hostiles could not be determined, due to the amount of incoming fire. Though shortly after, Grunts and Jackals being led by a single Elite could be made out, as the outpost quickly illuminated its surroundings.

Some of the fresh trainees panicked and had to be reminded of their training. Raising their weapons, the Marines fired round after round into the dark, while trying to avoid the incoming fire. A marine standing next to Aviza was hit in the head with a round from a Jackal’s Sniper Rifle, resulting with a grotesque explosion that showered Aviza in the man’s viscera. Keeping her composure, she took aim and pulled the trigger of her battle rifle, being careful to conserve ammo and pinpoint a target before engaging it.

Somehow, in the middle of the fight, the Elite had closed the distance between himself and the outpost, vanishing with his active camouflage. The sound of an energy sword cutting through her fellow Marines was the first sign of his reappearance, then came the panicked gunfire from all around her. The fact that one Elite could cause so much chaos instilled a sort of respect for the enemy. Quickly turning around, she adjusted her scope for close quarter combat and readied herself for a fight that she knew she was greatly outmatched in.

Something hit the back of her head with tremendous force, knocking her forward quite a distance. The world spun around her in a mix of grey and black, and before she knew what was happening, the Elite had picked her up by the neck with one hand, inspecting Aviza as she desperately clawed the hand of the Elite that slowly strangled her. Her eyes managed to catch sight of the energy sword that the Elite was holding in his other hand, directed at her body as if he would soon impale her or cut her in half with it. “Weak and pathetic, just like the rest of your species.” She thought she heard the Elite say as started to loose consciousness. Around her were the bodies of the rest of the Marines, it was apparent that she was the last one alive and this Elite was going to potentially make her suffer for his enjoyment.

There was movement above them, something was sliding down from the watchtower where one of her fellow Marines had died. The Elite turned his head to glance in the direction of the sound, giving Aviza a few short seconds to act. With one last effort left in her, she reached forward and grabbed onto one of the Elites mandibles, using all the energy she could muster to shove it to the side of his face. There was a loud snap and blood started to flow from the Elites mouth. Dropping her to the ground, the Elite would reach up to his face with his free hand to inspect the damage she had done before turning to find the barrel of Aviza’s combat shotgun pointed less than an inch away from his face. There was no time to react on the elites part, by the time he saw the weapon, Aviza had already pulled the trigger half way.

The sound of the shotgun going off echoed through the forest around them, sending birds and other wildlife scattering away in fear. Those few Grunts that were still alive, started to flee when the sound of a Pelican opened fire upon the area, taking out the rest of the hostiles and landing nearby. One of her now dead squad mates had called in to be pulled out a few seconds before being cut in half by the Elites energy sword. “Marine! We received an SOS a short while ago, what in the hell happened here?” Aviza bent down and pried the energy sword from the dead Elites hand before holding it above her and activating it. “There were more than simple Grunts and Jackals here sir.”

Within a few seconds, a medical team had recovered Aviza and were tending to her injuries while Marines inspected and cleaned up the area. Once back upon the space station that orbited Tareal, a debrief of what had happened at the outpost upon the planet, took place. Security footage that had been recovered from the outpost showed the whole situation as it happened, giving those high ranking UNSC solid proof of what she had managed to pull off. It was decided that she would receive a promotion and that a number of other interested parties were now going to be keeping a very close eye on her progress and all of her actions within the UNSC. She had inquired about what they had meant by that, but had been ignored and left to rest inside of the space stations medical bay.

The years passed by and as her skills and experience upon the field of battle grew, she proved herself a very capable soldier through her actions, time and time again. Notch by notch, she climbed the ranks of the UNSC, while her parents kept a close eye and pulled what strings they could for her. In many of the battles she took part in, the normal MA5D ICWS that was issued to the UNSC’s Marines had been switched out for one of the available designated marksmen rifles, which she preferred over most other weapons in UNSC’s arsenal. This eventually lead to her fully qualifying to use a number of Sniper Rifles, which she became proficient with.

Those who had been following Aviza’s progression since that day upon Tareal, had now come to the conclusion that she was ready to be offered the opportunity of a life time. While working closely with her squad through intensive training exercises, she was ordered to report back to her private quarters and await further instructions. At first, she had thought the UNSC had something to tell her about her parents and anxiety set in. There came a loud knock upon the door to her room before an older man stepped inside, shutting the door behind him and then approaching Aviza who stood at attention, immediately recognizing the man’s rank and stature.

“I have an offer for you, Aviza Morgenstern, should you accept, you will leave immediately.” He held out a data-pad to Aviza, who took it with confusion before reading over its contents. “Aviza Morgenstern, due to your exemplary performance within the UNSC, you are being offered the chance to become a Spartan IV. If you accept, please sign here with your full name and return this data-pad to who has presented it to you." She knew there was noway she could turn down the offer, even though she was sure that no one would turn down such an offer.

With a feeling of great pride in herself and a new chapter opening within her life, she signed her full name where instructed to and then handed it back to the older man. He took it with both of his hands then placed it under his left arm, “Welcome to the Spartan IV Program Aviza Morgenstern, you will be departing from ONI Dock AC-130 at 0100 hours.” With that, he turned and left Aviza to her thoughts, it was at this time that she noticed her whole body was covered in goosebumps from the excitement and anticipation from what lay head of her.

Aviza became part of the Spartan IV program shortly after the end of the Human-Covenant War. During this time, she trained at the [REDACTED] Spartan Training Facility and saw many years of intense and brutal combat that continued through the wars end on March 3rd, 2553. Even though the Great War was over, the duty of a Spartan was not. Many splinter factions formed after the fall of the Covenant, and new threats were unleashed upon the galaxy as a whole. Aviza still fights alongside her fellow Spartans, being a valued addition to the UNSC and any team she leads into battle.

Extras:

1: Has a sharp sense of humor.

2: Can cook just about anything.

3:

Voice:

4:

Theme:

[DeadDrop]

Nah

[EliteCommander]

@ReusableSwordUnggoy are allowed, and we don't really have an explosives expert yet. So, that sounds good.

@AndromedaiI think Aviza is pretty much good to go. It does seem that you accidentally added two sections for rank, with different ranks. "Spartan" would be the correct rank for post-war. It will be good to have a medic on the team. I approve her.

I probably should have put a section for "specialization" instead of just skills in the CS format, especially since Spartans are trained to do pretty much anything well.

[EliteCommander]

I have made my first post to start the IC. Feel free to have your characters arrive, or have already arrived, at the facility. Your characters can have recently arrived on Earth, or have been there for up to a few weeks. It is your choice. In any case, there is a chance for characters to meet informally before their first briefing on their mission.

[Aristocles]

@EliteCommander

Give me a little while to post. Also, PLEASE feel free to contact me on Discord if I've slowed down and am holding things up.

[WardenCelestine]

@EliteCommander I'll make those edits right now and then toss it into the CS tab.

EDIT: Currently working on a post, I will have it up shortly.

[EliteCommander]

@AristoclesDon't worry, I'll let you know.

@AndromedaiNice.

Personally, I've been getting knocked offline by this thunderstorm all evening, but everything sounds fine now. Probably. That seems to be happening a lot recently. Summer storms, I suppose.

[Miraboreasu]

Will read the opening post and work on mine. Plus, I'm trying to find some kind of representation for Suiko, since I want to put an avatar to her.

[ReusableSword]

@EliteCommander i do hope this isnt too much.

GrikGar Seeker

Name: Grikgar (Grik) Seeker

Rank (If applicable): Unggoy Ultra

Species: Unggoy

Appearance: Grikgar
Grik stands 5’8” a little taller than the average Unggoy and weighs 275 lbs. he has a bit more muscle mass packed onto him than others. Wearing the typical white combat harness with the unusual forked tank signifying his rise through the ranks of special operations. Normally he will always be wearing his helmet as it does have a built in speaker so others can hear him better.

Skills: Given his advanced training, Grik is an Explosives and Artillery Expert both with human and covenant ordnance but prefers covenant. He even has an exceptional understanding with disarming explosives and is a great linguist. Being able to understand all of the covenant languages as well as speak most. Even going as far to learn a few human languages and Huragok sign language. Aside from that Grik is a natural born climber and is adept at repairing most equipment.

Preferred Weapons/Equipment:
Main Weapon - T-58 LAAW, Fuel Rod Cannon
Secondary Weapons - Dual T-54D DEP, Plasma Pistol's
Back Up weapon - ODST Combat Knife
Primary Explosives - 4x Type-1 Antipersonnel grenade, Plasma Grenade
Secondary Explosives - 4x Covenant Plasma Charge.
Equipment - Unggoy Ultra Combat Harness with helmet, Active Camouflage, Light Personal Shield (Experimental).

Background: Grikgar was picked up at a young age and put straight into military service. Born on high charity in 2545 he almost immediately was put in a leadership position due to him not fleeing from combat during training like many others of his kind. This trait was picked up on by the Sangheili that were training his batch of hatching's. Because of his unwillingness to flee and being rather fascinated with all things that went Boom, he was given additional training. Unggoy don't have last names or at least didn't in the covenant, instead he took the last name from the ship he was tasked out to, Seeker.

The Seeker of Truth or just "the Seeker" is a CAS-class assault carrier and flagship for the Fleet of Particular Justice. To him it was an honorable position one he took great pride in. he soon found himself in multiple conflicts through multiple worlds in their purge of the humans. Showing again and again how well he could use his skills as an effective Unggoy leader verses small groups of armed humans military or otherwise.

With a rather high success rate and low mortality rate for his squads he was yet again promoted and given more training. Grik would use what free time he had to talk and learn from the other races that would listen to him, even going as far as learning human languages to better understand their music he enjoyed so much. Soon he found himself receiving training to join up with the special operations Unggoy only a few months before the Fleet would hit their next target, Reach.

The battle for Reach was long and bloody the casualty rate for his squad was rather high giving him the chance for promotions. In return he was able to show his superiors his ability with the fuel rod cannon and the explosives training he received to great effect. Being able to take out emplacements and fortified structures with well-placed shots and explosives with little oversight or orders to do so. Showing once again his fearlessness and proficiency with artillery weapons.

After the battle of reach and his continued service aboard "The Seeker" led him to the most glorious moment of his short life. The ability to gaze upon instillation 04. He didn't see much combat wise during that fight, his team always seemed to be sent to retrieve something but never really engaged in combat other than against the sentinels of the ring. His team was still on "The Seeker of Truth" when the ship master ordered the retreat from the ring and subsequently survived the destruction of the ring, only hearing rumors of monsters and demons from the badly shaken crew members that returned.

Grikgar returned with the ship to High Charity and his team was ultimately transferred to "The Reverence" a CPV-class heavy destroyer. The Unggoy participated in many smaller strike missions aboard the destroyer. Then everything began to change, political upheaval and a civil war that spanned the entire covenant. After that some of the Sangheili that he had fought alongside in many battles had been killed, he joined alongside them to fight with them.

After the end of the war Grikgar was tired, he was almost ten years old now. Most Unggoy would barely make it past their 5th birthday. Still, it would seem that his dedication and loyalty would pay off in the end. The new hierarchy of the swords of Sanghelios hand picked him among only a handful of other Unggoy to receive the rank of Ultra with one Unggoy by the name of Stolt given the rank of Ranger and put in command of Sangheili Rangers. Grikgar is unsure why he was given this rank and why he was eventually sent to a human / covenant team. Politics was never his strong suit, he’s just doing what he is told.

[EliteCommander]

@ReusableSwordPretty much everything seems right for an Unggoy Ultra. I thought the weight was high, but double-checking it on the wiki, it seems that would be a normal weight for an Unggoy of that size. I guess the exoskeleton does add some weight compared to a Human. I like that you took advantage of the Unggoy's general propensity towards language-learning.

I have been debating on whether I should allow shields for characters that don't normally have them. Based on Halo's technology, there should be no technical limitation preventing it from being given to an Unggoy. Neither the power supply nor shield emitters take up much space, so they would fit on an Unggoy's combat harness, especially one of the more complete suits like an ultra. There is one type of Unggoy that is given shields in-game, but it could be argued that is just for the simulation in warzone. The Covenant never gave Unggoy shields because even high-ranking ones were seen as cannon fodder, and they likely did not want to spend the resources on them. That doesn't necessarily apply in the Swords of Sanghelios anymore, though, since any species is treated equally based on merit in their ranks. Without a technical nor cultural limitation, I cannot think of a reason that a high-ranking Unggoy would not be able to make use of shields in this era.

I accept the CS.

[ReusableSword]

@EliteCommander thank you. I made sure to double check everything and i was aware that energy shields may be an issue but he is still a grunt and the other grunt that was named in the bio was also given the rank of ranger and given comand of elites.

[EliteCommander]

@ReusableSwordIndeed. You can put your CS in the character tab, and you can post in the IC whenever you like.

[Aristocles]

@ReusableSword

Funny how the Grunt Ultras seem to have all of the normal equipment, except a pair of shoes. :D

[ReusableSword]

@Aristocles Right, just don't underestimate him or do and always be surprised your choice :P

[Aristocles]

@ReusableSword

Let's hope he doesn't step on any legos. :)

[Aristocles]

Just got back from my girlfriend's place. I'll have a post up soon. Might take me a bit to actually write it because of the length of the others. I want to match them.

[EliteCommander]

Just a note, the group is collecting in an atrium inside the building, so they are indoors at the moment.