Cath

Halo: Aegis Team

Tar 'Mdalak

The Kel 'Darsam - off Paxopolis Boardwalk

---

Tar looked at her comrade. Her face must have been a picture and she hadn’t even known it. “Yes I… I have unfinished business with the Jiralhanae.” She suddenly got the urge to tell Kryu the whole story, or at least what she could remember. The recruits would probably tell everyone they saw, meaning the whole base would be privy in a few weeks. Better he heard it from her.

As Tar ground the last bit of her food between her mandibles and considered how to proceed, her helmet, sat on the bar beside her bowl, chirruped loudly. She stared at it. They didn’t get orders very often at all.

Putting her bowl down, she clicked her helmet back into place and hit replay on last comms.

“All units will report back to the Repentant Proselyte immediately.” were the simple instructions.

She looked at Kryu, who was rapidly finishing off his breakfast in anticipation. “They’re calling us back to the ship.” She said. Despite her wobbly morning so far, Tar was excited. This hadn’t happened before, and could only mean one thing; there was at least a chance they’d go into battle. “They must have heard us talking.” She grinned.

She paid for both of their breakfasts and patted Kryu on the back again, letting him lead the way to the exit.

The broad street was alive with activity when they emerged from the side street of the Kel ‘Darsam. Sailors and marines of all species were quickly trooping from various buildings and heading towards the shuttleport. Some were unarmed, jogging quickly as they were unencumbered. Others were fully armoured and sporting assault weapons.

Tar and Kryu nudged their way into the flowing crowd, finding space next to a platoon of ODSTs. They were tall and strong by Human standards, and each wore a fitted black undersuit with the flaming skull insignia. Tar idly guessed their oversuits must've been stored on board their star ship.

One of the ODSTs noticed Tar looking and winked up at her, chewing gum and fingering the pistol in his chest holster. "Hey sexy." He called, blowing a kiss. Tar growled and turned to Kryu. "Hopefully the base isn’t under attack too, with us all standing around in the open. Let's move." She began picking her way through the slow moving crowd, opening a hole for her comrade to follow.

Kryu spared only a glance to the Humans. To him, their behaviors were far from consistent, and sometimes irrational in ways that he never would have expected before the end of the war. He had fought against them during the time of the Covenant, and his experiences against their warriors did not prepare him for the…oddities he would experience as their ally. Nevertheless, there were far more important concerns at the moment. He caught up to Tar and kept pace close beside her.

“Whatever is happening must be related to our warriors being put on alert. I doubt our superiors would collect us all from the city just for a test. If that is so, then it is strange they did not inform us of any threats. I dislike this secrecy.” Kryu commented.

Upon pushing her way through the crowd a ways, Tar found the reason everyone was moving so slow. A cargo platform carrying boxes of equipment had tipped over, covering most of the road.

After navigating carefully past it, the road was still busy but there was much more room to manoeuvre. Tar broke into an ambling jog alongside Kryu, as excited as her comrade to find out the meaning of their orders.

They slalomed past groups of soldiers in varying states of combat readiness and teams of base personnel heading for their regular duty stations. A few other Sangheili joined in, taking advantage of the course through the crowds Tar and Kryu were creating.

After traversing a few streets, roughly one kilometre in total, they reached one of the entrances to Paxopolis shuttleport. Given that Paxopolis did not have regular, civilian contact with other colonies, the majority of the shuttleport’s traffic were generally military transports. Though, it was particularly busy now.

Fortunately, once they were in the shuttleport itself, the soldiers boarding their dropships were far more organized than the civilians in the streets going about their day. For Tar and Kryu, they lined up to board the same phantom heading up to their cruiser, the Repentant Proselyte.

After they both headed up the grav-lift and found their places in the phantom, Kryu nudged Tar’s side with his elbow to grab her attention. “Maybe we are leaving Sarcophagus? We’re not under attack, else the city would already be going into lockdown, but I cannot imagine what aside from real combat would call for the aid of an entire cruiser.”

“Perhaps.” Tar agreed. “Not just one cruiser either. A lot of the sailors making their way back were from different ships. It seems most of the fleet could be mobilising.”

“I heard it could be a Brute battle group.” Said a Minor opposite them. Despite her extreme scepticism of the young male’s source of intel, Tar felt all her nerves tingle at the thought.

“A Brute ambush, outside the sphere? They have no honour!” someone called out.

“It sounds like a fair fight to me!” A Major at the far end stood up and hammered his chest. As one, every Sangheili in the Phantom’s hold began rhythmically beat their fists against their armour and produced a deep, threatening sound from the back of their throat.

This continued for much of the short journey up to the Repentant Proselyte, with different officers taking turns to whip them into a frenzy. By the time the Phantom docked in one of their cruiser’s enormous hangar bays, Tar was ready to tear apart the first Brute she saw with her own hands.

They all exited the Phantom via the grav lift and headed for one of the many doors into the ship proper. Tar knew Rangers prepared for battle in a separate area to her, toward the stern, so she caught Kryu before they parted ways. “If i don’t see you before - good luck, brother.” They shared a heartfelt salute.

Kryu hummed for just a moment, then gave a slight laugh. “I would wish you luck, sister, but I know you do not need it.”

Tar chuckled. “Just make sure I have a ship to come back to.” She playfully patted his arm and began walking toward the SpecOpsCon for debrief.

Halo: Aegis Team

Tar 'Mdalak

The Kel 'Darsam - off Paxopolis Broadwalk

---

Tar chuckled and patted her comrade affectionately on the back. "If the Humans gave you poison, would you eat that too?" She enjoyed the regular meetings and light hearted banter with Kryu more than she probably let on. It provided temporary solace for her, especially as her deployment to Sarcophagus stretched from weeks into months.

Kryu shrugged. “I am not convinced that was not their intention. It was sweet at first, but the aftertaste was horrid. I still feel that I can taste it. The last time they gave me something of theirs to eat, it was most acceptable. Pleasant, even. Perhaps they were attempting to earn my trust?” He said with a short grunt.

Their food came quickly - popular dishes were pre-prepared and kept hot for the breakfast rush which was due in 10 minutes or so. Tar devoured hers, foregoing utensils over holding the bowl up and grabbing food with her tongue and mandibles.
“So, I had an...interesting simulation...with some fresh recruits just now.” Tar ventured in between mouthfuls. “Such an array of characters - three sessions in and they’re still as diverse as the seasons. It seems ONI doesn’t like making things easy for me! How was your training exercise yesterday?”

Kryu huffed, shaking his head slightly before pausing to take a drink. “All but one of my recruits have never so much as used a thruster pack before, but that is fine. The ones that have never flown do not know what they are doing, so they listen to me. It’s the one with experience that gives me trouble. He has his own technique, and does not wish to stray from it. So, yesterday, he comes in too quickly for his landing, does a poor job of handling the impact, and breaks his leg. The last I saw him, he was arguing with the medics.”

"We're certainly a stubborn kind, aren't we?" Tar slurped her shake. "So many returning from war with rushed, incomplete training. They now hide behind hero status, claiming imaginary feats of valour. Tar heard herself speak and realised she had assumed an overly negative tone.
She had feats of valour too, despite not serving in the war. Her Keep had been attacked by surprise, and she'd fought them off with her own soldiers. But she seldom felt comfortable talking about those feats. She had failed her father by allowing him to be captured. The shame still threatened to overwhelm her years later. She'd only managed to hint to Kryu what had transpired, so it was no wonder blurting it out in front of the recruits had shaken her.

Even if she had wanted to gloat, she would've needed to embellish some of it. Much of that battle was clouded by a red haze in her mind, preventing her from recalling some details. The clearest memory she had was tentatively asking her trusted lieutenant about what he'd seen several days after. She would never forget the look on his face. Raw fear, of her.

Tar decided to change the subject. "Have you heard any more whispers of an actual mission, outside Paxopolis?"

Again, Kryu shook his head. “I haven’t heard anything specific. I know our commanders have put the garrison on alert, but no one is saying what we are on alert against. I am wondering if we are simply being tested? I believe many of the recruits sent here are chosen based on how well they will get along with former enemies. Perhaps they want to see if we still have the skill and discipline necessary to defend this place?” He reasoned.

“Shaking down the base would put everyone in their place, whether that is at the barricades or on the next shuttle back to Sanghelios.” Tar agreed, thoughtfully tasting the last strips of meat in her bowl.

After a short pause to have some of his breakfast, Kryu gave Tar a curious look. “You are still wanting to be reassigned from here, aren’t you.” He asked, though he still did not know the exact reason why she had been looking to leave.

Halo: Aegis Team

Tar 'Mdalak

Paxopolis Broadwalk

---

Her mind was still racing from the Sim and the confrontation when Tar passed the train centre's double entry doors. The cool morning breeze of Paxopolis whispered through her armour. The base's clean, wide streets were starting to fill up with people on their way to work.

Tar's stomach complained; she realised she hadn’t eaten yet today. She set off for one of her favourite places, courteously waiting for a pair of ONI analysts to cross her path. Tar had never fought Humans during the war. She’d wanted glory in battle like all her brothers, but hadn’t been allowed to enlist on account of her gender. As a result, she’d never even seen a Human until her flight to Paxopolis almost half a year ago.

Although comparatively puny, they were generally quite clever and resourceful. A lot of their behaviour was dishonourable by Sangheili standards, but mostly they were at least civil around her. There had been a few insults, but they were quickly pounced on by superiors who seemed under orders to make the co-deployment a success.

Tar was particularly impressed by their weaponry. Considering they hadn’t been blessed with reverse engineered Forerunner technology until recently, their ground armaments felt powerful. She was particularly enamoured with their M90 shotgun. The pump action seemed inconvenient, but it had the stopping power of a Gravity Hammer. She’d used a variant with an extended trigger (to accommodate her large Sangheili hands) on a few exercises already.

She crossed the street from the training centre, walked a few hundred metres down one of the main thoroughfares before heading down a side street. She saw the neon sign which read ‘Refreshment Area #0259’, and the smaller, homemade sign underneath which read ‘The Kel ‘Darsam’ in Basic Sangheili.

Two Sangheili conversing outside the large front door moved aside to let her enter. The interior was high-ceilinged and surprisingly spacious. It had been designed specifically for Elites by sympathetic builders. A bar separated an open plan area with chairs and tables and space for activities from a full kitchen. A stairway off to her right led to a mezzanine level where she could hear a group meditation being guided. Several Sangheili sat at tables nearby playing complicated games with dice and other small objects. A group of older hands loudly discussed epic poetry in the corner.

Tar moved to the bar, where an attractive young cook took her order for a mixed bowl of meat and vegetables along with a nutritious shake. She stood at the bar with her eyes closed, following the instructions of the meditation guide upstairs.

The Major had managed to push her buttons earlier; she'd almost been compelled to fight him for her honour. Perhaps she should've done - It would've forced the other traditionalists on the base to respect her, at least for a while. The meditation helped, and she slowly felt her battle reflexes quietening.

After a few minutes, she heard the door behind her open and close. He was right on time. "What're you eating?" She called out, opening her eyes and turning round.

The Sangheili that approached wore his full, crimson-colored armor, with the exception of his helmet. He was a Ranger, so a vacuum-sealed helmet was not particularly convenient attire for breakfast. “Roasted colo, I think. I need proper food to get this foul taste out of my mouth of a fruit a Human gave me. I cannot conceive of how they stomach such things.”

The Sangheili stood alongside Tar, repeating his order to the cook. His name was Kryu, and they had known each other for about as long as they had been stationed on Sarcophagus. They were both crew of the same cruiser, and though they served different units, they did often have cause to be deployed together.

Halo: Aegis Team

Tar 'Mdalak

Paxopolis Simulated Training Centre

---

As one might have expected, there was hesitation from all of the recruits. Ryssa was the one who hazarded an answer first, though his approach was more of a cold recounting of facts than an actual analysis of their performance. “The primary objective was completed and the security of the colony was ensured. We failed the secondary objective to rescue the Human hostages.”

The Major soon let out a loud huff, giving a dismissive glare towards seemingly anyone who looked at him. “It is a miracle any of you even survived.”

Tar chuckled. Now that the simulation was over, she could relax a little bit. “It certainly wasn’t a masterclass, but I never expected that. I expected an embarrassment, and at certain points it was. But on the whole, you acted bravely and completed the mission.

She looked at Ryssa. “You have the makings of a fine operator, but your leadership instincts need work. You were visibly nervous at the beginning, making a vital mistake that nearly lost me my life. You performed better as my second, freeing you up to focus on the fundamentals. My question for you is, do you want to be a follower forever, or do you want to lead?”

“Yes, commander.” Ryssa answered; though, even he realized the irony in the way he chose to respond. “I…will improve myself.”

She turned to the Major. “Your strength and valour make you a great asset. However, your style did not work in this scenario. We were fighting an invisible enemy, and needed to be as close to hidden as possible. Adapting how you fight is key to survival. As part of a garrison, we require these skills more than raw power and aggression.”

Jurna was next. “You’re good with that carbine, but your hesitation got you killed. We are a team, and should move as one. In the hands of a skilled soldier, a carbine is just as deadly up close as it is from range. Especially when your teammate is cracking shields” She pointed to Daha. “That was a good stratagem Daha, quick thinking.”

Tar surveyed them all. “But i’m still disappointed that we lost soldiers fighting an inferior enemy. When we work together as a team, we’re each worth one hundred Stalkers. I’ll see you tomorrow for another scenario. Dismissed.”

Initially in response to Tar’s criticism, the Major had just stared with a soft growl, but by the time they were dismissed, he had built up enough resentment to finally speak up. He stepped forward, standing out of line and clenching his hand into a fist. “And who are you to ‘instruct’ me? If I did not have a team of cowards behind me, my attack would have succeeded. You proved as worthless as they did.” He snarled, pointing a finger at Tar.

Tar snarled and stepped forward. “Who am i? I’m the one who’s killed more Brute vermin than you’ve ever seen! Believe me, your tactics have a time and place, but not while you’re on my team.” She prodded the Major’s chestplate. “If you’re unhappy, I can have you guarding star ship armouries by tomorrow. You can go berserk at all hostiles - would you prefer that?”

This time, Tar’s threat just seemed to rile up the Major even more. He stepped closer to her, growling as he looked down on her. Physically, he was larger and stronger than most Sangheili: a fact that clearly influenced his confidence when facing down one who was his superior. “You don’t have a place commanding a team at all. What do you know of combat? Of real war? Even from the start, you spoke of leading from the rear like a cowardly Unggoy. Was it the Humans that gave you your position in this place? You act like them.”

"I paid for my station in blood!" Tar hissed, rolling her shoulders in a subtle attempt to calm her battle reflex. The Major was obviously incensed, and a fight would quickly get out of hand. "My blood and the blood of those I've killed. Three years of burning mongrel Brute hides in search of my father. So don't lecture me about combat - you wouldn't last five minutes on the missions I've endured for our kind."

The Major waved his hand to the side dismissively. “Empty words and lies. I watched you fight and I was not impressed. I could snap you in half; I am twice the warrior as you.”

“It was a test…” A voice sounded out nearby, much more softly than either of the two.

The Major growled as he turned his head back towards the other recruits. “What?”

While certainly hesitant to speak up against the Major, Jurna was still in agreement with Tar, and felt strongly enough to involve himself. “The…simulation was a test for us. If she’s trying to evaluate us, then she’s not going to make all the kills herself.”

“Not another word, fool!” The Major snapped back.

“You are the greatest fool among us, Zadu.” Another voice interjected, this one new. It was Daha, who, until now, had not spoken through the entire scenario. Unlike Jurna, he did not fear speaking out against the Major. In fact, he showed little in the way of emotion at all, either visually or in his tone. “You clearly did not take the time to learn anything of our commander’s history. It was a Silent Shadow team who taught her.”

For the first time, the Major actually showed a hint of doubting himself, though he clearly tried to hide it. “Lies!” He snarled.

"Truth." Tar nodded her head. "We hunted down and slaughtered Brutes, because we could. What have you done to deserve your rank?"

Though unsettled by the implications if what Daha said was true, the Major still answered. “I have fought and killed those who would oppose the Arbiter’s rule. But you…why would any Silent Shadow team allow you among them? I can say with certainty you are no veteran of war.”

"Because, after my father was captured.." Tar could see all the males bristle at the mere thought. "I swore to them I'd kill every Brute in my way until I found him. This meant we could help each other. I stand by that oath to this day." She moved closer, until their armour was practically touching. "Any more questions...Major?"

The Major’s hesitation said more about him than his actual words. For him to accept what she was saying was to make himself into a fool. The only way for him to retain his pride was if he did not believe her claim. Yet, it was Daha, not her, that had made it., and though the Major had not admitted it, Daha had been correct that he knew nothing of their instructor’s past.

The Major could have tried pressing farther; to take the chance of perhaps preserving his pride. But, at this point, that hope seemed distant. “I…have nothing more to say.”

Tar smiled. "Good, see you tomorrow. Dismissed." She headed for the exit as all the recruits started chatting about their performance. All except the Major, who skulked into one of the adjoining physical training rooms.

Halo: Aegis Team

Tar 'Mdalak

Paxopolis Simulated Training Centre

---

Though he had been helpful when left alone, Jurna’s response to the ambush was less than ideal. He did listen to Tar’s warning and turn around, but the two shots he fired with his carbine were not enough to break the Brute’s shields. At such close range, he would have been better off striking the Brute with the weapon. Instead, he took the full force of a mauler shot that immediately breached his shields, which was followed quickly by a strike to his head with the mauler’s blade. Especially when wielded by a Brute, it was easily enough to kill, which was precisely Jurna’s fate for this scenario.

Ryssa, at least, was faring somewhat better. The stalker he was fighting seemed intent on tearing the Sangheili apart with his bare hands, but Ryssa thought quickly enough to turn his needler around and jam the needles straight into the Brute’s neck. It was another stalker brought down, though Ryssa was still unshielded and vulnerable.

Tar cried in anguish as Jurna's limp body fell to the floor. She grabbed a red plasma rifle from the severed hand of a Brute lying next to her and fired it at Jurna's killer. The half shielded Brute retreated back into the hallway.

"Put down your weapons! Or the humans die!" A gravelly voice boomed from the front of the room.

Tar peered over the top of the table and saw two Brutes, camo disabled, pointing spikers in the direction of her and the recruits. Each of them held a member of the Command centre staff in front of them.

Behind these two Stalkers, another Brute, also visible, was fiddling with one of the master control panels. Red lights began flashing in the command room, and one of the screens featured a plaintive PROXIMITY WARNING sign.

Of the two remaining recruits, Ryssa was the one to act. He ducked down quickly behind the barricade before even retrieving his needler from the Brute’s neck to allow the chance for his shields to recharge. Though, the warning on one of the screens meant he would not have time to wait. They had to act quickly. In this case, Ryssa did not need to hesitate nor look to others for direction. He already knew his instructions, based on the mission parameters. Directives from both the UNSC and Swords were actually similar in this respect: the mission had priority. Hostages were meant to be saved if possible, but ultimately, unless the hostages in danger were of critical importance themselves, the fate of the colony meant more than any individuals. For this scenario, stopping the sabotage to save the colony was the objective. Drawing his storm rifle, Ryssa braced it on top of the barricade and opened fire into the back of the Brute at the console.

Both the Brutes up front snarled in unison, firing their spikers at Ryssa. The Stalker at the console picked up his weapon and turned around, but didn't get any shots of. Tar jumped up, waves of pain crashing against the back of her eyeballs, and joined her fire to Ryssa's. The Brute at the back promptly melted to the console.

Seeing all was lost, the two Brutes up front cracked the skulls of their hostages, discarding them on the floor. Sharing a quick look, they began running at Tar, bodies low to the ground in berserk mode, jumping through the hologram of Sarcophagus.

Tar had encountered this particular move lots of times before. She tried to find a stable platform on her bleeding foot while they closed. Finally, satisfied she wouldn't fall over from the first strike, she drew her energy sword.

Greeting them with a bloodthirsty roar, Tar used the first Brute's momentum against him. As he leapt forward, she impaled him on her sword, lifted him clean over her head and dumped him behind her. She screamed in pain as her foot took all the extra weight.

Pirouetting clumsily to greet the second attacker, Tar launched her sword at him as he jumped from the hologram plinth, arms ready to crush her. It connected meatily with his torso in mid air, and the Brute clattered to the floor just in front of her. Tar pulled out her Mauler and shot them both in the head, just to be sure.

"Ryssa, help me turn this off. Daha, sweep and secure the room."

Though he certainly heard the two Brutes rushing their position, Daha was in no position to help. After Jurna’s death, Daha looked back into the hall to cover their flank. With a focused eye, it did not take him long to spot enough of a shimmer for him to act upon. He did not bother charging his plasma pistol, instead firing both it and the plasma rifle at slightly different positions to try and reveal the stalker.

Fortunately, one of the plasma bolts found its mark and disrupted the cloak. From there, he did nothing particularly special nor complex. He simply overwhelmed the Brute with plasma fire from both weapons. Daha’s shields were half-drained from a mauler shot at medium distance, but the Brute fell long before it could do any more damage.

With the hostile forces neutralized, the remainder of the simulation was fairly simple to complete. It was simply a matter of reactivating the defenses the stalkers had disabled, namely the settlement’s anti-air defenses. It was a task that required some knowledge of the Human computer systems, but they had been taught to do it.

Once the scenario had been completed, the team quickly filed out of the simulator to open it up for use by the next group waiting. The four recruits, now reunited, stood together at attention once again. Strictly speaking, the scenario had been completed successfully, with the primary objective fulfilled. The secondary objective to rescue hostages had failed, but that was, by the scenario’s own description, considered a difficult objective. What was of more concern to the recruits was the fact that they had performed far from flawlessly. Two of their number had died, and they made some obvious mistakes.

Tar looked at each of them in turn to gauge their feelings before asking: “Who would like to go first and explain how we did?” She was interested to hear their take on what had just happened. Even the Major, who would’ve been able to watch the simulation unfold even after his death.

Halo: Aegis Team

Tar 'Mdalak

Paxopolis Simulated Training Centre

---

It was hard to say if their volley of grenades had led to any actual kills. Plasma grenades were reasonably easy to avoid if they were not stuck to a target. However, the chain of explosion would, at the very least, disrupt the Brutes’ defensive positioning. Daha was the first in behind Tar, his plasma pistol already overcharged. The cluster of plasma detonations had at least partially revealed multiple cloaked Brutes, allowing him to quickly acquire a target as he moved in. Just as before, he fired the overcharged shot, then followed up with a burst of plasma rifle fire.

Ryssa entered firing his needler so that he could focus more on movement than aiming. Particularly if they were outnumbered, he at least knew that he would need to get to cover quickly. It was hard for him to judge quickly which cover would hold up under fire, but he moved to try and duck down behind one of the elevated consoles to their left.

Jurna did move when ordered, though not actually entirely into the room itself. He ended up staying back in the doorway, though there was some advantage to his hesitation. The others were taking more of the attention of the Brutes, and as it turned out, Jurna was actually a rather good shot with his carbine when not under pressure. He landed a headshot on the Brute Daha had shot with his pistol right away, then quickly transferred his aim to the next target.

Tar found the Brutes had been pushed back from their hastily constructed barrier at the chokepoint, so she took cover on the other side of it and peeked over. She counted four Stalkers out in the open close by, one of which had just got his head practically severed by Jurna’s carbine round. They looked stunned by the massive plasma blast; some were only just getting up from the floor where they’d flung themselves.

Seeing a golden opportunity, Tar pushed the advantage. Spotting a weak link in the barricade, she savagely kicked a heavy metal table. It flew off the pile, smashing into the closest Brute and opening a path for Tar to run through. Moving with big strides and an open stance, she took a wide swipe at the reeling Stalker with her sword. The blade caught his left hand and leg as he tried to move away, severing them both.

With her other hand, Tar quickly threw a fire grenade at the next Stalker, who was unloading his Spiker into her shield. The grenade crashed into his midsection, blossoming into a fireball that enveloped his whole body. Tar heard his shield die and then smelled burning flesh. The Brute fell to his knees, trying to pat the fire out. Tar pulled out her Mauler and fired a slug at him and the other Brute on the floor before diving behind the same metal table, heavy plasma fire evaporated her shield. Two spikes thudded into a foot she couldn’t quite hide, making Tar yell out in pain.

It was easy to see that Tar needed assistance, though Ryssa was not in a position to help. His needler had supercombined a Brute as he rushed to cover, but the cover he had chosen was not the most solid. The barricades the stalkers had erected would have been a better choice. Plasma fire from the other side of the console burned through and struck his shields, forcing him to evade. He tried dashing to a barricade, but did not see the invisible Brute that was close enough to intercept him. Suddenly, he was struck in the head by the blunt underside of a plasma rifle. The remainder of his shields did absorb much of the impact, but they were easily broken by the Brute’s raw strength. Though, Ryssa was easily strong enough to do the same in return. The stalker had revealed himself, so Ryssa struck back with the underside of his needler. Though not a match for the Brute physically, Ryssa could still break the shields of the powered armor. Both were quickly rendered vulnerable.

Daha had found better cover initially, and was better able to help Tar. Seeing the effect Jurna could have firing from a distance, Daha could adapt to take advantage of that. While his plasma pistol started to charge, he opened fire with his plasma rifle on the Brute that had shot Tar. Stalkers did not have strong shields, so it took only a short burst of plasma to break through them. By the time the Brute was exposed, Daha’s plasma pistol was once again overcharged. However, instead of focusing only on a single target, he instead shifted his aim to the next closest Brute to strip him of his shields with his pistol.

Jurna was not necessarily intentionally cooperating with Daha, but he was aiming for the most vulnerable opponents within his line of sight. His first shot found the head of the Brute that had wounded Tar. The second Brute moved more quickly as he tried to get out of the line of fire, but Jurna was able to land three consecutive shots to center mass to neutralize him.

Tar slithered further behind the table as her shields began recharging. Grimacing with pain, she pulled the spikes out of her foot. They sizzled in her hand before she dropped them on the floor. She checked around for her team; they were fighting hard, shooting over her prone form. She began motioning for Jurna to move up to the barricade when she noticed a shimmer moving rapidly up behind him.

"Jurna, behind you!" Tar called out, pointing.

Halo: Aegis Team

Tar 'Mdalak

Paxopolis Simulated Training Centre

---

The other recruits gave anguished cries upon seeing one of their number die. Regardless of how they felt about him, Sangheili soldiers were generally conditioned to mourn fallen brothers.

Tar looked about in confusion at the sound, still straddling the disemboweled Brute while her vision returned "What's happening?" She asked. “Zadu is dead!” Jurna exclaimed, not quite believing the simulation would kill the Major in such a graphic style. Tar swore throatily and crawled back behind the holo-consoles for cover.

The Mauler flash had only temporarily disabled her; after a few more seconds she could see almost normally except for floating dots in her right eye. She looked around and quickly found the Major’s body. Moving her attention back to identifying hostiles, she could see two half-visible Stalkers running toward the double doors at the back of the office space.

“See our foe run!” Ryssa roared, firing his needler at them even as they moved out of his effective range. “They go to warn the others. After them!” He commanded, falling back into his assigned role as point.

As one, the recruits surged forward while firing their weapons. Tar lagged slightly behind them, making sure she could see no further shimmers in the room. If there had been any Brute forces left, the recruits would’ve fallen straight into another feint by the enemy. Fortunately, she could see no further threats sneaking up behind them. The two Brutes retreating must have been the runt of the litter who were assigned to block their exit way.

Tar broke into a jog to keep in line with her recruits, smashing the radar jammer with her foot as she passed. It seems the recruits had forgotten all about it in their eagerness to avenge the Major.

As they reached the double doors that the Brutes had just exited from, an automated voice sounded over the building tannoy. “Sector Two point defense and air-to-surface targeting disabled through executive override. Security personnel, please report to the command centre.”

The fact that two of the stalkers had escaped behind them was, even to the recruits, a cause for concern. They could reappear and flank them at any time, but if the automated message was any indication, they did not have the time to properly clear their flank. They would just have to keep pressing on and watch their backs.

The command center was one floor up, and at the very least, they did not encounter any resistance on the way up the stairs or through the hall. However, the command center itself, unfortunately for the recruits, was meant to be defensible. It was located in an interior room, with only one entrance. The Brutes had not had time to set up exterior defenses outside the command center, but they would still have to push through a choke point to enter the room itself.

The recruits approached just outside the heavy, sliding door to the command center, though Ryssa hesitated to give the order to attack. They could see no movement on their motion trackers; the Brutes were certainly waiting in ambush on the other side. “How should we attack, commander?” Ryssa asked.

Tar, who was covering the rear again, had prepared for this question. Activating her wrist interface, she put a small 3D model of the command room in the area in front of them. "It is semicircular, with screens at the front and a hologram of Sarcophagus in the middle. Consoles face the middle from a slightly raised platform around the curved edge. The commander's desk is right at the front. There's a small neck through this door where they may have set up a barricade. We can use grenades to show confusion. From there, we can flank and crush them. Be wary; they may have hostages. Any questions?

There was silence from the recruits. Tar’s explanation was simple enough, so even if they had any doubts, the recruits would trust Tar’s experience.

"Jurna, get the door. You two, form up on me."

Tar had toyed with the idea of letting Ryssa lead this clearance in their journey up to this sliding door. But she'd decided she wanted to win this simulation. And as promising as some of the recruits actions were, their chances of success without Tar at point were not good.
Jurna nodded, then went to the keypad on the right hand side of the door. They had the security codes to override the lock, which he typed in quickly. Though, he would wait until the others were ready to enter it. Daha formed up on the wall just behind Tar, holstering his plasma rifle on his side and taking a plasma grenade in his hand. Ryssa followed suit as well, grabbing a grenade in his off hand once he made sure his needler was fully loaded. With all in position, they just waited on Tar’s signal to begin.

Tar positioned herself so she could throw something through the partially opened door without exposing herself. As there wasn't enough room to stack perpendicular to the door, they were hugging the wall to the left as close as they could. One advantage of this is all of them could throw grenades at the same time. From her belt, she took both of her plasma grenades and held them ready.

When she was sure they were as ready as possible, she nodded to Jurna on the opposite wall. After he input the code the door began opening. When it had opened about a metre, Tar threw one grenade through as hard as she could without looking, and then the other. She saw the recruits' grenades sail over her shoulder and disappear into the doorway.

In the long, tense couple of seconds before detonation, Tar heard Brutes shouting and the clatter of footsteps from twenty metres away. Then all the grenades erupted together. The sound was of monstrous energy tearing apart metal, and it filled their ears and shook the floor beneath them.

Taking a deep breath, Tar raised her Mauler and pushed into the room, with her recruits (hopefully) right behind.

Halo: Aegis Team

Tar 'Mdalak

Paxopolis Simulated Training Centre

---

“Take cover right!” Tar shouted, assuming control just as a barrage of plasma fire erupted from several points around the large room. They waded through the flames into a partitioned area with a semi-circle of holo consoles. Tar took several hits to her shield from the Stalkers guarding the stairway before leaping behind one of the consoles. The Brute weapons punched holes in the plastic room dividers as they lost line of sight on her.

Tar peeked over the top of her cover. She counted at least four Stalkers slowly approaching their position, plus the two guarding the stairway. Their camouflage slipped every time they fired their weapons, revealing a cautious, calculated advance. Tar estimated they were each twenty feet apart, progressing down the open spaces between work areas.

In this case, not a single recruit so much as hesitated in following Tar’s order. The Major broke straight through the partition, with the others following just behind. Each moved into whatever cover they could find, as quickly as they could. The room dividers could break line of sight, though there was no weapon they would actually stop. Plasma fire and spikers ripped through them with ease, just without as much accuracy.

Ryssa, with his shields already damaged from his brush with the flames and few stray plasma rounds, dove behind the holo-consoles. They were at least somewhat more sturdy than most of the other parts of the office. His response to being pinned was actually reasonably effective, considering his options, even if it was a strategy one might have learned from an Unggoy. He did not peer out from cover to return fire, but rather grabbed his needler and lifted it up just high enough to fire over the console, roughly in the direction that one of the Brutes was firing from. He did not need to be accurate; as long as the needler was pointing in mostly the right direction, its needles would find a target.

When the attack had began, Jurna had fired four shots with surprisingly good accuracy. He tracked the shimmer he had seen and, out of his four shots, hit three to break the Brute’s powered armor. However, once his own shields started taking damage, he did not follow through to make the kill. He ran with the others into the side room and, like Ryssa, took cover behind the consoles. Though, unlike the other recruit, he did not return fire from his position. He hid as best as he could, and intended to continue doing so until his shields were fully recharged.

With the partitions at least stopping accurate fire, the Major took a moment to scan the room they had hastily entered. Given how quickly they had been forced to move, there was no reason to believe they had moved to safety. And indeed, at this range, his eyes were sharp enough to spot at least two shimmers moving carefully closer to Jurna and Tar. Drawing his energy sword, the Major sprinted for the nearest stalker. “Brutes behind us!” He shouted.

Reacting instantly, Tar jumped up, grabbed her energy sword from its mount on her left thigh, activated it and blindly slashed it through the air behind her in one fluid motion. The dual tips of her sword grazed the armour of a Stalker; the room lit up with blue light as his shield protected his neck from being slit.

Regaining her balance, Tar raised her right hand and fired a round from her Mauler into the same shield, breaking it completely. At the same time, she watched the Stalker fire their Mauler at her face. She was momentarily blinded as the slug exploded right in front of her eyes, and she felt her shield go offline with a jolt.

Tar let out an angry roar and leapt forward, sword poised. She made impact with…something, and clattered to the floor with it before stabbing it with her weapon multiple times.

The Major’s blade quickly found its mark on the nearest stalker. The Brute’s active camouflage may have rendered it only a shimmer in the air, but a wide arc with his blade in front of him could reach easily over two and a half meters in front of him, and the sword itself could cut through even a starship’s armor with ease. The Brute was quite simply bisected.

There had only been two of the cloaked Brutes in the room they had ran into, but the Major had no intent of staying put and holding out. Though his shields were damaged, he still preferred aggression. “Attack with me! These mongrels are nothing to us!” He shouted. Off on their right flank, on the other side of a thin wall, he could hear movement, which was all he needed to strike. With a frenzied roar as his battle cry, he broke straight through the wall in a charge. A diagonal swing of his sword and another stalker was cut in two. This time, however, the Brute was not without assistance. Just to his left, another Brute fired his mauler, both revealing himself, and stripping away the Major’s shields. He was close enough that the Major could react quickly and impale him through the chest with his blade, but there were still more Brutes farther away, and the Major was now clearly in their line of sight.

Ryssa had intended to follow the Major’s instruction. Based on the sound of a supercombine explosion beyond the wall he had been firing through, his needles had found a target, but the Brutes were not unintelligent. Though they could not see him, they could roughly determine where he was firing from when they saw the needles, so Ryssa found himself pinned by a volley of plasma and spiker fire. His shields took a stray hit, so they were not yet recharging, and he could not move to assist the Major.

Jurna had an angle from which he could help at range, but his shields were charging and he still had no intention of revealing himself until they were full.

Daha was the farthest from the Major, and the closest to Tar, and it was she who he intended to help. He charged his plasma pistol, firing the overcharged bolt at a stalker who had a clear line of sight onto Tar. The shot broke the Brute’s powered armor immediately, allowing his follow-up shots from his plasma rifle to deal potentially deadly damage.

Ultimately, there was no help that would come for the Major in time to save him. A burst of spiker fire from a more distant stalker struck his unshielded chest and neck, and his armor was not enough to protect against the volley. The red plating of his armor was stained purple by his blood. Simulated as it might have been, his death was still convincing. The Major had successfully relieved most of the pressure from their right flank, but at the cost of his life.

Halo: Aegis Team

Tar 'Mdalak

Paxopolis Simulated Training Centre

---

The Major grunted dismissively at Jurna. He did have more experience to recognize what was actually happening. “No, fool. They’re jamming our motion trackers. Rely on your own two eyes, not your sensors.”

While the team had stopped, Tar was turned and covering the bottom of the stars with her Mauler. "Make a decision, recruit. Get us off this stairway." She said gruffly over comms.

Again, Tar’s instruction quickly set Ryssa into motion. “Move ahead. Carefully. Daha, cover our flank.” He instructed, prompting the generally silent Sangheili to give a brief acknowledgement, then follow with his gaze directed behind them.

The next floor mostly consisted of a large, open plan office space. A poorly lit walkway ahead of them cut through arrangements of workstations and holographic screens on either side. Flimsy plastic room dividers offered a degree of privacy for the worker bees in this area. In the middle of the room were a set of meeting rooms, partitioned by floor to ceiling plate glass.

Even without night vision, the team could see a faint red glow reflecting on the ceiling near the centre of the office space. Tar suspected Ryssa and The Major knew what it meant, but neither immediately acknowledged it so she focused the team’s attention.
"That's the Brute radar jammer on the floor over there. We need to destroy it."

Ryssa was quick to follow Tar’s instruction and gesture to them to move forward, but the Major was hesitant. He stayed in place, raising up his storm rifle and scanning his surroundings with his gaze. “Wait. If the jammer is here, then so too are the Brutes.”

Each of the recruits raised their weapons in turn, looking in different directions all around them. Beyond the team itself, the whole floor seemed to be but stillness and silence. The Jiralhanae attack was meant to have taken place at night, so there were no bodies of workers here, and the offices seemed to be undisturbed.

There was no shattered glass, broken doors, or overturned tables, just…silence. In that environment, it was easy to become acutely aware of every small sound that could be heard: the tapping of their armored boots against the hard floor each time they shifted their feet, the slight stretching and compression of their undersuits each time they turned their heads or sufficiently moved a muscle, and even the breaths they took.

Among the recruits, it was actually Jurna’s eyes that were sharp enough to notice a slight shimmer through the glass on the far side of one of the meeting rooms. He was not sure of what he saw, nor how he should react, but he did nevertheless point his carbine directly at it.
The shimmer seemed to react to this, moving abruptly towards the edge of the plate glass wall and into the open.

Tar, who was covering the rear, detected a very faint haze moving between them and the stairway they had just ascended, cutting them off. “They’re behind us.” She reported, raising her Mauler even though they were out of its effective range. “It’s a tra-”.

Before she could finish, a fire bomb flew past her visor and landed right in the middle of the group. Flames exploded outward into a pool on the floor, lapping at the shields of Ryssa, the Major and Daha, who were up front.

Halo: Aegis Team

Tar 'Mdalak

Paxopolis Simulated Training Centre

Tar groped desperately around with her right hand for her Mauler, but it had skittered away into the gloom. So instead, Tar pulled her energy sword from his mount on her left thigh, activated it and thrust it into the Stalker’s abdomen.

He let out a furious roar and tried to dismount her. Tar wrapped her right arm around the Brute’s neck and stabbed him four more times in the stomach with her left. The force of her last blow pushed his now limp body off to the side, where he lay still.

Tar quickly rose to her feet and holstered her sword. The recruits had entered the room and were staring at her. Tar spotted her Mauler lying under a desk and picked it up.

Satisfied all her gear was together, she quickly strode to where Ryssa stood and shoved him against a wall.

“One of your teammates just died. When I show you tactics I expect you to use them. We always check corners and clear rooms. Fail me again and you’ll do this simulation alone, Is that clear?”

“Yes, Commander!” Ryssa replied, almost on reflex, though he still frantically looked around with some confusion after taking a more literal interpretation of her reprimand. He had seen the tail end of the short fight, but from what he could see, everyone around him was still alive.

“Good.” Tar grabbed the recruit and shoved him towards the doorway. “Take point.” The Major, stood slightly outside the doorway, snarled and turned away.

Ryssa followed his orders to the letter and took point, this time making sure to clear the rooms they passed on the way forward. It seemed, at the very least, that Tar’s harsh reminder was enough to get him to pay more attention to what he was doing and follow his training.

Not only did he continue checking his corners, but he did not need to be told where to go once they reached the junction in the hallway. Data centers, or the commanders themselves, were the most likely target of an attack like this, both of which took them down the left hallway.

As the team headed up the stairs to the next floor, there was a spike of activity on their sensors. All at once, each of their motion trackers started showing multiple red dots, on their level as well as above and below, moving frantically all around them.

Jurna immediately raised his carbine and pointed it ahead at the top of the stairs above, though quickly turned around to point it back the way they came. “They’re surrounding us!” He shouted, unsure of where he should be focusing his attention.