Halo: Forerunners

Axilus Prime · March 26, 2013

Halo: Forerunners

Setting

If you finished the Halo 4 Campaign or saw all the cutscenes, ignore this section.

"Wake me...when you need me."

These words were spoken by Master Chief to his AI companion and close friend, Cortana, four years and seven months ago. But when she did as he said, things were far from what they expected.

Master Chief woke up to find Cortana descending into rampancy, a condition where AI's that have existed for 7 years begin to deteriorate, divide into many personalities that argue, and finally die from the stress. In addition, hostile Covenant forces were on the severed aft of the Forward Unto Dawn, which was drifting toward a Forerunner shield world designed to protect against the Halo effect. This was strange, because the last he checked, after the Arbiter leading a revolt against the Covenant, humanity was at peace with the Elites. Despite the initial shock, he fought through them to reach the missile controls and destroy part of their fleet. It was interrupted, however, when the planet sucked them and the rest of the fleet in using a gravity well, which also prevented them from leaving the planet.

They discovered the planet was called Requiem, and that the UNSC Infinity was approaching. Chief fought through Covenant and Prometheans, a new faction, to take down signal jammers. To warn Infinity of the gravity well, Chief rushed to what he believed was a comm array, but it turned out that Infinity's signal had been manipulated to lead him there. In truth, a Forerunner, the Didact, had led him there to trick him into releasing him.

The Didact had been imprisoned eons ago in a Cryptum, a spherical chamber where Forerunners were left in exile to meditate. In the time of the Forerunners, ancient humanity was a spacefaring race that was nearly equal to the Forerunners. However, they were pursued by the Flood, and so had been destroying infested planets. The Didact had taken this as an act of war and was oblivious to the Flood, and the Forerunner army went to war with humanity. As punishment for the war, the Didact devolved all humans remaining into cavemen, and placed them on Earth. His wife, the Librarian, discovered the Flood and realized that the humans were running and cleansing, not expanding. The Didact ignored this out of sheer rage, harboring a hatred of humanity.

He engaged the Flood in battle, but was losing greatly. The plan for the Halo Array was formed, which the Didact opposed as an offense to the Mantle of Responsibility for the galaxy. He continued to fight instead, postponing the use of the rings, and had a device called the Composer built. It digitized living beings to make them immune to the Flood, but it did not work correctly. It sent them back as corrupted files, soulless, evil killing machines. Prometheans.

Naturally, the Forerunners opposed this, so the Didact tried modifying himself to become immune to Flood infection. Instead, he became hideous and even more insane, but immune to the Composer. He would not let go of his pride in the Mantle, though, or his hatred for humanity.

The Didact composed his entire army, but it was not enough to stop the Flood at this point. So, he Composed humans as more fuel for his army, and as further punishment, another act of genocidal hatred. When the Librarian discovered this, she was shocked and saddened. Realizing her husband's madness, she shot him twice with a Binary Rifle when his armor was off, and then sealed him in his Cryptum with the armor. She placed his Cryptum inside Requiem, unable to kill him out of love. She hoped he would learn from his mistakes. He did not. The rings were fired from the Ark by a Forerunner who the Didact had imprinted his consciousness on and mutated before he fell to evil, making him a second Didact, a remnant of what the original Didact could have been if he was not filled with hate.

Now, in the present day, the Didact created a slipspace rupture to collapse the area where he had been imprisoned, and escape in his now unlocked and mobile Cryptum immediately upon release. Chief escaped and discovered that in their worship of Forerunners, the Covenant remnant had allied with the Prometheans. He fought through both and reunited with the Infinity's crew. Afterward, Chief fought to destroy particle cannons protecting the gravity well and enter a Forerunner structure, where a memory clone of the Librarian told him the Didact's past and immunized him to the Composer. Upon returning, he destroyed the gravity well, but Captain Del Rio of the Infinity announced his intention to leave immediately.

Chief refused, intending to stop the Didact, and against the wishes of the crew, was stranded on Requiem with only a Pelican. He and Cortana realized the Didact was preparing to leave in his ship, the Mantle's Approach, to get the Composer. Chief failed to stop him, so he jumped on one of the Lich dropships following the Didact's ship in order to pursue him.

The Didact reached Ivanoff Station, a research space station orbiting Installation 03 and studying the Composer. By now, Cortana's rampancy severely impeded them, making the simplest of AI tasks nearly impossible. After informing the doctors onboard of the situation, Chief fought to protect them. They were being evacuated and preparing a nuke for the Composer, which Chief was to use when it was primed. In the meantime, Chief defended the Composer, but it failed. The Didact took it and left after testing it on the station.

Chief pursued him in a Broadsword fighter with the nuke as a payload, all the way through slipspace to Earth, the Didact's target. The Infinity, now under Thomas Lasky's command due to Del Rio's horrible judgement, defended Earth, but it was losing. Chief destroyed the particle cannons' energy spheres, which powered them, so Infinity could get a clear shot. It blew a hole in the Didact's ship, and Chief entered, but the Broadsword was crushed by the moving walls. He took the nuke on foot and fought Prometheans to reach terminals. At each terminal, Cortana ejected several rampant personalities as clones to clear her mind and overwhelm the ship's systems. This worked, taking down the shield around the Composer's controls, which the Didact was preparing, but it was too late. The Composer created a slipspace rupture and began to fire at New Pheonix on Earth.

Chief confronted the Didact, but was easily outclassed. To save his life, Cortana's personalities made new holograms--from the hardlight bridge the Didact was on. The Cortanas turned to shackles of hardlight, restraining the Didact so Chief could stuff a grenade inside his armor. The Didact broke the shackles, but the grenade exploded, injuring him severely. Disoriented, he fell into the slipspace rupture, which had no set coordinated. Chief detonated the nuke manually and destroyed the ship and Composer, but Cortana's core personality used the last of her strength to manipulate and condense the hardlight into a shield to save him. This took everything she had, and after saying goodbye, she faded away. Chief was left depressed, but he was found by the Infinity and given treatment, sustenance, rest, and new armor.

If you saw all the Spartan Ops cinematics, ignore this section.

Six months later, as Chief stayed on the Infinity until he was needed, teams of Spartans had been fighting against the Covenant and Prometheans. They discovered an artifact holding memories of former humans who had been Composed at New Pheonix, but it began to interfere with Infinity's systems. Doctor Catherine Halsey, who had been made a scapegoat and arrested by ONI for the ethical failures of the Spartan-II program, was brought in to study it. In the meantime, Jul 'Mdama tried to get her help to unlock another memory clone of the Librarian and learn where all Forerunner technology was.

As a ruse, she went along with it, but was discovered by the UNSC, who took the ruse seriously. They imprisoned her again, but she was captured and teleported away by Prometheans. After that, Admiral Serin Osman, a Spartan-II reject who worked for ONI now, ordered her execution. Despite Lasky's protests, knowing full well that she was being used as a scapegoat, Commander Sarah Palmer jumped at the chance to kill Halsey, who she hated because of her actions during the Spartan-II program. After Palmer's departure, Lasky sent Fireteam Majestic to save Halsey.

Halsey unlocked the device for the memory clone and entered it, which angered 'Mdama, as he wanted to speak with the Librarian. The Librarian gave Halsey the two halves of the Janus Key, which revealed a map to all Forerunner technology in the galaxy. When she returned, however, Palmer and Fireteam Majestic were there, fighting the Covenant around 'Mdama. 'Mdama seized half the key, not knowing there was a second half, which Halsey threw to Spartan Gabriel Thorne of Fireteam Majestic. Palmer shot Halsey in the arm in a failed attempt to kill her, and both sides retreated.

Halsey was still captured. 'Mdama, rather than giving her easily possible medical treatment, amputated her arm but left the part with the bullet on as punishment for passing Thorne the key. However, she told him she only did that because she did not know her "compatriots were a hit squad." 'Mdama asked her what she wanted in exchange for her help. She simply told him, "I want revenge."

Since then, Jul 'Mdama has grown more vigorous in his pursuit of the Janus Key's second half. With the aid of the Prometheans left allied with his forces by the Didact, he seeks to unite the halves, revealing the map.

While the UNSC likewise seeks his half of the key, and is the dominating force in the galaxy, it is plagued by internal conflict. Secrecy and treachery divide humanity's government and military in more ways than one. ONI blames the entire Spartan-II program on Halsey, and wants her assassinated as the sole scapegoat of the ethical failures of the program. The soldiers of the UNSC must defend against the Covenant assaults, which grow more and more frequent, and yet their unity and focus are broken because they wonder what is being kept from them. Mysteries about the Forerunners grow deeper, as with every new answer, every new discovery, more questions arise. The Prometheans obey Jul 'Mdama for the moment, but the fate of their master is unclear. The Arbiter's forces remain strong followers of the peace established with the UNSC, though unknown to them, ONI has provided certain resources to the various rebel groups they must fight to prevent the Elites from uniting and becoming truly strong once again. The transportation of these resources has ceased because ONI realized it was unwise to keep the Arbiter's forces in check when the UNSC was in need. However, if they somehow discovered the treachery behind some of their problems, they would be quite angry, as it has resulted in much war, destruction, and death. Pirates, mercenaries, and other free groups roam the galaxy, bringing both aid and pain to the various factions, whatever suits them. They tend to be oblivious to the overarching conflict, though they use what they do know for profit. This setting is, of course, extremely liable to change. You, as the players, will have much more say in what happens than in most other RPG's. Want to blow up a major location? Have at it, but tell a staff member first so they can RP the other end of the conflict. Want to bring a species to prominence? Band together with other players and find any plausible solution you can. Want to stop a certain person's plans, even if they're important to the plot? Mess them up and possibly even kill the one responsible, as long as you don't cheat in any way.

And so this is where you come in. Now, the Covenant and Prometheans are storming the Infinity from various airlocks and weak spots, both on the front end and the aft. The biggest full scale boarding assault ever executed against the ship so far has already begun.

Character Rules

There are many rules, unlockables, and character types, each with many details, basic and new for this RPG, and the entire section takes up a massive space. For this reason, a post has been recycled for that purpose. Direct your attention here.

NPC Rules

NPC's are everywhere. In combat, Covenant and Promethean NPC's have the strength they do on Heroic difficulty, though they get buffed to Legendary when under the command of a player or Important NPC. An Important NPC has a role in the plot and/or a high rank. NPC's can be killed without permission, and in combat have the intelligence of AI enemies in the game, to preserve the true Halo feel.

Important NPC's can also be killed, and this can affect the plot drastically. You, as players, can actually mess up the plot, but it will be difficult. Important NPC's have insane amounts of good luck, reflex, and skill, regardless of how much they can take head-on. They will perform insane stunts and moves that normal PC's, staff included, are completely incapable of. Some will do this more than others, like Jul 'Mdama, while yet others like Master Chief will do it much less, instead being closer to a PC. They always have luck on their side, so if there is the slightest chance they will survive, they will.

Combat Realism

Combat in this RPG is much like in the games, except with a bit more freedom. Treat NPC combat as Campaign on Heroic. The reason for Heroic is because the other difficulties will let you invade entire Covenant ships with one Spartan-IV. While you can still do this on Heroic sometimes, it is much harder, and Legendary is not used here because you do not get respawns. You are expected to adhere to the way weapons, grenades, and vehicles are used in the games, though your melee attacks can get much more creative, and you can do things that are physically possible under the circumstances that the games do not allow you to do. You can climb and throw boxes, for example. However, you cannot dodge things that you cannot dodge in the games, under any circumstances. Unlike other RPGs, you will NOT spam dodging maneuvers. You will not dodge a sniper unless you are moving around, facing him, and know he is there. You will not dodge automatic fire...well, at all. Cover is important. Retreating to cover is not dodging, so you are most certainly allowed to do that. Slow-moving projectiles like rockets, grenades, charged Plasma Pistols, etc, are possible to dodge to the point that they are in the game. Dual-wielding is allowed for all dual-wieldable weapons in the games, and the Boltshot but your aim will suffer for it. Important NPC's can aim just fine when dual-wielding, and can dual-wield nearly anything. Assassinations are allowed, though now they can be interrupted by whoever is being assassinated unless there is a VERY good explanation for it, and the opponent must ALWAYS be unaware. No jumping then thruster-packing over the enemy and turning around. Non-important NPC's can be assassinated even when aware if they are turned around, but you can't set them up in that position. You can abort an assassination to save yourself from gunfire, but it will cost you the kill. Acrobatics such as flipping, cartwheeling, handstanding, and the like are not allowed at all. The Evade Armor Ability is an exception to this. These break the flow of the game, and are not even logically possible for most characters in the game, especially when they are wearing literally a ton of armor. Important NPC's do not always have to follow some of these rules.

Profile Format

While you can put any information you want in your profiles, some information is required. The amount of detail put into certain sections can be as low as you like, as long as it, to some degree, answers the question posed by each section of the profile.

Name: (Make it fit into the naming style of your species or type. No ridiculous names.)

Species/Type:

Gender: (If applicable)

Rank: (If applicable)

Appearance: (A description or picture, either will do)

Loadout: (What you take into battle. If your character's species does not use a certain weapon in the game, they will have below average skill with it. Also, any weapon larger than a pistol-type weapon will prevent Drones from flying.)

Personality:

Skills: (Be reasonable. You're not good at everything, and you have to specify just how good you are at what you can do. If you have extreme skills in one area, you have to compensate with skill reduction or complete ineptitude in others. Important NPC's do, however, get to be less bound within reason in this area)

Backstory: (You don't have to write much here if you don't want to, but briefly summarize the recent history of the character.)

Weaknesses: (Everyone, Important NPC's included, must have a significant physical weakness of some sort. A weak point in their armor, skills they are not good with, etc. While Important NPC's will not have their weaknesses revealed to the general player base to prevent even subconscious or accidental metagaming, all staff are to be informed of their weaknesses so that no staff, especially me, is able to cheat.)

General Rules and Enforcement

1. Naturally, all standard BZP rules and guidelines apply.

2. When making a new character, post the profile in the topic. If it is approved, the link to it will be added in the Links to Player Profiles section.

3. When posting, put this before in-character areas. It will greatly clear things up.

IC - (Insert Location) - (Insert Time)

If you wish to say something out of character, just put OOC: (Insert text here).

Here is an example post. "Link" is an example of a planet name.

IC - Link, B-0452 System - 14:36, Saturday

The lone Spartan walked through the rain, the glow of his lightrifle making his position slightly obvious. He had been moving through the trees, so as to get better cover.

The problem with trees is that an ambush could be waiting behind every branch.

He had nothing to say to anyone. His team was missing in action.

"Missing in action..." he said to himself, too quietly to be heard. The worst fate that could befall a Spartan. Everyone knew what that meant...because Spartans never die.

Maybe he should have chosen his other loadout, so his radar could be more effective. At the moment, as long as the last enemy kept still, he was nearly blind in the darkness.

He needed his foe to think he was vulnerable...

"All clear. Ready for extraction." But his comm channels were entirely unused as he spoke.

OOC: I like pie.

4. No god-modding. God-modding is simple, we've all heard the term. Playing unrealistically in a way that gives you an unfair advantage. There are many ways to do this. Dodging everything (Which is especially offensive here, a game that uses actual guns), surviving the impossible (No, you cannot take a Fuel Rod to the face. This is not set to Easy.), dealing excessive damage (This is not COD, 3 Lightrifle rounds to the face of a Spartan, Promethean, or Elite are NOT a kill.), etc.

Generally, it revolves around being just too powerful. If you are playing like an Important NPC, basically, you are doing something very wrong.

Staff, despite their ability to use Important NPC's, must adhere to these rules with their characters just as much as anyone else does. Important NPC's are there only for the plot and to provide fun boss fights, not to give staff any sort of advantage.

5. No extremely improbable occurences as a result of your post. No deus ex machinas. No "going Super Saiyan". A meteor will not hit your opponent when you're about to lose the fight, you will not somehow manage to land that one-in-a-million perfect snipe over 100 feet when moving walls are between you and your target, you will not pull out a hidden reserve of strength or skill and somehow defeat the Elite Zealot with the shiny Energy Sword when you have a half-empty Magnum and no shield. While NPC combat is easier than PC combat because it's like Campaign on Heroic, this is not a license to always win against any NPC. Be realistic. Luck is neither on your side or against you.

6. No metagaming. Metagaming is using information you know but your character does not to your advantage. You won't suddenly have a feeling that you should take a vacation where something interesting like a battle is going on. You don't know where the Greater Ark is. You can't just turn around whenever anyone attempts to assassinate you and something is distracting you from your radar.

If the enemy is trying to deceive your character, examine it for a moment. Take into account your character's intelligence, the enemy's intelligence, and how well the trap is laid. Are you really going to know that the gunfire is a distraction and he really means to stick you with a Plasma Grenade? Sure, if you were watching in third person you'd figure it out easily even if the post didn't outright state it. But would your character do that in the stress of a firefight?

If someone has a grand plan of some sort, and your character has no specific details or intel, if any intel at all, are you going to set up defenses? Maybe, if you have vague intel that a strike is coming. But things get ridiculous if you set up defenses specifically tailored to work perfectly (Or close to it) against what is coming.

Basically, play as your character, and only your character. You know almost everything. They don't have that luxury.

7. If you have a disagreement with a player, don't panic. Maybe the other player is cheating. Maybe you are are and you don't realize it. But try to work it out calmly.

Naturally, if it's incessant disagreement and you can't settle it, you could get angry. But we are not the BZPRPG staff. We will not dish out a punishment of some sort on you for asking, or take away whatever you are fighting over. While their method can be effective sometimes, it overall just leaves everyone feeling horrible and doesn't help the game at all. So...

If there is a dispute and you can't solve it on your own, feel free to ask staff what should be done. They will look at the situation and decide how to fix things up.

If you have a disagreement with a staff member in this manner, call a different staff member. The same result should come.

Try to get along, call staff if you can't, and then seriously, don't argue with the staff if you don't like how they sort it out. None of us are going to do something extreme or horrible.

8. If you want to get into a fight with a load of NPC's, tell a staff member. You can, to a degree, kill some NPC's without permission, but if you have any intention of getting a challenge, accomplishing an important goal, or attempting to board an entire Covenant ship solo, you'll need someone RPing the other end of the conflict.

9. When assassinating a PC, make your you tell the other player it is an assassination in an OOC. You may then auto-grab the unaware character and begin to perform the lethal action, but must give room for the other player to reduce its effect to damage rather than death, if they want to do that and it is realistically possible. You can't actually say the knife went in, but you can say you stabbed towards the victim's neck. You can't say you snapped their neck, but you can say you started pulling their head back for that purpose.

Players who repeatedly or blatantly disregard the rules, however, must be kept within proper bounds. The game would devolve into chaos if nothing was done about repeated issues and/or crazy people.

So, we'll be using a variant of a common system. When a large offense is made by a player, after the player has been warned at least twice (Unless they take advantage of the warning system in order to have a free license to cheat once or twice, in which case the punishment is automatic) any staff member can issue a strike.

Instead of the customary 3 strikes, there will be 4.

First Strike (Not the multiplayer medal, this one's bad): You will get a serious warning and the character(s) you are performing the offense with will be attacked by a horde of NPCs that fit into the setting in some manner. If you're in the wilderness, large animals will strike and deal injury. If you're on a Covenant ship, have fun being captured by 8 Hunters and brought to the brig. Other scenarios exist, but I won't get into all the hypothetical stuff. While the exact effect on the character varies, as with the method to give the punishment, one thing is consistent: It's not good and will have a serious effect on your character.

Second Strike: The same as the above, plus a temporary ban anywhere between a day to a week. This is judged on how long staff think you need to cool off, slow down, and figure out a way to fix your offenses.

Third Strike: The same as the above, plus a dead character and a severe injury to all but one of your characters. You also get a free pass to not be allowed to use unlockable character types anymore for 1 month.

A third strike can only be issued if 2 out of the 3 staff agree on it.

Fourth Strike: Get out of here. NOW.

Major Locations and Important NPC Profiles

Like the Setting section, these are things that are to be updated frequently as the game goes on. Unlike it, however, these take up such a large amount of space that they simply cannot be put here without breaking the post length limit. For this reason, I am recycling this RPG's former position inside the planning topic. Go here for all major locations and Important NPC profiles. Staff and Player Profiles are found in the discussion topic's main post.

Staff Members

Axilus Prime

Flaredrick: Forgotten One

Elvis

Edited May 15, 2013 by Axilus Prime

Light · March 28, 2013

OOC: Axilus told me to kick off this thing.IC: Lieutenant Roger Johnson aimed his rifle at the airlock. There was a rhythmic thumping: the attempts of prometheans on the other side of the door to get through.THUMP THUMP THUMP Roger couldn't quite tell the difference between his heart and the attacks anymore, though they were getting louder.THUNKAnd they were through. Johnson aimed his assault rifle, opening fire.

ZTG · March 28, 2013

IC: ZacToddson was aiding Roger in keeping the Prometheans at bay. Once the red spartan saw then, he fired his Battle Rifle, looking through the scope as he aimed towards the heads, fring away, "Well this is just great!" He said

Axilus Prime · March 28, 2013

IC - UNSC Infinity - One week ago

"Obitai! Nenshin bokaron ardu shin! Rotaro morte karzon!"

[board! It is on this ship! Kill all in your way!] No sooner had 'Mdama's transmission reached the helmet of the Elite Warrior than the ship's hull had been breached in a weak spot. The whoosh of an Energy Sword's swing, heating the air around it and leaving a trail of blue smoke, met the ear of an unlucky Marine, both metaphorically and literally. By the time he heard it, it had cleaved his head in two. "Covenant have breached the ship! We need Spartans!" The Marine's fastest squadmate jumped aside from the wall comms as fuel rods struck them. The message had been sent, and he returned fire. Smoke and fire filled the air as he tried to direct a single bullet toward the head of the Grunt responsible for the attack. "Argh...just a little bit more..." With every shard of metal that flew from the gunfire, the Grunt seemed to move and shoot yet again. Never once could the marine catch him reloading, not a moment's rest from the incessant stress of combat. "I'll cover you! Get all the Grunts first!" His other squadmate sprayed and prayed, firing at a charging Elite Commander with his Assault Rifle. "What I wouldn't give for a SAW!" He raised his gun in defense, but the blow from the Elite's foot sent it flying into his face, producing a crack barely audible in the fight. "Orkin dehu shin mayga acluos! Akhdan entoros tor Janus Key, bin shaynara Sangheili morte vin!" [Close in on them, they have their backs to the wall! Save one and find out if he knows where to find the key, then kill him and show these fools the true ruthlessness of the Elites!] The Commander took out his Covenant Carbine and began to fire, relishing the scattered gunfire of the helpless Marines hitting his energy shield. It was being weakened, little by little, but he knew he would not likely die. And what is death in battle to a true Elite but honor? One by one, the Jackals sniped the Marines down, precise headshots piercing their helmets and penetrating their brains. The towering Zealot approached the last one and watched the 'honor' spill from his companions. He began to speak in plain English, plain if slightly broken. "Janus Key's location. Reveal it and be honored." I serve the people of the UNSC. I live its values....never accept defeat..quit...only in death. He did not want to give up. But he could not stop himself from making excuses. He let his fear in, slowly, but much too fast. I'm...part of the UNSC. Never leave a man behind...am I doing that if I let myself die? And I stand before death, right? Can I quit? "It's...in..." "WORAAAAH!" The Zealot released the Marine and whirled around in sync with the rest of the Covenant forces. The Warrior had been grabbed by the head, and through the open hole in his chin, given a knife to rest with him. "Demons! Morte dakarin akshion!" He pulled out his Concussion Rifle and began to fire. "Let's move, Leviathan team! Engage, flank, and assassinate, just like the War Games!" A white and blue Spartan charged in, as the glare of the Elite Commander flashed in the visor of his Scout-class helmet. He aimed precise shots with his Lightrifle at the Grunts with ease, while his blue and gray companion charged at the Elite full auto, moving to throw off his aim. He jumped behind cover to switch to his Magnum, as both their shields were down, then lashed out nearly as fast as his shot. The Commander dropped dead, but the Spartan wielding the Lightrifle had run out of ammo. He held a Plasma Grenade at the ready. "Sir...there was a Zealot." A red and orange Spartan slowly attempted to approach the Marine, his back to the wall, stolen Needler at the ready. Blue flashed out in front of him, breaking the thick dust and smoke to shine through...and to stab through. A few rounds could be fired, but the shielding was not broken. "NOW!" The Spartan with the Plasma Grenade threw it to stick the Zealot, who dived away and was met with the Assault Rifle fire of his squadmate. The Zealot had a similar order, one with a deadlier purpose. "WORT DAREHN!" [Go, now!] There was no pain, only shock. Too much shock for words, even if the Spartan could speak in his condition. He came burning down, not falling, but disintegrating. First the head, then the torso. The arms were burned off at the shoulders, but they hovered there much like the arms of the attacker. Hovered, until they too burned up, and finally were followed by the legs. A red ring re-appeared around the head of the Promethean Knight, with two others by his side. Binary Rifles...NO! The last Spartan in the room met the same fate. Hope was lost. As if to preserve himself before the Zealot, in his infinite rage, forgot why he was still alive, the Marine yelled quickly. "It's in the labs! On this ship, right now! Scientists are trying to figure out what it does without the other half!" The Zealot turned around slowly. "Labs' location. Speak quickly, Reclaimer." "On the other side of the ship!" In rage, the Zealot roared, scaring the Marine into unconsciousness. He did not feel the slash of the energy sword. "Hindaton arke--" "Sandiren, Duten. Anshin mortus netinthun...kutai Knights ni doron." [No, Duten. It is unwise to die in vain, with your skills. Take the Knights and fall back.] 'Mdama was never one to respect tradition, but he would bring power enough to make up for it in the eyes of most Storm Elites. Surely, the Zealot known as Duten thought, he could do no better without following orders. And so, when the next squad of Spartans arrived, they found only a hole in the ship left by a Boarding-class Phantom. --- "End the security feed, Roland." Lasky turned to look at the tall, clearly irritated woman behind him. "They're after the key." Palmer glared down at the captain of the Infinity. "The other half of the key that Halsey gave them." "Halsey gave us our half as well. She's not a traitor, Sarah. Majestic's report made that clear." "If not a traitor, then a war criminal. Our orders from ONI still stand." Palmer turned and left the deck, stepping briskly and with slight force. Lasky sighed a bit longer than was considered usual. He looked at the holographic model of the Infinity. The repair crews knew what to do. Thankfully, the Covenant had attempted to board the ship quite far from their objective...though now they knew their mistake. "Brave marine, huh?" "Roland, now's not the time. That attack was only the beginning. It was a scout team, the kind that confirms intel." The kind that confirms intel...intel from Halsey. --- "Do not take me for a fool, Doctor Halsey! Shall I have your other arm removed as well?!" Jul 'Mdama grabbed the doctor by the neck, then glanced back. Constantly, nervously, he was checking to make sure the Janus Key half in his possession had not been stolen. Halsey had deceived him before. Though the words were spoken in Sangheili, the doctor understood them well. "You asked me where a weak point in the Infinity was. I gave it to you. The labs were not at that weak point, and you did not ask." Likewise, the Covenant leader understood English, but he preferred his own language by far. Some aspects of his Sangheili honor were, in his mind, obsolete. To never tactically retreat, to commit suicide in dishonor, these were the things a remnant of a once-powerful empire could not afford. What resources, however, could be wasted by speaking in his own tongue? "You are impatient, Doctor. But I am much the same." he warned. "You can't kill me." Halsey knew the response, and 'Mdama knew she knew it. No words were wasted in explaining that she could still be caused infinite pain. "I want you to prove that you'll get me the revenge I seek. The Office of Naval Intelligence. They orchestrated much of the program responsible for creating the Spartans, the Demons you so desperately fight against. They--" "The Demons do not bring us desperation! We fight with honor and strength! There is no fear in our hearts." "Nevertheless," she firmly stressed the word, clearly irritated, "the group I mentioned gladly funded and supported my project, and now they put all the blame on me. They even ordered a hit squad on me for it, to cover up, to get me out of the way so they can..." She realized she was going too far off topic, and quickly spoke again to prevent interruption. "I will tell you where the labs are if you--" "We know where the labs are, human! There is nothing we need from you at the moment! We will keep you alive, Doctor, but you will not touch my half of the Key. I have other matters more urgent than your own desires. You will have your revenge when you offer us something for it!" Thrusting Halsey back into her cell and reactivating the energy barrier, Jul 'Mdama turned and walked toward the ship's bridge.

IC - UNSC Infinity - Present day

The door flew straight at Johnson, passing over his head and slamming into the wall behind him. It fell, partially smacking his back. Marines ran to their Lieutenant, lifting the door off him. "Sir! Sir, are you all right?"

Whatever happened to Johnson, the Marine who spoke certainly was not. He dropped to the ground with a burning hole in his head, and the Knight responsible fired his Lightrifle as several Crawlers to his left and right charged at the Marines. Frantic gunfire erupted from their Battle Rifles and DMRs, but the Crawlers seemed to already be behind them, above them, and flanking them all at once. A lucky shot pierced the head of a Crawler, ending its life, but before the Marine could take its Suppressor, his body had been slashed diagonally from his right ear to his left hip. Blood spilled from his body, so much that a fleeing Marine slipped in it. The last thing he saw was a metal foot coming down on his face.

But then the Spartan's work had paid off. No Crawler was left alive, and 3 Marines remained, firing madly at the Knight. Their bullets bounced off his energy shield until they passed through a blue flash of light. "Where'd he go?"

A loud screech resounded through the room as the Knight appeared above Zac, falling down towards him with an outstretched blade. The Marines fired, but the hardlight shield of a Watcher protected him.

ZTG · March 28, 2013

IC: ZacZac looked up, and the Spartan barely lept away from the blade, breathing heavily as he nearly saw his life end right before him. He switched his weapons rather quickly and pulled out his shotgun. With the pull of the trigger he shot at the knight, hopping the shield wouldn't block the shot.

Edited March 28, 2013 by Zacax: The Gunsmith

Axilus Prime · March 28, 2013

IC - UNSC Infinity - 11:51, Thursday

The loud blast of the shotgun slammed into the Knight's energy shield, but the Watcher's shield had been long gone at that point. Marines were good enough to do that, at least. The Knight slashed again, enraged at his shield being down, but was shot by several Assault Rifles, Suppressors, and Battle Rifles. Three Spartans charged into the room, all firing on him at once. The final blow was dealt by Zac himself.

A Spartan in black and green armor with a Rogue helmet approached Zac and offered him a Rocket Launcher. "Come on, we have to move. Things are heating up all over the Infinity. Like blowing stuff up?"

At that moment, two Battlewagons and a Commander teleported in. A Scattershot at point blank struck a Spartan holding a SAW, tearing him to burning shreds until there was nothing left.

"Look out!" The Spartan dropped the Rocket Launcher at Zac's feet and dove aside. A group of fireballs flew at the Spartans, glaringly threatening. The Commander was holding a massive, heavy cannon.

"He's got an Incineration Cannon!"

---

On the other side of the ship, more towards the middle, Fuel Rods flew across the room. Spartans were strong, but they couldn't kill the Elite Warriors fast enough, and for every blindingly green blast that struck, one of the defenders fell down, dead. Even the Grunts could not be ignored as their powerful explosives were fired. A Marine ran for a weapon rack, but it tipped over. When the flash of the explosion cleared, a horrifying, 8-foot tall Elite stood before him.

"Oraio nincade hokusan!" The rear of his Storm Rifle cracked the Marine's skull, right through his face. The Warrior's laugh was cut short, however, as his spine was smashed from behind and a Spartan jumped on him, pushing his face to the ground with a knife coming out from between his eyes.

A black and yellow Spartan got off of the Elite and stood, spraying his Storm Rifle as fast as he could at the incoming enemies. "I need backup! Anyone near my location, please respond!" At that, an explosion tore open the hull of the ship, and a boarding-class Phantom released a Zealot with an Energy Sword and some Jackals with Needlers. "No, not you! I meant anyone on my side!" He dove for cover, frantically trying to fire his Magnum at the Jackals' hands, but his aim was insufficient.

Commander Sarah Palmer spun a Knight around, stabbing him with his own blade and watching him disintegrate. "The Covies and the Prometheans are boarding us from every angle! Man up like the rest of us, Spartan!" She shot a Jackal's hand, then his head as he recoiled in pain. I could really use some help from Crimson...

Edited March 28, 2013 by Axilus Prime

Light · March 28, 2013

IC: Johnson rolled, obviously shaken. The soldier's aim was as true as ever, however, and he threw a grenade down the hall at the commander holding the cannon.IC: ???The cryostasis pod in engineering 2B started to open slowly.OOC: Working on a profile for Johnson and unknown. Edit: Edited because was confused about races.

Edited March 28, 2013 by Elvis

ZTG · March 28, 2013

IC: ZacThe spartan dodged the fireballs and got back to his feet."I've had plenty of expierence with these," Zac said with a salute as he picked up the weapon. He aimed his weapon at the Commander with the cannon and fired a rocket at the brute,

Zulu Yankee Kilo Echo · March 28, 2013

IC: Tony, UNSC Infinity I took a walk around the world to ease my troubled mindI left my body lyin' somewhere in the sands of time An Elite clutched his throat as a high-caliber bullet passed through it, spraying purple blood across the wall behind him. I watched the world float to the dark side of the moonI feel there's nothing I can do, yeah Another bullet buried itself in the Elite's chestplate. The alien creature finally keeled over and hit the floor. However, one of his comrades pinpointed the source of the gunfire, and Tony found himself facing a volley of plasma bolts. He quickly spun around back to cover in time for one of the bolts to skim the armor of his left shoulder plate and another to hit the back of his shin. He grunted as the music blaring in his helmet wavered for a moment, but it soon resumed its usual pace. I watched the world float to the dark side of the moonAfter all, I knew it had to be somethin' to do with youI really don't mind what happens now and thenAs long as you'll be my friend at the end He popped out of cover for a brief moment to fire on his new target with his magnum. Sparks erupted at the Jackal's feet, prompting the Covenant soldier to seek cover of his own. If I go crazy, then will you still call me Superman?If I'm alive, then, well, will you be there, holding my hand?I'll keep you by my side with my superhuman mightKryptonite Tony let out a breath he didn't realize he had been holding. It was time to kick some scaly alien behind.

Edited March 28, 2013 by The Zytrix

Axilus Prime · March 28, 2013

IC - UNSC Infinity - 11:55, Thursday

The cannon blast spread out, and as Zac dodged, it hit the wall and became a brilliant flash of flame, with smoky red haze rushing out through the entire room and giving it a powerful shock wave. Two Marines and a Spartan were disintegrated completely. The frag grenade, being bouncy and in the middle of a shaking room, struck the ground and came up again with a ping, and it exploded slightly away from the Commander. It had been enough of a distraction, though, and the rocket smashed right through its face.

The Commander had been enough of a distraction as well, though. One of the Battlewagons had been able to teleport in the middle of the group of defenders, and the last Spartan's head, Zac excluded of course, landed on Johnson's shoulder. The other Battlewagon began to rapidly fire his Scattershot at increasingly close range as he ran right at Zac. His form became a blur, and light reflected off of his zigzagging path. The lighting-fast and deadly Promethean Sword Charge.

OOC: If you've played Halo 4 already, I think you know what to do. If not, take a wild guess...

IC:

The Jackal blew wildly on his hand, sweating and glaring nervously, filled with bloodlust. It was nothing, however, to the bloodlust of the Elite Zealot whose footsteps silently drew closer and closer.

Active Camo, after all, was not only Tony's armor ability. It had been invented by this Zealot's kind, a proud weapon of war nearly as proud as the one he kept strapped to his hip. Together, this ability and weapon were the skill and pride of his race. As he drew closer, several blue dots may have appeared on Tony's radar. However, at that point, an Elite Commander on the ground had thrown a Plasma Grenade right at the Spartan's cover, and the Jackal was now holding a charged Plasma Pistol shot.

To Tony's right, an Elite with a Carbine and a Jackal with a Plasma Pistol. To his left...

The blur and shine of Active Camo faded in, and then out again, replaced by a tall, red-armored Sangheili. He drew his Energy Sword and charged. "Morte duntares!"

ZTG · March 28, 2013

IC: ZacQuickly thinking, Zac tossed aside the Rocket Launcher seitched weapons and quickly lept back to avoid the attack, recognizing this patern on the time he and the other had spent fighting the Prometheans. These things were much more crafty than the Elites and harder to lay a hit on than the Brutes. As he jumped back, he fired his Shotgun again, knowing that this weapon was one of the very few things that could kill a Knight efficiently and quickly."D*** teleportation!" Zac exclaimed,

Zulu Yankee Kilo Echo · March 28, 2013

IC: Tony, UNSC Infinity

The dots did indeed appear on Tony's radar, giving him some forewarning to the Zealot's attack. He let out a string of French curses as he brought his pistol around and squeezed out a volley of frantic rounds at his attacker, then engaged his own active camo. He quickly dove to new cover and sent a flashbang grenade sailing across the room to land at the Jackal's feet. In less than a second, the small glowing cylinder went off in a burst of blinding light and deafening sound.

Edited March 28, 2013 by The Zytrix

Axilus Prime · March 28, 2013

IC - UNSC Infinity - 11:58, Thursday

Escorted by Spartans, the captain of the Infinity ran, turning back every few seconds to fire on Prometheans with his Magnum. A Watcher flew in front of him and produced a blue beam, pushing it against the ground. "Spartan, we're being attacked from the front and the back." He fired headshots at each Crawler as it appeared, but they tackled him to the ground. He was able to shoot each one point blank in the face, so they jumped off of him and fired on the duo.

Bruce shot a Crawler with a red ring around its head, right in the center of the ring. He watched it pop, then took its Binary Rifle. "Back up, sir!" He turned around and scoped in, shooting a Knight twice in the face. As he reloaded, another Knight blurred and charged. "WHOA!" He jumped aside, bumping Lasky, slammed the rear of his Binary Rifle into the Knight's torso, then fired point blank at the Knight who had just attempted to cut his head off. "Heh. Snapshot!" He turned around. "Sir, more are coming. We need to get you to safety."

Lasky sighed, then looked across the room. "If we can get inside that door, we'll be in a hallway with a wall comm. We'll need some cover fire, though."

"We have no backup, sir!" Bruce grabbed Lasky by the wrist in one hand, and the railing of the bridge they were on with the other as a boarding-class Phantom smashed through a window. The backup doors closed to replace the window as the air was violently sucked out of the room. Two Ghosts fell from the top of the Phantom with Elite Rangers on them and boosted toward Bruce and Lasky.

Lasky panted. "It's hard to breathe...the air thinned from that..." he pointed at the backup door where the smashed window had been. Not much more needed to be said, Bruce would get the idea.

"Sir." Bruce threw a Plasma Grenade at the incoming Ghosts, but missed and ended up sticking a Grunt. Now was not the time for humor, despite the Grunt's panicked running in circles. Bruce jetpacked over the ghosts to dodge them, carrying Lasky with him, and threw his last Plasma Grenade down at the bridge railing to destroy them. As the Ghosts decelerated, one fell off the bridge and the other turned sharply to avoid falling off. Gravity allowed Bruce to fall down on the Elite's back. Time for a hijack.

He took out his combat knife and stabbed the Elite in the eye, then kicked him off, breaking his energy shield, and removed the knife. Lasky finished him off with a headshot. "Sir, get in the Ghost and I'll follow!"

Lasky drove to the door as Prometheans and Covenant charged at them, firing wildly. Bruce took the hits with his energy shield to protect the captain, who opened the door. More air was, thankfully, inside the hallway, and Lasky gasped for breath. Bruce followed him in and pulled a lever, closing the blast doors.

Lasky got to his feet and pressed the wall comms. "All available Spartans, get to the labs! Protect that Forerunner artifact!" Whatever that thing was, nothing good could come of the Covenant getting their hands on it.

---

The Knight's energy shield popped visibly, as Zac saw the blue squares and dim light appear. The Knight, enraged, opened its helmet and screamed, revealing a glowing face resembling a skull. It fired its Scattershot at the same range Zac had fired his Shotgun, bringing down the Spartan's shields as well. Immediately afterward, it slashed.

The other Knight shot its Scattershot at Johnson in an attempt to disarm him, then stabbed down at its head. His back was turned to Zac, but the other Knight was doing well enough to justify the risk in its opinion.

"All available Spartans, get to the labs! Protect that Forerunner artifact!" The transmission rang through, registering in the minds of the Battlewagons. Time to kill the humans, and quickly. A shame they couldn't be Composed.

---

The pistol rounds bounced off the thick energy shield of the Zealot as his blade stabbed the ground where Tony had been. Fast movements made active camo less effective, and the Zealot was able to catch a glimpse of Tony diving aside as a translucent blur. He jumped after him as the flashbang went off.

The Jackal screeched in shock, shooting the Elite Commander and taking out his shield. In response, the Jackal was kicked in the face and had his Plasma Pistol stolen. The Commander dove for cover and waited for his shield. One overcharged shot could pop that Demon's shield, and the Carbine could kill him with a single shot to the head.

Lasky's transmission was little more than a distraction to the bloodthirsty Elites in the room, who wanted to make sure this lone Spartan was dead before advancing.

Meanwhile, the Zealot landed right next to Tony, in the same cover. He laughed and deactivated his camo, which was useless when his sword was so obviously glowing. As fast as he could, he swung his sword down at the Demon again, laughing maniacally.

"I. SEE. YOU. HUMAN."

ZTG · March 28, 2013

IC: ZacImmediately, Zac activated the hard light shield and defended himself from the sword, "Hey! A little help! This shield doesn't last forever!" Zac called out, trying to push back the sword, grunting as he felt the force of the Promethean against him.

Light · March 28, 2013

IC: The stasis pod was empty now, its occupant gone to somewhere in the ship. Meanwhile, near Tony, a single muffled shot rang out, a sniper bullet aiming at the Elite Commander's head. Beth hated this, but duty called.

Axilus Prime · March 28, 2013

OOC: Whoops, it appears I was the one who was confused. Serves me right for attempting to read while eating a badly made popsicle.

Though Johnson is in the room and is under attack, while Zac is asking him for help.

IC - UNSC Infinity - 12:05, Thursday

As the Elite Commander fell to the ground, a roar of anger at the loss of a brother echoed from behind Beth. An Elite Warrior charged at her, holding a Scattershot, and fired repeatedly. The energized hardlight pellets that missed her slammed into the wall behind her and bounced off at a slight angle, though still enough to come back at her. When his clip was depleted, the Elite angrily fired after each round was loaded into the Scattershot, not even loading it all the way, instead burning through ammo and dealing damage at an alarming rate.

OOC: I see why Heroic was a better choice than Legendary for the difficulty level to base the NPC strength levels on. On Legendary, something like this would have been a death sentence, cover or not.

Edited March 28, 2013 by Axilus Prime

otter · March 28, 2013

IC-Iljus:

Silent steps, a spectre, the slightest distortion in the air, walking through the repair ducts in the ship. Behind him, dead Jackals and Grunts, victims of his knife, his nigh-invisible nature. Now, held out, his pistol, and M6S, accurate, silent...deadly.

The man holding it was just as deadly. And now, he heard the sounds of a firefight. Elites, Jackals, those were the main voices he heard. A Scattershot firing. Open accessway, look out. Signs of battle; down the hall, one Elite, attacking a sniper, a SPARTAN, named Beth. The M6S was brought up, aimed for the back of the Sangheili's neck.

Activate scope.

At the 4x zoom, Iljus could see clearly the slight veinange showing in the creature's reptillian skin, the scales, overlapping, like the larger plates of his armour. Lower, the combat harness; higher, the helmet. Dead on aim, straight into the spinal column. An instant kill, if the weapon would blast through the shields.

Aim; fire. Six shots, half a magazine left. Adjust aim, six more. Reload, fall back into the shadows, don't let yourself be seen. The enemy would be repelled.

Edited March 14, 2015 by Grochi ad Infinitum

Light · March 28, 2013

IC: Any other Spartan with Beth's level of shielding would be cut down nearly instantly.That loss in shielding bought something else though. Her armor was lighter and quicker, allowing the reluctant Demon to dash out of the way. A quick switch to her assault rifle and she started to fire, biting her lip gently as she did.IC: The lieutenant rolled, one scattershot pellet catching him in the left shoulder. Johnson grunted in pain as he had to roll again to avoid the saber slash, opening point blank fire at the Knight's head. Again, he lasted longer than those fancy Spartan 4s. This was becoming a recurring thing.

Delta Titan Sparta · March 28, 2013

OoC: Lot going on. Who needs the most help.

ZTG · March 28, 2013

OOC: Im needing some back up right now.

Delta Titan Sparta · March 28, 2013

IC- Rex:"Roll away!" another Spartan shouted, and a plasma grenade flew and clung to the Promethean's head.

Canis Lycaon · March 29, 2013

OOC:

Going to risk an IC with one of the PCs that didn't have any issues.

IC: Benjamin Grimpen [uSC Infinity - 12:06]

Grimpen's team moved through the hallways of the Infinity, keeping their machine guns at the ready, waiting for something to get in their way. A Promethean walked around a corner, and Grimpen opened fire, and the rest of his squad followed suit.

Grimpen heard something coming from behind him and whipped around. He saw a squad of Elites and Grunts coming down the hallway on the opposite sides. Grimpen whispered, "Split and hide. Go." Grimpen activated his active camouflage, threw a smoke grenade and ran down the hallways away from the Elites and Grunts.

Grimpen slipped in between a wall and a barrel, and crouched down. He started to look at his display. He saw one of the members of his squad, who he guessed was Johnson, being surrounded by many enemies. Johnson's location was not far from him. He could get in their and save him if he acted quick enough.

But, alas, he could have never done this. He heard Johnson scream, and then the scream gargled and ended. Grimpen leaped out, and ran to Johnson's location. He threw a smoke grenade in, and started to fire into the enemies. Hs squad arrived shortly after and began firing themselves.

Grimpen stood over Johnson's body, and started to say a few words over his body. He looked at his squad, which was now only King, Rex, Wood, Stone and himself. All of them nodded, and then picked up Johnson's body to bring him to a proper place to keep his body.

Axilus Prime · March 29, 2013

IC - UNSC Infinity - 12:07, Thursday The Elite, in his rage, did not notice the directional arrows on his HUD, instead becoming enraged and firing after Beth. His energy shield glowed and flashed repeatedly until the final round of the pistol broke his shield. He turned and saw Ilja moving, simply following the series of blue dots on his radar caused by active camo, then roared. Blood splattered out from his arm and neck, and he crumpled down dead before he could fire a single shot. Beth soon found herself with her shield down. A bright purple beam had shot right through it, and the Jackal behind her on the bridge above was getting ready to fire again. Meanwhile, 3 Grunts with Needlers searched the general area where the Elite had been looking for Ilja. Ilja's HUD warned him of a grenade coming toward the only plausible cover in the area--coming toward him. --- The Knight's view was obscured by blue flame and energy, which exploded brilliantly on his head. Zac's Hardlight Shield turned red, but his energy shield did not flash. The other Battlewagon teleported away, knowing he would be surrounded, and instead appeared right behind the newly arrived Spartan. It brought its Scattershot arm around his neck, headlocking him, and drew back its sword. With a screech, it thrust its sword towards the area to the left of Rex's spine. OOC: Assassination!

EDIT: Canis Lupus, one, Johnson's going to become a PC, so he isn't dead, two, you ninja'd me. If you could spawn somewhere else or do something slightly less obtrusive, it would be greatly appreciated.

Edited March 29, 2013 by Axilus Prime

Delta Titan Sparta · March 29, 2013

IC- Rex:

Years of drilling from Ambrose kicked in. He slammed an elbow into the "blunt" part of the blade, his shield flaring.

Havelock Vetinari · March 29, 2013

IC (Corvette, Near Infinity)

The SDV-class heavy corvette had been one of the most ubiquitous vessels in the Covenant Fleet. They’d been deployed on any variety on missions, had a decent carry capacity and were quite fast when they wanted to be. Henrietta smiled to herself. What better vessel to lead a hit and run insurgency from? It lacked in shielding department and the weapons loadout was lighter than most….but that didn’t too much when your enemy couldn’t catch you. She had made many modifications to her vessel, increased engine efficiency, pulled a few neat tricks with the turrets and gutted some unneeded space to make room for vehicles.

Overall the Defiance was quite the nifty little number….and with the help of the shipboard A.I, Rommel, they could practically make her dance to a show tune. Yes, Henrietta was quite proud of her vessel. She currently sat in her command chair, which rose above the various control panels that were place about the bridge. In the dull glow of the vessels lights, she could see her crew moving amongst them. Many humans, Jackals, Sangheili and other species shifted amongst the panels. Looking through the viewport, she could see their target before them. The Infinity.

When she’d first contacted the Storm, she’d half-expected to be attacked on sight, thankfully, ‘Mdama seemed somewhat reasonable…for a zealous, sociopathic and delusional general at least. They had agreed to temporary alliance. “We have the latest intel from our friends in the Storm?” She directed her question to a Jackal stand off to the side, Bak, her communications officer.

“Yes Ship Mistress. They indicate that…” Bak keyed a button on the control panel, bringing up a hologram of the Infinity. “This section…” He highlighted a part of the ship in red. “Is still held by human forces. “

Henrietta nodded. “Then you know what to do. Focus all fire on that section.” Best to eliminate what resistance they could before boarding. Henrietta imagined she could hear the plasma turrets charging for a moment….and then, beams of energy lashed out from the Defiance and crashed into the exposed metal armor of the Infinity.

Edited March 29, 2013 by Basilisk

otter · March 29, 2013

IC-Ilja:

Grenade. Seven feet away. Backpedal, back into the safety of the access ducts...Six feet. Return fire, throw your own grenade, doors open behind you, turn, duck. Shoot the Grunt getting too close. Three feet away. Door closes. Keep moving back, farther, farther, to make sure you're protected...

The grenade exploded, the metallic door of the access duct protecting Ilja from the shockwave and any shrapnel, though it bent in, visibly distorted. However, he was protected in the shadows, now completely invisible, using the environment within to his advantage. The Unggoy came over, forcing the door open, looking in...

One, two, three, the squad was broken by consecutive headshots with his pistol, having been destroyed before they could even throw in a grenade to attack him. Wait a moment; the second grenade blew, blasting the bodies apart and sending their weapons flying. Ilja looked back out, checking his radar as well.

Bridge; One Kig-Yar sniper, beam rifle in hands. A squad of Unggoy farther down the hall. One Spartan II Sniper, no shields, in great liability. Only ally in shouting distance.

Ilja moved quickly, bringing out his MA5K, firing upon the Unggoy down the hall and tossing them a single fragmentation grenade. They would either disperse or be killed, along with the few of their brothers felled by his rifle. As he did this, he quickly moved towards Beth, to pull her under cover and shoot the Kig-Yar attacking her. Once in grabbing distance he lunged out, pulling her behind the cover of a bulkhead, where her shields would have a moment to recharge.

"I recommend finding better cover," he commented drily over a quickly patched comm channel to Beth, taking a moment to lay down a short burst of suppressing fire back in the hallway. "Because dying doesn't really seem like fun." He decided to ignore the rumbling coming from the outside of the ship, at the moment, more interested on getting to a relatively safer area. Like, say, planetside.

More room to move around, at any rate.

Edited March 14, 2015 by Grochi ad Infinitum

ZTG · March 29, 2013

IC: ZacZac got back to his feet, breathing in deeply. He didnt have time to relax. He ran towards the Knight trying to assassinate the Spartan, and shot his shotgun at the head of the monster, knowing that it's shield should still be down.

Axilus Prime · March 29, 2013

IC - UNSC Infinity - 12:08, Thursday

The Knight's blade and Scattershot moved away from Rex, as its foot slammed into his back instead. Using the distraction, it bent over and opened its back, repulsively churning some glowing orange liquid and ejecting a Watcher. It stood again and was protected by the Watcher's hardlight shield. Shotgun pellets bounced off as the Watcher obstinately waited for the Knight's energy shield to recharge before flying away. Then, it once again began to frantically fire its Scattershot at Rex, Zac, and Johnson. Being a Promethean, it did not even need to reload.

---

A loud explosion shook the hallway where Lasky and Bruce were standing, causing the captain to fall over and release the wall comms. "Oh, no...not now."

Bruce caught Lasky, preventing him from falling over, then put a hand on the wall to keep balance and tried to move to the end of the hallway--through the door there. "Sir, we need vehicles. Too much firepower to fight without them, and I think we're being shot."

"You think?" Lasky grabbed another wall comm. "All Spartans, get to armories if you can! Break out the vehicles!" Another explosion rocked the hall.

---

Marines at the controls of the Infinity pressed a few buttons and pulled a lever. "Roland, divert all defensive turret power to port side and fire!"

"Oh yeah, port side! I love port side! Did I ever tell you about the time I--"

"ROLAND!" The Marine pulled up another holo-panel and held down a button to the left of the screen. Just a turn, right? This ship wasn't too slow at that, hopefully. A good shot from the main battery. That would hopefully end this.

The guns of Infinity turned towards the Corvette and fired, bombarding the ship with laser batteries and everything it could send. As the ship began to turn, the turrets effortlessly adjusted, able to turn much faster than a massive ship. Explosions now raged between both ships.

Roland's holographic avatar scratched its head. Ship size, weapons grade, various external modifications, estimated speed and firepower, other effects, hull strength, all those numbers to calculate...easy.

"Hey, is that model even what the Covies are using right now?"

"I don't care if it's a dinosaur or a Forerunner with a potato for a head, Roland, just shoot it!"

---

The Jackal felt a stinging pain in his arm, nearly dropping his Beam Rifle. Under such circumstances, the Spartan could not have aimed at his head quickly, but it was nowhere near a total miss.

The bloody, mangled corpses of Unggoy across the room met the eyes of an Unggoy minor in his squad of 3, and he immediately fled. Running for a door, he frantically pressed the button next to it, but it would not open. Another Unggoy ran, shouting curses and trying to get him to rejoin the squad.

A series of fuel rods flew from the third Unggoy, who stood his ground and fired right next to Beth and Ilja, hoping for his life that the explosion would kill them both.

Meanwhile, the door finally opened, but both Unggoy were greeted with cold metal bashing them aside to a wall. Loud stomping banged on the floor as yet another fuel rod flew at the two Spartans.

Tighten, relax. Stretch, push, pull. Slowly, but surely, by habit, the armored legs of the Hunters carried them toward the two Spartans.

Delta Titan Sparta · March 29, 2013

IC- Rex:

Free, the Spartan grabbed his shotgun and opened fire on the Watcher.

Edited March 29, 2013 by Delta Titan Sparta

ZTG · March 29, 2013

IC: ZacLooking at the visor, he saw that his shield was almost full. It would have to do until the Watcher was taken down, then he would fire again, meanwhile, he let Rex handle it.

Havelock Vetinari · March 29, 2013

IC (Defiance, Near Infinity)

The Bridge shook, and a hologram of an irate man in a German military flashed into existence next to Henrietta. “Captain! We’re punching above our weight class here. We can’t take concentrated fire power of this magnitude-“

Henrietta cut Rommel off. “Good thing we aren’t then. See those big nasty turrets Rommel?”

The AI nodded. “All too well captain. All too well.”

“They’re turreted. Fixed position. They can rotate sure enough….but they can’t go down that far. Wouldn’t be wise you see. Boarders could use the turrets to destroy the vessel or damage critical systems that way. Fairly common design feature.”

“But they….” Rommel stopped speaking then smiled for a moment. “Ah. Fix bayonets then?“

“Aye. Prepare to charge. Think of this as our little Round Top.” Henrietta leaned forward in her chair….and then the little Corvette rocketed forwards, spitting plasma as it went, it’s modified engines taking it towards the Infinity at speeds that standard ships of this type were simply incapable of. Human ingenuity was funny like that. The Covenant craft had so much potential….but their religion had discouraged tinkering. Henrietta had no such limitations.

They couldn’t outrange the turrets, so they would simply decrease the amount firing at them. The closer they got the vessel, the fewer turrets could shoot at them. The Corvette was much smaller than the Infinity; they simply couldn’t go down far enough to hit them. Battleships back in the old days of Earth had experienced similar problems.

Edited March 29, 2013 by Basilisk

Light · March 29, 2013

OOC: Disregarding Canis until edit.

IC: Beth gasped as her shield recharged, grabbing Ilja and dashing across the corridor, shielding him with her stronger armor. The Spartan II ducked into a hall on the other side, her shielding falling from the splash damage.

otter · March 29, 2013

IC:

"Thanks for that," Ilja said, getting back up. "Now I recommend you toss a grenade after them, and that we make a hasty tactical retreat, understood?"

Delta Titan Sparta · March 29, 2013

IC- Rex:

He fired again and again, until the Watcher exploded. He ducked behind cover and thumbed shells into the M45D.

Zulu Yankee Kilo Echo · March 29, 2013

IC: Tony, UNSC Infinity

The air near Ilja and Beth rippled, and Tony faded into existence. He pushed a button on the side of his helmet and the music faded away.

"****, that was close," he muttered, "thanks for the assist."

otter · March 29, 2013

IC-Ilja:

"You're lucky we were here," Ilja replied. "Now, like I said, tactical retreat. Now. If you check your radar, you'll see that there are a couple Hunters about two seconds away from us." As evidence for his statement, the heavy tread of the Mgalekgolo could be heard just around the corner.

"Alright. We're moving, down this hallway, and one of you is leaving a grenade. Now." That said, Ilja grabbed both Beth and Tony, forcing them to run down the hall that would take them in a direction away from the eely monstrosities just around the turn, with himself only about a foot behind, and rapidly gaining.

Axilus Prime · March 29, 2013

OOC: Double post attacking is not cool, DTS. Redact the post, you already attacked.

IC - UNSC Infinity - 12:14, Thursday

The Watcher, feeling the sting of pellets against its unshielded armor, flew behind the Battlewagon to heal itself. Meanwhile, the Battlewagon swung its sword at Rex's shotgun while firing his Scattershot at Zac again. Visibly, the Knight was losing focus and endurance. In a rush of rage and desperation, it kicked repeatedly at Rex.

---

The Elite Zealot followed Tony from behind, now seeing two more meatsacks to tear apart with his blade. Dunaka morte akhare! Shobusan!

The cover soon exploded under the strain of four green explosions. Between a sword-wielding, bloodthirsty zealot, and two hulking masses of worms armed with the most powerful explosives in the Covenant arsenal, the Spartans had their work cut out for them.

A Hunter's head twitched. It felt no rage, at least, no more rage than usual. A few worms felt inclined to give a nod to the Elite, a few others did not, favoring keeping their eyes on the enemy instead. With their stiff movements, they took aim again and fired.

---

Lasky turned a handle on the wall, opening the door to a vehicle bay. Fully loaded, powerful vehicles. The peak of UNSC engineering. The power to win...and to be boarded?!

They had walked into yet another battle, with vehicles exploding and many Spartans firing their weapons. An Elite took cover behind a Warthog, which went up in flames, killing him. The responsible Spartan's rocket launcher was then grabbed by a Warrior and used to smash his visor.

"Sir. Permission to board the Corvette?" Bruce took a Spartan Laser from the wall and began to charge it up.

The captain's reply came as the laser struck a stolen Scorpion, destroying it. "Take these Spartans and do it." Lasky ran towards a Mammoth and grabbed the Target Designator inside, then took a Rocket Launcher. As Covenant forces poured in, he shot them, reloading as fast as he could. "Hurry!"

Bruce ran across the room, shooting Grunts and Jackals in the head. A Pelican was still left docked, with an Elite Ranger boarding it-

What. No. No no no no no. Bruce jetpacked up to land some hits with his Lightrifle, and shot frantically to land the headshot after he saw the energy snap around the Elite. He landed inside and pushed the corpse out with his foot. "All Spartans that can fit into the troop bay, get in! I don't care if you have to lie down on top of each other, we need a lot! Captain's orders!"

The Pelican began to alternate between Spartan Lasers and machine gun fire, destroying most of the Covenant in the area, as Spartans squeezed into the troop bay. Bruce pulled a lever, closing the troop bay, and pushed down on the boost pedal, sending the Pelican down the launch runway and outside. "Boarding-class Phantoms, everyone on the external turrets, fire!"

The tank turret above the Pelican relentlessly shelled the Phantom, as Bruce systematically charged up the Pelican's Spartan Laser to destroy each Phantom from out of their firing range. Approaching the Corvette...

A closed docking bay for Phantoms on the side of the Corvette was visible from the distance the Pelican was at. With twenty Spartans in the troop bay, three manning the turrets, and Bruce at the cockpit, their boarding force was decently sized. "Concentrate fire on the spot I shoot. If we don't stop until we get close enough to board, we should be able to do this."

The Pelican began to bombard the ship.

---

The Marine shut down the turrets, frantically pressing buttons. "Roland, what is it doing?"

"Well, according to my calculations, it's moving out of turret range and right into whacking range."

"Whacking range?!" The Marine pulled up the holo-panel, then set the ship to turn right instead in order to prevent a collision.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Roland hummed to himself a bit, then set the ship back on course to turn left. He simply laughed at the Marine's expression. Scans indicated hilarious things. "Remember that time we rammed right into that battlecruiser and were perfectly fine afterward?"

The Marine ran right up to Roland's holographic avatar. "Of course I remember, the thing was split in half--oh. OH."

After a short pause, the two began to laugh.

OOC: Before you ask, the Infinity actually did do that in a cutscene. It actually rammed right through a Covenant ship and was perfectly fine afterward.

ZTG · March 29, 2013

IC: Zac After the recent Scattershot shot, the Hard Light shield went off, having to recharge again. The Spartan pulled out his Battle Rifle and started to shoot at the Knight's head, hopping to aid his fellow spartan.

Havelock Vetinari · March 29, 2013

IC (Henrietta, Corvette)

“Captain. The ship is changing course…turning left. Attempting to ram us…..” Rommel’s face split into a grin. “We’re smaller and faster than them. We’re not some big sluggish assault carrier. I suggest we show them just who they’re dealing with. Should I prepare our surprise?” The A.I sounded eager. Very eager.

“Remember Rommel. They have information we need. Our objective is to board them….besides, the Storm is aboard. Wouldn’t do to end our little truce so early on….Hmph. We shall disable them. Prepare the drones and target the engines.”

The uniformed A.I saluted. “With pleasure captain. With pleasure.” The Corvette shifted and turned, easily keeping pace with the larger vessels attempt to crush it. The Corvette was small and fast, the Infinity was large and powerful….but that didn’t very much if you what you were trying to hit was smaller, weighed less and had an impressive set of engines.

Something emerged from the side of the Corvette, almost appearing to be a mass of debris. Upon closer observation…one would note they were drones, small craft, normally deployed on planets for recon activities. But if you strapped a rocket and some maneuvering thrusters to them you got a very very fast and very fragile craft. They were normally controlled by remote systems, but in this case, Rommel was directing each one. His calculations were unerring and precise. The drones hugged the hull, allowing them to avoid any fire that might be sent their way after all, the enemy could hardly fire on their own ship.

They moved slightly higher every second as the large vessel continued to come about, wouldn't do to collide with the hull….and then, they were at their objective. The engines. Then the miniature-nuclear weapons inside them exploded. They were primitive, cobbled together things, made from crude materials and indeed, some of them didn’t activate at all.

Those that did however, made a most impressive explosion. Drones were small and Rommel was an AI. They had gotten as close as possible to the critical components before detonating.

OOC: The Corvette is to the side of the Infinity. The port side. Turning to ram it….with a bigger ship…yeah…wouldn’t work all that well. The Corvette can just turn with it and since it’s smaller, faster and such as..

Dirty bombs (mini nukes/whatever) on the other hand, would be easy to make. Even for terrorist groups today. And considering drones have to be ancient technology by this point….and considering we have remote control drones today. Well. Yeah. Come to think of it, mini-nukes would be even easier for terrorists to make in the future. Just plop down on uninhabited planet. find some uranium.....they'd have nowhere near the power of a real nuke of course. But if all of them exploded in concentrated area....well, you would have a pretty impressive bomb.

All within in a ragtag insurgent organization's means. It’s not the size of the gun in the fight. It’s what you use the gun for.

Edited March 29, 2013 by Basilisk

Axilus Prime · March 29, 2013

IC - UNSC Infinity - 12:21, Thursday

The Battlewagon's face shattered, sending a wave of orange glow throughout its body until it had disintegrated.

Disintegrated, leaving a blue light extending from the ground to the Watcher projecting it clearly visible. Despite whatever efforts were made to stop it, the swarm of Crawlers charged out and attacked everyone in the area. Using the distraction, the Watcher flew forward and up, then projected another beam of light toward the swirling energy where the Knight once stood--and would stand once more if the defenders failed to stop it.

---

Lasky walked across the damaged vehicle bay, eyeing the corpses of the Elites he had just killed. Flak from the Scorpion shells had blown the remaining Covenant forces apart, leaving flames flickering on the ground and their bodies. A good captain didn't let his age or his rank get in the way of his experience, though. A good captain still knew how to fight, and the scene here was proof of that.

But what had happened to the Spartans? How was the battle going? For all Lasky knew, no one could make it to the labs, and the artifact could have already been stolen. The Covenant had never wanted an artifact so much as this one. Thousands of Phantoms, millions of troops, all sent in to ensure the capture of this one artifact. That meant there was absolutely no way Lasky could allow this to happen.

His train of thought was broken by a sarcastic and wryly humorous voice. "Hey, everyone, this is your friendly neighborhood AI Roland, here to tell you that our engines have just been shot down with...something. Thought you might all like to know!" The transmission spread throughout the entire ship, on every ship-wide comm that was working. That was saying a lot, considering that the Covenant cared more about corpses than destruction of UNSC property.

Lasky approached a Broadsword, still in operable condition. "Well, they always say to remember Reach." He got in and took off, aiming to head around the Corvette.

---

Meanwhile, just as easily as boarding-class Phantoms could breach the Infinity, an explosion rocked the side of the Corvette. No flames remained in the vacuum of space, from which the Spartans were protected by their suits. The Pelican docked right there as the backup bay doors closed.

Though Pelicans didn't exactly have landing clearance for a Corvette's docking bay, a few more shots of the Spartan Laser were enough to break through the other side of the air lock and get into the ship. Bruce opened the troop bay...

"Ow!" The sound of metal clanging and a series of loud thuds on the ground were audible. Not the most comfortable landing, but Spartans weren't trained for comfort. Soon enough, twenty-four Spartans were on their feet, loaded with weapons of all kinds.

"All right. We make our way to the ship's bridge and mess up everything. We have some good data on old Corvette structure. Shortest route there is probably this way." Bruce ran into the hallway and to the left, followed by a good-sized boarding group of the best commonly found troops the Infinity had to offer.

---

Meanwhile, Lasky's Broadsword was now approaching the engines. He turned a handle, switching from forward machine gun to missiles, and began to fire at the engines of the Corvette. A Sabre fighter, a prototype that could be called the ancestor of the Broadsword, had disabled a Corvette easily by doing the same. Impressive engines or not, the Broadsword was even more powerful than the Sabre anyway.

Halo: Forerunners

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