Vezok's Friend

Little info regarding the weaponry Ehlek gave the League Metru Koro Raiding Party: They are based in the official canon and are versions of Garan's Pulse Bolt Generators, except they look different, since they aren't handheld and mounted on turrets, so whatever mechanism triggers the generators is built into a casing to gives them a bit of a railgun look.

@Burnmad Ollem is approved. Careful where you point that...what'd you call it? 'Gun'? But I'm sure it's fine.

IC: [Ehlek’s Laboratory - Weird Science] “Did he now…” the warlord muttered, moving around the table, comparing the wiring running into Mantax’ head with schematics he’d pulled up on an istone. He stopped in front of the late Barraki. “Looks a bit dopey, don’t you think?” he suddenly asked, addressing no-one in particular. Then, with a shrug, he grabbed the bundle of cables and attached an extension, which he took with him over to another contraption standing off to the side. It hummed with electricity and his visitors could see the spinning coils inside throwing the odd spark. He fiddled with the machine, plugging, then replugging the end of the extension cord. Once he was done, he gave the whole setup another look before nodding, satisfied. “Eh, he’s always looked silly. And yes, I can help. But first: Stand back! Yes, you too BO-2506C. I don’t care if it’s your turn to hold the fire extinguisher. Activate the containment field.” The Bordakh hung it’s head and shuffled away and a moment later an energy barrier materialized around the table. Ehlek grinned and reached for a rather oversized looking switch. “Y’all ready for this?” he asked and flipped the switch. The power in the room fluctuated and the lights started to flicker and dim. And then, with a sizzle, the energy rushed to its destination. Mantax’s head twitched and then his eyes shot open, orbit and eyeball glowing a bright blue as the electricity coursed through dead nerves. His mouth opened and began to make loud, inarticulate noises. Ehlek was overjoyed. “Yes!” he exclaimed. Then the machine’s whine rapidly picked up, before part of it disintegrated in a small explosion an instant later. “No!” The lights went out, Mantax’ head stopped moving, his visage a grotesque grimace, tongue lolling, milky eye looking at the ceiling. “Great, just great. He’s as useless as ever!” the green warlord groaned, wringing his hands. “Fine, fine, fine...I can deal with this, I can deal with this, I can - “ he picked up a wrench from the table and hurled it at BO-2506C who ducked out of the way. The warlord took a depp, controlled breath and let it out slowly, sighing. “Plan B then...if only I had a wheelbarrow and a mask of undeath, that’d be something...nevermind. I really feel like bombing a village right now, you said you had one? Good. Follow me.” The Barraki led the duo out of his lab and to an elevator, which was going down at an angle, mostly due to the entire building sitting at an angle since the crash landing. On the ride down, Ostrox and Zaliyah could see how fidgety the warlord really was when he had nothing to do with his hands. Once they’d reached the bottom, he guided them through a few messy corridors. The walls had cracked and cabled and pipes hung from the ceiling where that had broken too. “Don’t touch the live wires!” Ehlek recommended, but didn’t slow down either. Eventually the corridor ended in a large roll-up gate, guarded by Vahki. It opened as the three approached and Ehlek spread his arms wide. “Welcome to the armory!” he said, in a grandiose tone. Except the storage room visible behind him was...boring. It was crates and containers with nothing exciting immediately visible. After a few awkward seconds of silence, Ehlek dropped his arms and turned to the Vahki. “Yes could you get me...yes exactly. No, not that one. Definitely not that one. Yes, that. Good, off you go now.” He turned to his two guests, rubbing his hands together. “Give it a minute.” And true to his word, a little over a minute later, the Vahki returned, but with company in tow - three other units were there and all four together carried a sealed crate each, roughly as long as a Toa was tall. The lead unit put its crate down and Ehlek popped the seals and threw open the cover, revealing a rather large weapon. “I present to you: Death from above. Courtesy of the late Dume’s inventory, based on internal pulse bolt generators. The further the target is away, the bigger the boom - long as you can hit it that is. So there’s a sweet spot between range and explosiveness there. Get these mounted on an airship and you should be all set. Just remember to bring something to defend against flying targets. I once knew a Toa of gravity - used his element to throw his team mates at me. Do you know how annoying that is? Almost as annoying as listening to Carapar play his horn. Not gonna miss that, I can tell you that. Was there anything else? If not, off you go. Shoo, shoo, I gotta see about a disembodied friend…” He signaled the Vahki to follow Ostrox and Zaliyah, while gesturing for them to get going at the same time. OOC: @Toru Nui @Nato the Traveler

IC [Strange Tunnels - Crossed Paths]: To his surprise, Mahryo found their escape path rather uncontested for being surrounded on all sides. Glancing around while moving, it became obvious why: the Mesi were preoccupied. He couldn’t tell by what at first, but if they seemed distracted and..worried? What could worry a Mesi? The answer came in a sudden quake that caused all of them to stumble momentarily. One of the eyeless warriors cried out: “Shagrak spawn!” Apparently that phrase was the same in Matoran and Mesi language. None of them had heard the name - but Triki knew what it meant: The worm was coming. As if on cue, another quake hit and this time, the small opening the Matoran had come through into the cave erupted in an explosion of digging and grinding tooth-gears as the massive creature forced its way into the cavern in pursuit of the one that had dared anger it twice now. Many of the Mesi ran. A few stayed in place - either frozen in awe or fear. Some weren’t fast enough. The worm didn’t care. They all disappeared down its maw just the same as it hunted for Triki. Its fury was so great, that Providence could still feel the rumbling as they got closer to the surface. OOC: @Toru Nui @xccj @Jakura Nuva @Edelgard @Burnmad @Dane-gerous @Snelly

IC: [ Vasquez - Madrigal Hangar] “I had a feeling you might join us.” Myra replied to Miguel, smirking beneath her helmet as she continued pre-flight prep. She’d actually counted on it. It made no sense to sideline a Spartan for this mission. “Hence the free booster set aside for you.” Her preflight checklist had arrived at checking control surfaces. She gave the sticks and pedals a bit of input while the systems checked if everything was responding correctly. The nozzles in the back canted in response to the pedal. Her helmet flashed a quick 'check HUD calibration' and she looked up, down, left and right in quick succession. At least it didn’t ask for inverted controls anymore, that patch had been long overdue. At the same time, the other pilots came back one by one over comms, until they all had reported “go”. Myra opened a channel to the bridge. “Madrigal Actual, this is Nova Lead. We are GO for launch.” OOC: @The UltimoScorp @Razgriz

OOC: @Edelgard Ninja'd by the Mahryo post as this was being written, it'll get factored in with the next response. IC [Strange tunnels - Making new friends]: Behind Triki, the worm gave chase, body pulsing to propel the massive creature forward. Getting part of its anatomy forcibly altered twice within this short time frame had truly agitated it. It’s maw was agape with myriad teeth arranged on three rotating segments - a giant , living tunnel-boring machine. Triki’s saving grace was that the way the creature moved allowed him to put a short distance between them and to stay ahead of the maw. But it wasn’t by much. If he was going to follow his companions he’d have to find the tunnel they’d continued down into. And he’d have to do it quickly. If he lingered, he would be worm chow. IC [Strange Tunnels - Mesi Cavern]: The oversized Mesi facetanked the fireball, screaming in rage and pain. Skin burned away and flesh sizzled, but the blind berserker kept coming, throwing a massive backhand at Mahryo. Lueji’s vines meanwhile managed to trip up the remaining shrunken Mesi again, who echoed their larger sibling's screams as the vines took hold and began to strangle them. But while they struggled, more of their regular sized brethren rushed forward. If the Skakdi brothers stayed in this spot, they would be cut off from their Vahki allies. The Mesi in front of Nu-8020 disappeared for an instant in a puff of white vapor and a wave of cold washed over the Vahki as its disk struck home at point blank, leaving the attacker frozen mid-punch, encased in a block of ice that was shaped into sharps icicles by the disks direction of impact. Only one of the other Vahki responded to her order however, firing its staves at the sonic duo. The other replied with a curt “Negative. Unit defending.” as it was beset by more Mesi itself, one of which had some sort of acid ability, judging by the unit’s smoking armor plating. The element of surprise had completely worn off by now and the Mesi had rallied. A half dozen of them broke off from the large congregation in the cavern to rush into the tunnel Takadox and his rescuers had escaped into. Nu-8020 could see the odds were stacked against them as her group became increasingly surrounded and were outnumbered at least ten to one, while their quarry was getting away. Up ahead in the escape tunnel, Varian’s rocket exploded against the tunnel wall. Rubble rained down, threatening to partially collapse the passage, but the howl of the Mesi behind them didn’t let up. "We are almost near the surface. Start thinking up where to go from there, because I have no idea." “This place is a maze. How do you know that!?” Takadox asked, gasping for breath. He was sore all over after the ordeal of the past few days and had trouble keeping pace with the aspect, who was slowed down a little from carrying Vent, but not by much. Bringing up the rear, Varian had to move a little more carefully as well, this passage wasn’t quite as big as the previous ones. OOC: The longer the fight in the congregation cave lasts, the more the remaining NPC Mesi will attack. There were about a hundred of them to begin with, and while a dozen or so have been taken out during the Takadox rescue and a few more since then, the rest are not going to just stand around and watch. @Toru Nui @xccj @Jakura Nuva @Burnmad @Dane-gerous @Snelly @Sparticus147

IC: [ Vasquez - Madrigal Hangar] And when you’re assigned to a mission it’s your job to personally attend the briefings, she thought, but pushed the more choice things that came to mind aside. That just wasn’t professional. She watched the drone float towards the Pelican, then turned around and pulled on her helmet. It slid into place and sealed with a soft hiss. Her HUD initialized, confirming with a brief pop-up icon that her armor had indeed properly sealed before fading. The team’s status lights were visible in the bottom right corner. “Fireteam Nova, Hammer squad, comm check.” she spoke into her mic over the team channel, voice automatically sounding a bit more laid back. Not sure why that was, but it sounded cool. One by one, their lights winked green in confirmation. Vasquez nodded slightly to herself as they did, while walking around the booster frame, performing a final visual inspection, before she climbed up the short, yellow boarding ladder and into the spacecraft’s pilot seat. Another such ladder was attached to the rear, waiting for Taylor to take his spot in the gunner position. “Alright, Nova: Mount up, start pre-flight checks, give me a go/no-go for launch.” she said, while doing just that, fingers moving quickly across the booster’s controls in practiced fashion. Then she added: “Alice, please clear the deck.”, asking the AI to get all non-essential personnel to vacate the hangar at this point. Engines running hot and a ton of ordnance right next to them - this was no place for gawkers. OOC: @Snelly @Endless Sea (Alaki Nuva) @BULiK

IC: [ Vasquez - Madrigal Hangar] “Lindbergh.” Myra acknowledged the drone’s operator. She knew the officer from the mission planning phase, but that was about it. The man kept to himself, avoided socializing where possible and preferred to attend pre-mission briefings remotely. She didn’t know the reason why and hadn’t bothered to find out - it hadn’t been her problem. Up until now. They’d discussed the use of the drone, but considering possible signal jamming she’d regarded it as more of a backup. Apparently the higher ups thought differently. She ought to have a word with the captain about these late additions once this show was over. “Very well.” the Spartan said. “Link up with Hammer squad aboard the dropship. You’ve been fully briefed? I assume you’ve been listening in, as usual.” OOC: @BULiK

IC: [ Vasquez - Madrigal Hangar] “Positive.” Myra replied. The Spartan moved in closer to Taylor and leaned in a bit, hands on her hips and looked the sergeant in the eyes. “Look, Gunny, I know this is unconventional. You like to play things safe. So do I. But this isn’t Infinity, we didn’t have the luxury of getting weeks of sims beforehand to form that unit cohesion. Now we’re Spartans, we’ll make it work, like we always do. But with your experience I believe you’ll help balance out the squad and get things working smoothly a whole lot faster.” She stood back up straight and began moving over to the booster frames. “Besides, what happened to ‘feet first?’” OOC: @Endless Sea (Alaki Nuva)

IC [Strange tunnels - Making new friends]: Triki’s hand touched what could only be described as a tongue. But the creature was massive and the reconstitute ability only went so far - it had changed its skin before, but not the entire being. Suddenly, instead of a tongue, the Matoran was faced with a mass of sticky tendrils swirling around, reaching out for him. And again the creature reacted as it had before, the alien sensation agitating it into rushing forward, tunnel-sized maw agape. Run! OOC: @xccj IC [Strange Tunnels - Crossed Paths]: “Agreed! Keep moving!” Takadox said, the picture of what these Vahki were doing here coming together. Pridak, you filth... As Providence’s shadows fought off the Mesi, he ducked and followed the...he didn’t know. Shadow Toa? No, something else. Questions for later. They made it to the tunnel followed by Varian. The Exo Toa had to duck a bit to get into the opening and suddenly there was a ‘bonk’ sound as the last Mesi that stubbornly refused to let go got knocked into a rocky outcropping. Varian felt its grasp loosen and thud to the floor behind him. Just because Mahryo had shrunk the Mesi, didn’t stop them from pressing their attack. Lueijis vines knocked several of them back, and those caught in their grasp shrieked and started hacking at the growths with their crude blades. But a number managed to jump over them - one just in time to get hit by the growth blast intended for Takadox. It’s high pitched shrieking turned into a low growl in an instant, as it suddenly towered over the Skakdi and attacked him with its scrap-metal blade before he could launch another blast to reverse the effect. Meanwhile, Lueiji got rushed at knee-height by two of the shrunken Mesi, while the ones that had attacked with the fireball before did so again, this time aiming for his vines. The ones not shrunken or grown went after the extremely noisy lead Vahki drawing the attention to herself. Just as Nu8020 dispatched Providence’s shadows, they were upon her. Two rushed in from behind letting loose a combined blast of sonics and...ice? That's odd. The stubborn one that had fallen off of Varian stumbled to its feet and let out a challenging roar before swinging at the mechanical enforcer with a massive haymaker. OOC: @Toru Nui @Snelly @Edelgard @Jakura Nuva @Dane-gerous @Burnmad @Sparticus147

IC: [ Vasquez - Madrigal Hangar] Myra shook her head. “Negative, Gunny. You’ll ride in the backseat on my frame, I need you on the rear turret.” She knew he didn’t feel comfortable with the idea, but that safety as priority was why she wanted him along, especially if they had to get prisoners off of those ships. As for Nikolai and Vali...yes there was tension there. It was hard to miss after all. After decades of being enemies, how could there not be? But they were professionals and she expected them to act accordingly. OOC: @Endless Sea (Alaki Nuva)

IC: [ Vasquez - Madrigal Hangar] Now that they were all here, Myra walked over to a large display screen mounted to the hangar’s bulkhead. “Alright team, time for the briefing. Huddle up!” Vasquez called out loudly enough to signal the socializing part of the day was over. As the rest moved in closer, she said: “Alice, pull up the tacmap, would ya?” A digital representation of the operational area popped up on screen, framed around the Madrigal and the two corvettes. Myra stepped up next to the display. “Good news first: For the duration of our assignment aboard the Madrigal. We’ve been designated as fireteam Nova.” None of what she was about to say was new information, really and they’d all separately reviewed the mission brief multiple times already, but this was a last opportunity to make sure everyone was on the same page. If it meant a flawless mission with zero casualties, she’d repeat this briefing a hundred times if need be. “Here’s the current position of our targets: Two DAV class corvettes.” They were marked as A and B on the tacmap respectively. “Our primary objective is to capture their flight data logs to help ONI find their missing ship. Between us and that are twelve confirmed Banshees , at least four Seraphs and two jackal crews.” “Spartans are gonna ride out ahead in scattered formation on booster frames and take out their escorts and shields. Madrigal and her Broadswords are gonna assist with covering fire.” Yes, the boosters were seat-of-your-pants flying contraptions, but the idea was to present numerous fast and small targets, dividing the corvette escorts’ attention. And if something did happen to any of them during flight, there would be enough of the team left to complete the mission. At this point, the display changed to show the internal deck layout of the DAV corvette class. “Once the shields are down we’ll then board the corvettes via the hangars and make our way to their respective bridges to retrieve the data logs. We’ll do it quick and thorough. Our secondary objective is to confirm if there are prisoners aboard and rescue them if that’s the case. We’ll need a dropship for that, so our ODST friends in Hammer will hang back a bit and follow us in once the corvettes’ defenses have been softened up enough to bring the Pelican in safely.” As she spoke, the tacmap highlighted both the bridge and brig locations on the former covenant ships. They would have to do the insertion on both at roughly the same time. Ideally, Myra would have liked the whole team to go together, but once they’d captured one ship, the other could run or shoot if left unattended. So they had to keep them both occupied at the same time to prevent that sort of thing from happening. “We’re gonna need two teams for this: Julia, Art, you’re running point on A, together with Nikolai and Vali. The OFs weren’t designed with elites in mind so you two will have to share a ride.” she said to the Spartan and Sangheili. “Cassie, Jillian, Taylor, you’re with me on B." "Any comments, questions or gross oversights?” OOC: @Dane-gerous @Pteronura Brasiliensis @Krayzikk @sunflower @ultimoscorp @FarflungWanderer @Endless Sea (Alaki Nuva)

IC: [ Vasquez - Madrigal Hangar] Uh-oh... She quickly thought about laughing it off with something along the lines of That’s the bravado talking, but Julia was faster. And if they suddenly all started playing it off as a joke it’d look suspicious too. The Spartan program had a proud history - if you ignored the blacked out parts. She shot Artur a quick look, but then decided to get back to the topic of the mission. “Back to the point: Yes, Pelican will launch once their escorts have been thinned out and we’ve confirmed the presence of prisoners. We’re going to sweep the ships but we’ll need Hammer to deal with potential stragglers and casualties. We’ll get to the briefing soon as Spartan Markov gets his rear in gear.” Speaking of which: “Alice, think you can give him a reminder to join us at his earliest convenience?” OOC: @Endless Sea (Alaki Nuva) @Snelly

IC: [ Vasquez - Madrigal Hangar] “Morning, Gunny!” Vasquez greeted the older man, and immediately stood a little straighter. Imperceptibly so perhaps, but still. One didn’t just shake off years of ODST drills. And on the list of things that put the respect of higher powers in someone, veteran ODST sergeants were up there. “I’d agree, but we’ll need the dropship to hang back. And I’m sure she’d let me live it down if I stuck her with that. Not with the Spnkr she’s lugging around.” She looked over to the wasp-camo Spartan. “Right, Rawlins?” OOC: @Endless Sea (Alaki Nuva) @ultimoscorp

IC: [ Vasquez - Madrigal Hangar] Myra chuckled drily and nodded. “No, it certainly isn’t.” she agreed. “Normally we either go in with no support or all support. Unusual, but not the first time we’ve had unconventional setups. When you spend decades fighting on the defensive you gotta get creative - no offense.” “I’d heard there were deployments on Sanghelios, but it’s all under wraps, as usual. In any case, it’ll be good to have you along in either diplomat or warrior capacity.” She looked over to where the tech was finishing up on one of the booster frames and climbed off of the contraption. The engineers behind the design were clearly nuts - though it made sense in a way: No need for a plated hull and life support if the pilot had all that in their armor. Strip it down like a racing bike, build it around a miniature mac-gun and strap enough boosters to it for some serious speed. “You familiar?” she asked the elite, indicating the odd spacecraft. Just then, Artur and Julia arrived. Deep down, Myra felt a slight unease that she didn’t want to admit to herself. But the stories about the 3s...all just based on rumors and classified documents of course. Still, there was just something about them...like a coil wound up too tight. She quickly shoved the feeling back into its compartment for being unprofessional and covered it up with a smirk. “Cornered? Hope you let them live.” OOC: @Pteronura Brasiliensis @sunflower @Dane-gerous

IC [Strange Tunnels - Crossed Paths]: The Exo Toa’s claw managed to make contact with 3 of his assailants, as the six had come at him from different directions. . Two yelped and went flying, the third managed to hang on to the extended arm and started hacking at the appendage. That left three more. One of them froze, realizing what they were up against, but the other two leaped. One went for Varian’s back, the other went for the rocket arm to throw off its aim. Vent’s assailants heard the grunt of effort with which Zak-Yak hurled the brute and they tried to get away - only to find their legs held back by their own shadows. The duo shrieked, before getting knocked over by the mass of the airborne burly Mesi. But already more were clamoring to take the offensive. “Come on.” the warrior said to Providence. He tried to sound calm, but there was panic in his tones as he urged to get over to Vent. “We gotta go!” Just then, another shift went through the crowd of Mesi, their heads turning to one of the other numerous tunnels leading to the cavern. Emerging from it were more strangers. “Friends of yours?” the warrior asked Vent and Providence. Meanwhile, Mahryo, Lueiji and the Vahki under Nu8020 could see their target, but between them stood two dozen of the strange, eyeless Skakdi and too many to count spread out across the rest of the cavern. Those that noticed the newcomers howled in a strange voice and started to approach, weapons drawn. More strange intruders defiling this sacred site. They had to be dealt with. The advancing Vahki managed to debilitate 4 Mesi, before the cave-dwellers responded in kind. A duo lifted their arms and a fireball empowered by a blast of air was hurled at the mechanical enforcers. Following right after were Mesi with spears, ready to skewer these heathens. OOC: @Toru Nui @Edelgard @Dane-gerous @Jakura Nuva @Burnmad @Snelly @Sparticus147 IC [Strange tunnels - Making new friends]: The answer was another wave of warm air washing over the Matoran, followed by a low, rumbling growl. With the Vahki’s lights gone, his eyes had taken a moment to adapt to the near perfect darkness, but he could see the walls a bit better now. They were spiky. Very spiky. Like...teeth? Something dripped onto Triki’s shoulder. Come to think of it, the ground was a bit softer here compared to three steps ago. It dawned that the movement he saw up ahead wasn’t the outside of the Rahi and that he was standing in the opening of something that was not a cave. OOC: @xccj

IC: [ Vasquez - Madrigal Hangar] “Thanks, Alice.” she replied, then looked back at Vali. “Saw in the dossiers that you’ve had previous experience with humans. You’ve had other liaison assignments?” she asked. OOC: @sunflower

IC: [ Vasquez - Madrigal Hangar] Myra followed the Elite’s gaze. “Yeah, the rest should be on their way.” she said, then remembered there was a way to find out. “Actually, lemme check.” “Alice,” she said, activating comms, “what’s the ready status of Spartan personnel in the armory?” OOC: @sunflower @Snelly

IC: [ Vasquez - Madrigal Hangar] The Spartan nodded. “That they are.” she agreed. “We have a plan. We’ll brief the details once everyone is here.” “You’re Vali, right? If you don’t mind the shortened name. You can call me Myra if that’s easier, by the way.” OOC: @sunflower

IC: [ Vasquez - Madrigal Armory] Myra’s expression remained neutral, but she could feel her jaw clench slightly. She didn’t like the idea of sending off the duo on their own. But they were headhunters. She hadn’t worked with their type before - or any 3s for that matter. But they all knew the stories. This was exactly their kind of action... “No worries,” she replied, diplomatically, “your expertise won’t go to waste.” She’d finished with the SMG and pulled a Magnum from the next rack, did the necessary checks, grabbed extra ammunition and holstered it on her thigh. She briefly thought about bringing the trusty DMR as well, but decided against it. “Alright, hangar bay. Time to meet the others.” she said. She nodded at the headhunters and walked out of the armory. A few minutes later, she stepped foot into the Madrigal’s hangar, which was bustling with activity. Looking around, she saw the deck crew going through the checks for the spacecraft on the flightline. Seeing a regular human maintainer sitting atop a booster frame while working through a checklist had something comical about it. Without the increased size and armored bulk, the image of a kid trying to ride an adult bicycle popped up in her mind. Then she spotted the Sangheili. Liaison officer from the swords of Sangheilios - Arbiter's good guy hingeheads - she recalled from her assignment briefing. She didn’t know what counted as attractive among elites, but compared to the dissident fanatic ones they’d fought since the formal truce, this one was a vast improvement in her eyes. That’s when the Sangheili looked up from her weapon and their gazes met for an awkward instant. A bit unsure about proper greetings, Myra tried: “Hello there.” OOC: @sunflower

IC: [ Vasquez - Madrigal Armory] “Ideally, yes.” Myra replied, pulling out an M20 plus ammo and giving it a quick once-over. “But with two targets we might have to split up.” She really didn’t like the idea of that, but the tactical situation favored going after both corvettes simultaneously. It’d prevent them from covering each other and they would have split their escort to defend both - meaning less defenses for each vessel. “Unless you have a different idea?” OOC: @Dane-gerous

IC: [Myra Vasquez - Madrigal Armory] Over at the suit-up stations, a dark grey Mjolnir armor with red markings was waiting for its operator to step in. It’s components were already mounted to the assembly station’s robotic arms, while one of the armory techs was scrolling through data on the station’s built-in screen, comparing the readouts to a datapad in his free hand. “I appreciate the company, but you know you don’t need to be here for this part, right, ma’am? It’s just a standard hardware check.” the tech said, absent-mindedly, while ticking off checkboxes. “I know. Personal preference. Something to keep the hands busy pre-prep. Helps me focus.” came the reply from behind a crate. Myra Vasquez stood up from where she’d been kneeling next to the rest of her gear. She was in her Mjolnir’s undersuit, also with a datapad in hand, taking inventory of her suit and equipment. Again. It was the third time since they got the word to get ready. She’d neatly lined up all her medical gear on top of the large crate, in the order it’d be strapped to the suit. Speaking of which, the tech cleared his throat. “Alright Spartan, I’ve got green across the board. It’s ready when you are.” “Can I see?” she asked. The tech shrugged and handed her his pad. She scrolled over the readout with a concentrated look, then nodded approvingly before handing the gizmo back. “Thanks.” She stepped into the assembly station. These ones aboard the Madrigal were somewhat smaller than she was used to. But then again this wasn’t Infinity’s S-Deck. But they got the job done just the same. As soon as her hands and feet were touching the indicated spots in the station, the machine began to work its magic and a few seconds and a couple hundred pounds later, Myra stepped off the pad in her Valkyrie armor. The tech then began to attach the laid out pouches and hardcases. Meanwhile, she waited for her systems to run their self diagnostic, and when it came back green as expected, she took off her scanner helmet and clipped it to her side. The tech confirmed the diagnostic, saying: “Looks good. Anything else you need, ma’am?” “No, thanks. You’re dismissed.” she said, rolling her shoulders and checking she could reach all the extra storage easily. The tech gave her a quick salute. “Good luck out there. Give ‘em a couple of kicks for me, would you?” Myra nodded, before making her way over to the weapon racks, where she spotted a pair of other Spartans already prepping their loadouts. She nodded at them amicably. “Nice day for VBSS.” she greeted. OOC: @Pteronura Brasiliensis @Dane-gerous

IC [Strange Tunnels - Knee Deep in Mesi]: The Mesi attacking vent slowed in their movements, suddenly feeling incredibly heavy. They hissed and snarled at each other and their opponent - who couldn’t understand the words contained therein. “Why aren’t you hitting it!” - “Why aren’t you?”- “I can’t, I’m stuck!” - “Me too!” - “Fine then!” The two Mesi without a shield combined their elements, unleashing a mixed blast of air and water at the Tiokaha. The armored warrior stumbled. Had he just hallucinated that particular Mesi amidst an entire physical horde of them? No, that made no sense. Probably a power then. Fair enough, as long as the thing was out of his way. He had to get out of here. He scanned the chaos of the room to see if there was an escape route, but instead spotted the newcomer who’d cut his bonds struggling in a quicksand vine pit. He paused. That one had helped him. It would only be fair to return the favor. Wait...was he really thinking about this? His experience told him to run, to slip away amidst the chaos. But his feet wouldn’t move that way. Mentally cursing himself and knowing fully well that no good deed went unpunished, the warrior instead rushed forward towards Providence. The Mesi attacking the aspect were too preoccupied with their elements to see him coming. He snatched a blade from one of the ones Providence had knocked out a minute earlier, then promptly buried it to the hilt in the neck of the attacker controlling the vines. He shoved the dying thing into its companion, breaking their elemental hold, then turned to the Aspect stuck in the ground and reached out to him. “Give me your hand!” Zak-Yak found there was no resistance from the Mesi brute itself, but he would have to move quickly. His ‘master’ was still beset by half a dozen Mesi and his blending into the crowd advantage with his powers would disappear once he started to publicly cut the heartlight out of one of his fellows, he needed to be solid to do that and it would take time to do it right. OOC: @Burnmad @Snelly @Dane-gerous IC [Strange tunnels - Vahki Crew]: Nu8020’s fellow Vahki registered an increase in the volume of the noise they were homing in on, but couldn’t be sure if the reading was accurate - the nearby whistling interfered with its receptors. OOC: @Toru Nui @xccj @Edelgard

OOC: @Toru Nui, I think the Vahki can find their way to their destination from here. You know where this is headed, follow the thumping noise and feel free to write the rest of their journey to the cavern. IC [Strange tunnels - Making new friends]: Without the Vahki’s mandible flashlights it was once again nearly pitch black. Some light would definitely be useful here. Triki slowly edged ahead. He still thought he could see movement, but it was different from before, less writhing, and more rhythmic now - and he could now feel a slightly warm breeze as well. The creature he had reconstituted had to be very large - large enough to dig this tunnel they were in. He’d only tried to target the section of wall, not knowing its true nature. How long would the effect of his powers last on something this size? OOC: @xccj @Edelgard @Jakura Nuva IC [Strange Tunnels - Rip and Tear]: The warrior struggled against his physically far stronger captor, who was equally trying to drag him away while also using him as a living shield. Figures. He was trying to guess the odds of him getting killed by these newcomers accidentally through their crossfire, when he suddenly spotted a shadowy tendril racing for him. For a moment, he feared the worst, but instead he felt the pressure around his wrists and ankles disappear as the straps holding him were severed. Just then, a Rhotuka was launched from another would-be rescuer jumping into the fray. The warrior immediately reacted and rammed his elbow into his captor’s diaphragm, then ducked. The Mesi brute had been too preoccupied to notice the sacrifice had regained his mobility and the elbow strike caught him completely off guard. Staggering backwards, he was hit squarely in the chest by the Rhotuka, suffering its full effect. Vent didn’t have time to admire the effect however, now facing three Mesi warriors. One had a blade in each hand, the other a club and the third a blade and shield. They moved to strike the Tiohaka. Providence only had enough time to cut the bonds, the next instant, he was beset by a duo of Mesi using their combined elements to rapidly grow strangling vines from the ground around him, which simultaneously turned very soft to the point it became hard to maintain stable footing. Zak-Yak’s mechanical arm impacted the side of the Shaman. Something squelched with the impact that he luckily couldn’t see. What he could see and hear was the elder Mesi disappearing over the edge of the well with a wail. He briefly thought he saw something writhing within, rising to welcome the falling shaman - but that had to be a trick of the dancing shadows cast by the torches. Speaking of shadows: He saw Providence manage to cut the warrior’s bonds and the resulting action, which left him face to face with the former captive. He could see the dents, lacerations and other abuse this being had suffered at the Mesi’s hands. Before this, this one must have looked positively regal. The warrior on the other hand, looking at Zak-Yak, just saw another Mesi before him - and so he lunged at him with a yell. OOC: @Burnmad @Snelly @Dane-gerous IC [Stannis’ Vault - All around me are familiar faces...] As Oreius moved to scroll through the list of holos, he accidentally brushed against another button, which instead played back one of the recordings. The image of a Toa appeared. She was clad in sleek, blue armor and a wrapped length of maroon cloth was riding low on her waist. Two small silver rings pierced the edge of her mask just next to the audio receptors and white, tribal markings adorned her right shoulder and upper arm. She carried a silver protodermis staff slung across her back, another piece of cloth wrapped around one end. There was an inherent kindness to her face, but her azure eyes looked deeply sad somehow. Oreius knew this figure quite well as well. “Stannis…” the recording said, “I’m sorry. I know your faith has been rewarded thus far, but I can not in good conscience follow you this time. I hope this isn't goodbye, but I have to stay and save those that can be saved - here and now. I can’t abandon them to their fate to hunt down a vague rumor. I hope you find what you’re looking for and that it can help us the way you say it might. I wish you luck on your journey, brother.” OOC: @Eyru, I asked EW if I could sneak in a cameo and he was cool with it. You can pay this as much or little attention as you like, it's just a bit of extra flavor =)

IC [Strange tunnels - Vahki on parade]: Triki rushed forward into the darkness, followed by his two companions. Soon there was a certain distance between them and the Vahki leading this hunt. And then, up ahead, the Matoran thought he could see movement. Or maybe that was a trick of the eyes. He would have to get closer to be sure, but whatever had dug this tunnel was massive and it wasn’t the reason they’d come down here. ----- One of Nu8020s fellow vahki units moved ahead, crossing the tunnel the creature had dug and began examining the far wall to find the continuation of the tunnel they had been in. It’s head swiveled back and forth, scanning from the exit to where it stood now. Processors whirring, it used the data it had passively collected about the tunnel they had wandered to extrapolate it’s most likely continuation. From it’s point of view, a projection of the most likely path the tunnel took was overlaid over the actual visual input - the Vahki equivalent of picturing something in one’s mind. The projection turned out to be accurate, and it soon found the right opening and the footprints on the ground. And as it stood in the tunnel entrance, it’s auditory receptors picked up a faint signal - a rapid thumping. It turned around and addressed Nu8020 in their screeching, high pitch, high speed code version of the Matoran language. “Acquired trail. Detected rhythmic noise. Possible lead. Continue pursuit or assist organics?” OOC: @Toru Nui @xccj @Edelgard @Jakura Nuva IC [Strange Tunnels - Bear witness]: “Intruders!” the Shaman yelled in his own tongue. He didn’t have time for anything else as the rocket struck home. It blew up at his feet, the shock wave sending him backwards. He hit the altar behind him and let out an unholy screech before falling still. The ritual drummers, the cause of the thumping that had led the group down here in the first place, stopped. The Mesi horde was stunned. First by the explosion and the one that caused it dropping into their midst from above, then by one of their own appearing next to the fallen Shaman, proclaiming the new arrival as master. Master? Spiriah was master, they knew Spiriah and this being...was not Spiriah. And then anger took the horde, the drummers began beating their instruments again with furious intensity, a myriad of shouts rose and a half dozen of them bum-rushed Varian. Two of them leaped up from different directions, crude blades raised to stab at him, while the other four went for his legs and torso. Suddenly, Zak-Yak felt movement at his feet. The ‘dead’ Shaman was suddenly very active again despite his numerous injuries. “Sacrilege!” he screeched as his bloody, clawed hands went for Zak-Yaks legs. “Betrayal!” As Providence cast his shadow field, the Mesi assigned to guard the strange warrior were unperturbed by the shadows spreading around them. They had no eyes, they lived in the dark - what would a little more darkness do? Apparently the answer was seize them and start dragging them away, but this was one being against many. They may have been startled at first to allow these newcomers to come this far into their midst, but now the Aspect and his allies were surrounded. As their fellows struggled in the tendrils grasp, two Mesi armed with short, brutal axes in each hand came up behind Providence, another rushing in from the side started to hack at his shadow tendrils. And yet another Mesi seized the sacrificial warrior from behind, dragging him backwards, away from the fight. The warrior struggled in the larger beings grasp, and yelled out to the newcomers: “There’s too many! My bonds! You must cut my bonds!” OOC: @Burnmad @Snelly @Dane-gerous