[center][h2][b]Major Robinson, Vael ‘Virisusai, and UNSC AI SHI 1203-8[/b][/h2][/center]

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Major Robinson, this time, wasted no time in addressing Aviza’s questions, at least to an extent. [color=violet]”You are [i]partially[/i] correct. The UNSC and the Swords of Sanghelios have come to an arrangement for the leadership of this team. It is…unconventional, and it will mean you will need to learn to work more closely together than you may have been expecting. We will address the command structure of Aegis Team at the end of the briefing. As for the rebels, they almost certainly are the guilty party for the attack. This Brute clan has just those three ships, and barely enough Brutes and Grunts to operate them. Their Jackals left them years ago. However, the Brutes are not your primary target. They are hardly more than a pest; it is the rebels that are dangerous. We know little about them, other than that they are likely a small, but well-trained group. The most concerning detail of your mission, and the primary reason that Aegis team has been selected for it, is to where we have tracked the Brute ships, and most likely the rebels: Sarcophagus.”[/color]

Vael’s eyes widened slightly upon the mention of Sarcophagus. Not everyone present would even know about its existence, likely just the Spartans that had been trained on the world as it had once been known: Onyx. Although, the world that they knew had been replaced by something far different. The secret was not so tightly kept outside of the UNSC, but Vael had only been informed of it as a result of his selection as a leader of Aegis Team. The description he had been given had felt almost unbelievable.

The AI Shih resumed her briefing once prompted by the Major. [color=lime]“An ONI Prowler tagged the Brute ships and tracked them into the interior of Sarcophagus, formal designation Shield World 006. We believe that the Brutes are making another deal with the rebels for more of their weapons, which means that Paxopolis is almost certainly their next target. The heads of security for the settlement, Franklin Mendez and Kasha ‘Hilot, have been informed to prepare for threats, but we would prefer this be dealt with quietly, and especially without danger to the colony. So far, the settlement has not detected the presence of the Brute ships.”[/color]

Vael had put aside his data pad and now looked curiously at the artificial construct. [color=orange]“How is it that capital ships, even just in a small group, could go undetected by the settlement? I had been told that both of our people have fortified the settlement with warriors, and even ships.”[/color]

[color=lime]”You don’t understand how [i]massive[/i] Sarcophagus truly is. I doubt [i]anyone[/i] in this room does. However large you [i]think[/i] it is, you are wrong. It is larger. Halo rings? The Ark? They look like children’s toys in comparison.”[/color] Shih explained, though she soon decided to represent it visually. She first created a hologram in the center of the table that almost reached to the ceiling depicting a star, one not too different from the sun. Then, she “zoomed out” to show the orbit of a planet around the star, then again to show a second planet farther out…then yet again to show a third. Only after the third planet did she zoom out far enough to show the Dyson shell around the star’s entire inner solar system. At this point, the hologram covered nearly the entire room, which she had no doubt done intentionally for emphasis. [color=lime]”Sarcophagus is a solid shell that orbits at about one astronomical unit. It has an approximate surface area of two hundred and fifty-fife quadrillion square kilometers, and has three planets orbiting a star [i]inside[/i] it. Our settlement, our little ‘city of peace’, is just a speck on its surface.”[/color]

As stoic as he usually was, even Vael’s awe showed through in his demeanor. Even just trying to imagine the scale of this creation of the Forerunners felt like an impossible task, and a reminder of the incredible power their kind had once wielded. Major Robinson too hesitated, but she did eventually speak up. [color=violet]”As Shih has…demonstrated, Sarcophagus is a place where the rebels could very easily go into hiding, despite our presence there. Your mission is to follow these Brutes, observe their deal with the rebels, then follow them back to their main encampment. Once you find them, you will strike quickly and decisively. Capture their leader alive if possible, but your main priority is to ensure that their operations are ended permanently. We cannot afford to let them get away, so you must remain undetected until you have identified the rebel encampment.”[/color]