[center][h2][b]Vael 'Virisusai and Shih[/b][/h2][/center]

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Inwardly, Vael felt that a Spartan would be a more effective recipient of an improved weapon, but there was not time to linger and discuss in great detail. Vael handed of his carbine, along with some spare ammo, then stepped outside the back of the Pelican along with the others. A carbine would not be quite as effective as plasma against the Forerunner machines, but it would certainly work better than bullets. The pilots, though shaken up, were not seriously harmed in the crash. They emerged from the cockpit just as the others were starting to move out to secure the area around the Pelican, but until they were given orders to move out, they would hang back in the troop bay.

At first, it was just one sentinel that flew down to investigate the site of the crash, which Aviza had fired upon immediately. It took sustained fire from the assault rifle to break through its shields and damage its frame, but it did eventually break apart and fall to the ground a short distance away from the Pelican. 

Shih had already received telemetry from the automated systems of the Heron before Aviza had finished her sentence. This time, instead of speaking solely inside Aviza’s head, Shih patched in through the team’s comm channel to inform everyone at once. [color=lime]”The Heron set the Mammoth down at the nearest safe landing zone, approximately 700 meters away, on the other side of that plateau. Updating your HUD with a navpoint now.”[/color] 

As for Aviza’s second question, Shih did not even need to answer for the team to know that they would soon be under imminent threat. Motion trackers detected well over a dozen hostile signatures directly above them, which looking upwards would quickly confirm. It was not exactly a [i]swarm[/i] of sentinels, but it was easily enough of a group to be threatening, and they were quickly descending upon them. 

On Vael’s part, he had no issue following Aviza’s order in this case. The sentinels were far too close for them to try and make a run for the Mammoth. He moved himself a short distance around to the left side of the Pelican, positioning himself underneath the dropship’s wing. Sentinel weapons were powerful and their flight could allow them to surround the team easily, so it was important to limit the number of angles from which they could threaten him. If there was one advantage the team did have, it was that sentinels did not tend to have any particular tactical acumen, so they could out-think the machines, despite the advantage they had in numbers. Vael started to fire his plasma rifle skywards in short bursts. For those using plasma weapons, it would only take a few shots to destroy any individual sentinel. 

[color=lime]”Motion sensors detect seven…sixteen sentinels in the immediate area.”[/color] Shih commented, correcting herself as a burst of plasma fire from Vael downed one of the machines. [color=lime]”I’ll keep scanning for new contacts as best as I can, but my options in terms of sensors are limited in this suit. I’ll radio the crew of the Mammoth and have them activate its new sensor suite. We’re close enough that I can access it remotely, so that should expand my coverage.”[/color]