[h1][center][color=0072bc]Ben-E218[/color][/center][/h1] 

Ben scanned the area, using his helmet's built-in scopes to look around. No threats were incoming from any direction, and his radar's IFF readings didn't show any hostiles. Satisfied that things were calm for the moment, he turned his attention to Grikgar

[color=0072bc]"Grik, be careful with those things. No one really knows how Forerunner tech works, and we don't need to risk disabling the Mammoth in an explosion. What are you trying to make, anyway?"[/color]

[color=fff79a]"If I may bring something to your attention, Ben. The UNSC is currently working with reverse-engineered Forerunner equipment to integrate it into new warships, including the UNSC Inf-"[/color] Not for the first time, Ben muted the "dumb" AI. As a Spartan, Ben was capable of a number of sophisticated tasks, such as operation of almost every weapon in the UNSC arsenal, piloting ships of every class, operating artillery up to and including MAC cannons, and even training with building and defusing bombs. He had built and planted bombs on several occasions, usually with the goal of taking out a target marked for "pacification" by ONI.

As he had said, few if any people still alive understood the intricacies of Forerunner machinery; he even suspected that this knowledge was limited even among the Forerunners themselves. While he didn't dismiss Grikgar's skills entirely, he had to question how much training the Unggoy had in this area. It could have been bias talking, but he didn't see a Grunt- cannon fodder- as being able to deal with this safely. Not by himself. Grunts and explosives tended to mix very poorly for the sake of the former. 

[color=0072bc]"Maybe I could lend a hand? I've handled explosives since probably before your grandparents were born, ever since I was barely taller than you." [/color] It just occurred to Ben that he had admitted handling explosives since he was about 10. [color=0072bc]"ONI made Spartan recruits do things that children don't normally do. Let's just leave it at that."[/color]