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

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The Spartan Aviza was still able to move and speak, so Vael gave no argument to her ability to fight. Speed was of the essence now, so there was no time to question leadership. Regardless, as a warrior who fought best within the reach of his blade, Vael was one of those at the front of the team. He had not burned through as much of his ammunition as some of the others, but he still moved his carbine to his back and drew his plasma rifle in its stead. He held his plasma rifle in his left hand, and an energy sword in his right. He did not activate the blade right away, but he did hold the hilt tightly in-hand. Another of the Spartans, Rex, also moved close alongside him. As evidenced by the shotgun he wielded, he too preferred to fight close to the enemy.

The team had moved down quickly through the entry hallway of the Forerunner structure, down the ramps to lower floors. In the first, small chamber they entered, they did encounter rebels trying frantically to set up barricades, though they had already started retreating just on the footsteps of Aegis’ approach alone. They fled out the door on the far side off the room without so much as returning fire. Evidently, Aegis had move too quickly for them to fortify themselves, and the rebels had no intention of fighting an even fight. 

Before they started to move once more, Shih spoke up to the team as a whole. [color=lime]”These readings I’m getting, now that we’re here, show these tunnels going even deeper than I thought. They connect to deeper tunnels in the installation at about a dozen different points. Unless we want to rely on a lot of luck, we need to figure out which way the leader is fleeing. I’ve already been working on decrypting and analyzing the comms I’m intercepting. I know their leader is fleeing, so we should be clear to shoot any resistance for now. If we can get to one of their computers, we might be able to figure out what route to take. These rebels’ security is better than I would have thought, but…either myself or Petty Officer Younan should be able to break in. ”[/color]

On each of the team members’ HUDs, nav points appeared for two separate rooms farther down beneath them. [color=lime]“The path ahead branches off two ways, to two large chambers farther down. From the comms I’ve intercepted, one of them is their armory, and the other they’re using for food storage. I don’t know which is which. Their command center is adjacent to the armory. That would be the best place to go to find the information we need.”[/color]

[color=orange]”If their coward of a leader already flees, then we do not have much time. I doubt we will be able to check both paths if we move as one.”[/color] Vael remarked.