EliteCommander

Halo: Aegis Team

I made sure to pick a conference room with double doors. That's why they had to fight the bean counters for it.

Halo: Aegis Team

I was reading on the wiki, and it seems that multiple warships, not just the Infinity, have facilities for War Games Simulations. So, that should be fun. Instead of airing out grievances in a shouting match, you can do so in a first-to-fifteen deathmatch.

Halo: Aegis Team

Major Alice Robinson and Vael ‘Virisusai

---

Major Robinson did take the time to properly greet Cohen and Younan, but otherwise soon returned to her irritated waiting, occasionally checking in for an update through her earpiece. Unlike some of the others, she was not one for idle conversation, and most aspects of her expression made her seem unapproachable. As for patience, if she did have that quality, she did not demonstrate it in this case. After just a short while, she muttered under her breath and gave a look around, both to the gathered team, and others watching them who happened to be passing through the atrium.

“I…believe I have us a room, if you could all just follow me…” Major Robinson said, despite not having been contacted with any new information, before she started walking towards one of the halls at the back of the atrium. Vael followed close behind, somewhat curious about the amount of anger she showed in her stance and walk. At least, he believed that was what he could see in her demeanor. Each species showed their emotion differently through action and movement. He was less experienced with Human emotion than most other species, but what he saw from her now was something akin to a Human soldier rushing forward into battle.

Eventually, the Major guided them through the corridors to a large set of double doors, though she stopped them all just outside. “This should only take a moment. I just need you to come in with me, Vael. You need not say anything, just…stand behind me.”

Curiosity, perhaps more than anything, prompted Vael to nod in agreement to Robinson. That, and the desire to begin their mission. There had been enough waiting and inaction; their enemies out in the rest of the galaxy were not going to wait for their team to be ready before advancing their own goals. Robinson swiped her security card and the two doors slid open, revealing a rather sizable conference room with a large table and a holographic projector situated at its center. About half of the chairs were filled by a collection of, mostly older, men and women, not all of which were wearing military uniforms. The man that had been accompanying Major Robinson before, Jonas, was in a “conversation” with a UNSC officer. Though, considering that the officer was technically a superior to Jonas, it was a fairly one-sided conversation.

“...tolerate this interruption. We still have important decisions to make here…” The officer was saying just after the door opened, though he quickly took notice of Major Robinson. ”Major, this is most irregular, I…” The officer cut himself off quickly once Vael came into view behind Robinson. He had, at first, looked like he was starting to stand, but he quickly fell back into his seat.

Major Robinson did not outrank the officer, and as such, she spoke with a distinctly polite, distinctly fake tone. ”My apologies, I thought you were done here. We just have no choice but to use a ground floor room. If you like, I can have my associate here wait outside and…”

“No, no…” The officer interjected, clearing his throat and speaking strikingly more calmly. ”That is quite alright. We have just finished up here. It’s time, uh, to break for lunch.”

With the others at the table nodding in silent agreement, they quickly moved to vacate the room. For a moment as he passed by, the officer’s gaze met Vael’s. In it, Vael saw the other Human emotion he was quite familiar with: fear. For Vael, it illustrated one of the most frustrating paradoxes of Humanity. As a species, they were resilient and fought against their extinction with honor, but their species seemed to be able to simultaneously produce both the bravest and most cowardly individuals in the universe. He could not understand why the honorable among them tolerated such weakness among their own kind.

In any case, the team finally had a secure room to use, and Robinson was already loading up the briefing on the holographic projector. There was plenty of space for everyone, though of course, the ODSTs accompanying Tasuma would not be permitted to enter. Vael remained standing at the table just across from the Major, who took a moment to speak to him. “Vael, I am sending you a data file from your superiors. Don’t worry, my people have not looked at it.” She lied.

Vael took out his data pad and waited a moment for it to decrypt the information. From his first impression, it seemed he had finally received all of the relevant information about the background and qualifications of the team the Swords of Sanghelios had selected for him, as well as information on their upcoming mission.

As the others started to come in, the Major spoke without taking her eyes off of the computer in front of her. ”Okay, this is a secure room, so you can speak freely about the team and the mission here.” She said, again mostly for the benefit of the non-UNSC personnel. Once the door was closed, she continued. ”Once Captain Leroux arrives, we will start the mission briefing. Obviously, this is not a standard composition for a UNSC fireteam, so we had intended to begin with War Games Simulations to allow you to build squad cohesion before your first mission. Unfortunately, certain recent events have accelerated our timetable. You’re going to have to make time for training later; we’ll be deploying on our first mission today.”

Halo: Aegis Team

@ReusableSwordTry clicking "Raw" in the upper-right hand corner of the post to view the raw text.

Halo: Aegis Team

It uses a non-standard font that I can't seem to get rid of. I just copied it into notepad, changed the font, then tried to send it to you @ReusableSword, but I think it somehow kept the original font.

Halo: Aegis Team

@krismer22@DeadDropI like the attitude on the spooks. I definitely look forward to seeing what happens when all these characters end up in a metaphorical foxhole together.

Also, krismer, you can put your CS in the character tab.

Halo: Aegis Team

Vael ‘Virisusai and Major Alice Robinson

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For Vael, he did not see fit to immediately join in the conversations, or arguments, that were arising around him. His approach was to listen and observe to begin understanding each of these people who would, in all likelihood be serving in Aegis Team.

The Unggoy was loud, impulsive, and overconfident, but an Unggoy would not be able to reach the rank of Ultra without that confidence being earned. Provided his words on his service history were true, that would make him a veteran of at least two intense campaigns during the war, perhaps more. For an Unggoy during the time of the Covenant, even just surviving such missions was something worth taking notice of.

Even stranger than the Unggoy was the Mgalekgolo that a Human identified as Tasuma. The most obvious detail that Vael noticed was the unusual modifications to its armor. It was painted in colors more often associated with the Humans, there were additional plates made from Human alloys, rather than nanolaminate, a shoulder cloak bearing the symbol of the Swords of Sanghelios, and additional weapons attached to its back. It also behaved with familiarity, even camaraderie, towards the Humans that surrounded it. All of it was exceptionally unusual, but for a team such as this, having members who were already accustomed to working with Humans was a benefit. He was not sure if the other Humans accompanying Tasuma would also be assigned to the team. The greatest concern that Vael had was that Tasuma seemed to be alone. It was rare to see one without a bond brother. The first explanation would be that the colony was too young to have a bond brother, but the presence of spikes on its back denied that possibility. The only other reasons a Mgalekgolo would be alone would be if its bond brother was killed, or otherwise unable to fight. Either situation could cause the Mgalekgolo’s collective mental state to become unstable. It was a concern that Vael would need to address later.

The other Sangheili, Yalu, had remained mostly silent beyond his introduction and gave Vael little to observe. However, Vael did find himself curious about the Sangheili’s rank. He was an officer, but for a specialized team such as this, Vael would have expected more seasoned warriors than Yalu’s rank would imply. Grik would be a superior officer to him. Internally, Vael wondered what it was about Yalu that made him exceptional enough to be considered for this team, without also being accompanied by a higher rank.

More difficult for Vael to make determinations about were the Humans, if only because he was not as well-versed in their general personalities and tendencies. Especially for Spartans. Although not all Sangheili gave it, the Spartans were figures that demanded fair respect for their skill and determination in combat. The one who stood out the most to Vael was the female Spartan, Aviza. She saw the strange display of the other Humans with the Mgalekgolo and was the first to act upon it. She had a commanding attitude and a seemingly serious disposition. Vael was unfamiliar with Spartan rank structure and would not have been able to identify any markings or armor colors, but she might have been a leader among them.

Two other Spartans, identified as Lucas Ryker and Rex, also gave Vael less to observe. Lucas had said little more than a simple greeting, though he did not carry any obvious hostility or suspicion in his tone. Rex’s greeting was terse and calm, but he did seem to have one of their artificial constructs inhabiting his suit. One that was allowed to speak for him. Vael was not sure how much trust he was willing to put into such machines. The last Spartan to be introduced, Ben, did so to Vael directly, and with respect to Vael’s rank according to Human customs. It seemed that he, like Grik, had been informed to some degree of Vael himself.

“I am Vael ‘Virisusai, commander in loyal service to the Swords of Sanghelios.” Vael finally said, both in reply to the Spartan sniper in front of him, and as a general introduction to those around him.

Vael’s initial concern was to establish the hierarchy of the Spartans. The Spartan Aviza was the one who had behaved most as an officer so far, so she was the one he first approached. “Are you the leader of the Human contribution to this team?”

---

The pair of ONI agents walked through the halls of HIGHCOM Facility Bravo-6, quickly and with purpose. Their black uniforms had little in the way of identifying markings, apart from small, removable rank insignias. One of the two, Major Alice Robinson, walked slightly ahead of the other. She was a somewhat short, stern-looking woman with short, black hair and tanned skin. She alternated between speaking both to the man trailing behind her, and to someone else in her earpiece. “I don’t care who has the room, Jonas. We need it more, and we need it now. This whole day has just been a circus.”

The man following behind tapped on the datapad in his hand and let out a sigh. “You know how the bean counters are, Major. They can argue with each other for hours over the office chair budget. They insist there’s another secure room open on the twelfth floor. Is there a reason I can give them that we can’t use that one?”

As the man spoke, the pair rounded the corner into the atrium. Major Robinson gave a stern expression and pointed forwards towards the massive Hunter that was drawing eyes from across the room. “Because of that.” She answered simply.

The man hesitated, standing with his mouth slightly agape for just a moment out of surprise. “I’ll…go try to get them to move again.”

As the man left, the Major headed down the steps towards the group. She approached in time to hear Vael’s question to Aviza and decided to answer before the Spartan could respond. “No, that would be me. Major Robinson, Office of Naval Intelligence. We should have a secure room soon, just…keep waiting here and don’t talk about the mission directly.” She said. Her warning was more directed towards the Swords of Sanghelios personnel than the Spartans. They knew better than to talk about classified matters in a public space.

Vael let out a slight grunt. As some consolation, this Major Robinson appeared to be almost as irritated at the wait as Vael had been. After a moment, Vael turned his head towards the Spartans. “At one of your other bases, a soldier referred to this as…bureaucracy. Is it intended to be so inefficient?”

Halo: Aegis Team

@ZarkunIndeed. I'm working on my response right now.

Halo: Aegis Team

@krismer22Oh, yes, sorry. You are. I'm just a bit distracted right now.

Halo: Aegis Team

@AristoclesNot quite. That was stated at one point in the lore, but they did retcon it. The majority of the Skirmisher units in the Covenant military at the time were wiped out on Reach, but the subspecies is still around, in lesser numbers. A unit of Skirmishers would not be likely to be seen, but individuals may still ally themselves with various factions, or take up mercenary work.

I am also working on a response, but I keep having to step away and do things.