EliteCommander

Halo: Aegis Team

Major Robinson

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”At ease, Spartan.” The Major said as she looked down to refer to Rex’s file. His response to her was just about what she expected, and Suiko’s presence was mentioned in his file as well, so she did not show any surprise.

The Major answered Suiko quickly. “I have been fully briefed on every mission-relevant detail of Spartan-III Gamma Company. I know of the circumstances for which you were chosen to be a Spartan, and I know of the illegal mutagen you were given during your augmentations, Spartan. Given the circumstances of this mission, I have made sure this ship will stock double the usual supply of the drugs you require. It is not the potential for psychosis that I am worried about.”

Pausing for a moment, the Major brought up the files for each of Aegis Team’s non-Human members on the holographic display between them. “Right now, your mission requires you to work cooperatively with each of these people. I want to know that your judgment in regards to dealing with them will be in the best interest of Humanity. You may speak freely.”

Halo: Aegis Team

@Crab BaneI was just wanting to ask, the second character you intend to bring in, would you rather bring it in now, or sometime later? I feel I can justify having one last-minute addition to the team before they leave Earth. If you want to do it later, though, that's also perfectly fine.

Halo: Aegis Team

Vael ‘Virisusai

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Vael glanced down at the table, his mandibles flaring out slightly as he let out a brief grunt. ”Your chairs are too small.” He answered, simply and quickly. ”And we have no need to discuss the details of our specific mission, only how we intend to lead this team. I am not completely familiar with the rules and traditions you Humans have in your military, but I do have more than enough experience to know they are different from Sangheili command. You are the Fireteam Leader of this mission, and the orders you give may not be the ones my people expect. My people may take initiative, may take action in ways that you would expect your people to only do under orders. Likewise, my people may also await orders for actions you expect them to do on their own. The reason we were originally intended to go through extensive training before our first mission was so our team as a whole could learn how they were expected to act under each other’s command. Quite simply, we do not have the time to solve that problem before our missions, so the two of us need to anticipate these problems and be ready to adapt.”

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Major Robinson

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It had not been long after their arrival on the UNSC Chorus of Thunder that Spartan Rex’s presence had been requested by Major Robinson. She requested him to join her in a small briefing room somewhat near to the officers’ quarters. When he arrived, he would find her alone, standing at an inactive holographic display table at the center of the room, looking through files on her datapad.

The Major spoke the moment the door closed shut behind Rex. “Spartan Rex-G124.” She said, as if repeating it directly from the file in front of her. “I have read your file, Spartan, including the parts withheld from the rest of your team. I will admit, I argued against your selection for this team, but my superiors felt differently. They felt your skills and ability to act both in a team, and autonomously should the situation demand it, will be important to ensuring your mission objectives are completed. I agreed with them on your skills, but I also read what happened with those pirates, and I did not dismiss those concerns so quickly. So, I want to hear your own assessment on yourself, Spartan. Are my superiors right, or are my concerns justified?”

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Once Fendros had sent their message, their forces quickly got moving up the pass again, while leaving behind a few scouts to occupy the tower. The mirrors were indeed able to be used as expected, and in combination with the tower, they were exceptional assets in coordinating their forces. Once they were able to move and assemble siege weapons through the portal, they could target the weapons with exceptional accuracy while avoiding friendly fire on the main battlefield in the valley. Of course, that advantage only applied with the support of the tower, and the enchanted orb at the top only had a limited field of view. Once the armies below moved out of the view of their tower and into the view of the next, it would be the enemy which had that advantage. The Daedra did have their own siege weapons as well, so it was an advantage they could not afford to give to their enemy.

Fortunately for their allies below, even the Daedra could not simply summon up another army on a whim to stop their force in the mountain pass. The next two towers were only able to put up a token resistance, which was easily put down. With each tower that was captured, not only were their armies in the valley below cleared to move forward, but they would be moving with the advantages each tower could provide. They did not find a spare set of enchanted mirrors on the second tower, so they moved the scouts from the previous tower up instead. On the third tower, they did find another set of mirrors, but rather than stationing another set of scouts in the tower, and leaving the second tower to do essentially nothing, they decided instead to move up the scouts from the previous tower again while leaving one of the new mirrors in their hands. The other mirror Meesei trusted to Fendros, as it would allow them to quickly communicate back to the third tower, and therefore, back to the commanders at the portal as well.

Naturally, the Daedra did not simply abandon the pass, and while the allied force was able to take two watchtowers quickly, the werevulture scouts they had sent ahead of them were now coming back to report a sizable Daedric force amassing to guard the pass ahead of the fourth tower. Meesei and her pack, along with Hjergir, Rossarm, Ri’kalesh, and the Dominion commander, were all gathered at the front with one of the werevultures.

“The path splits into three ahead.” The werevulture explained. “The middle path is pretty narrow all throughout, though the left and right sides get a lot wider in places. The three paths are separated by areas of sharp, steep, jagged rocks, with only narrow passages in between. Small groups might be able to get through from one path to the next, but a large force would quickly get bogged down if they tried it. The Daedra have defenses set up along all three paths, but all three paths do converge into one at the end, and that’s where we think most of their forces are still waiting. The twilights forced us back before we could get too good of a look, but their numbers don’t look quite as high as the force they sent after us at the first tower. Still, they’re the ones defending this time, and they’re entrenched.”

Halo: Aegis Team

@Crab BaneI can include it in my next one. Would you mind me having Rex come to her when she requests his presence?

Halo: Aegis Team

Say, @Crab Bane, the Major would want to have a few words with Rex before they deploy on the mission, in case you don't have anything else in mind for him to do.

Halo: Aegis Team

Vael ‘Virisusai

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Vael, perhaps predictably, behaved as a serious-minded leader. His focus was the mission ahead and how he might best prepare for it. That was, perhaps, not all he was under the surface, but when working with a new team, especially this mostly Human team, he did not seem to allow himself to divert his thoughts away from the mission. He was not familiar with the customs and procedures aboard a Human ship, and as such, made no attempt to collect food for himself. He ended up approaching Aviza’s table empty-handed, and remained standing rather than taking a seat.

While Vael did agree that the simulator could be useful to them, they did only have a few hours ahead of them in which to use it. That was hardly enough for comprehensive training. He did not doubt the individual skill of the members of this team; they would not have been selected if they were not capable. However, some or all of them would need to unlearn their habit from their past teams in order to coordinate with a very different set of allies. Swords and UNSC teams no doubt had quite different ideas of how to give orders, what orders were expected and how they should be phrased, and how much individual autonomy each member of the team should act with in the midst of battle.

”If it is not appropriate to speak of the mission directly now, then what is acceptable to discuss here? We have only a limited time to prepare.” Vael remarked towards Aviza, though his attention soon went to another that had accompanied them. The Mgalekgolo had gained Vael’s curiosity earlier, given its modified armor and apparent familiarity with the Human soldiers. ”Wherever it is we speak, I believe you should join us as well, Tasuma. You may be a key to our success. We need to familiarize ourselves with the differences between Human and traditional Sangheili command, and you appear to be experienced with both.”

Halo: Aegis Team

Vael ‘Virisusai

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Vael took a brief moment to review his map of the ship. It was detailed to the extent that it showed him the path to each place he would need to go as a passenger. The cruiser was of comparable size to a CCS-class battlecruiser, though somewhat smaller. Regardless, he doubted he would have need to see most of it.

Briefly, Vael considered simply waiting in the quarters he had been given until they arrived. Provided what the Captain had said was true, everything that he was bringing with him was already in his quarters, aside from his weapons. He had multiple sets of armor with him, including the one he was wearing, another environmentally-sealed combat harness, and another that he kept for…sentimental reasons. Checking over his equipment was an option, but ultimately, he felt that the time he had could be used more productively. These “War Games” did have Vael’s interest. From what he understood, they could simulate combat situations with surprising accuracy. He was skeptical that it could truly compare to battle itself, but he could see its value in training. Several of the others seemed to intend to use the simulator while they could, but while Vael did want to see his team in combat, he decided that it was important that he take some time to speak with Spartan Aviza. She was the Fireteam Leader for their mission, but they were both leaders of this team, and it was their responsibility to ensure they guided their team efficiently.

Vael gave a brief glance to Spartan Ryker. He appeared to have integrated an energy dagger into his armor. The Humans had began integrating reverse-engineered Covenant technology into their own, though in this case, it appeared to be an energy dagger taken from a Sangheili harness and integrated into his own. While Sangheili did place special importance on the energy sword, a simple dagger did not carry the same cultural weight. Though, it was his opinion that the Spartan embarrassed himself by swinging it around like a child playing with a knife.

In any case, Vael put away his data pad and followed after Aviza. He remained wordless at first, but did eventually turn his head down towards her as he walked alongside her. “We should speak about our team, Spartan. I fear it shall be to our detriment that we will not have the chance to train sufficiently as a unit before this mission.”

Halo: Aegis Team

Captain Leroux and Vael ‘Virisusai

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Once the briefing itself was concluded, Shih returned to the data crystal chip, which Captain Leroux pulled from the holotank. After getting a brief confirmation from the Major that she was done, he addressed the team. ”The ship to which Aegis Team has been assigned is the Autumn-class Heavy Cruiser, UNSC Chorus of Thunder. My ship. Now, I do not know the customs of the Swords of Sanghelios navy, so for the sake of clarity, I will say now that the Captain is the ranking officer aboard a UNSC vessel, regardless of your branch of service. That means that, as far as my ship is concerned, I have the final authority. As long as that is understood, there is a Pelican waiting outside to take you all to the ship in orbit. Given the needs of your missions, the Thunder has been outfitted for light ground support. A War Games Simulation module has been installed for your use, and you will all be given officer’s quarters for the duration of your assignment to my ship. Apart from you, Tasuma.” He said, looking to the Mgalekgolo. ”Given your…unique requirements, a section of one of the hangers has been converted into a space suitable to your needs. For the Swords personnel present, your weapons have already been checked into the armory, and any other personal effects delivered to your quarters.”

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After they were dismissed by the Major, Aegis Team were shown outside to their Pelican. While Tasuma did take up quite a lot of space on its own, a Pelican too was quite a sizable dropship. As long as the rest of the team kept to their seats, there was more than enough space for the Mgalekgolo to stand in the back. Their flight path had already been cleared before take-off, so the flight into orbit did not take too long. Although, even after their Pelican touched down in the cruiser’s hanger, the team was not put in any particular hurry. They were deploying on their mission that day, but it would still be a few hours before the ship was ready to depart Earth. In the meantime, Aegis Team's members were free to do as they pleased.

Vael was among the first to step out of the Pelican into the hanger. Vehicles and supplies were being loaded onto the ship and taken into storage, so the many of the crew were almost too busy to notice the ship’s new set of passengers. Almost. He looked around with at least some slight curiosity. For Vael, this was not his first time aboard a Human warship, but it was his first time aboard as an ally to them. The last time he had walked through one of their corridors, it had been in a hail of bullets and plasma.

Halo: Aegis Team

Major Robinson and Vael ‘Virisusai

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For once, the Major did not have an immediate answer when Grik posed his question. Despite his surprisingly insightful comments regarding the Brutes, Robinson had not paid him too much attention, even when he broke one of the chairs. However, his question caused her to raise her brow. ”You mean the Flood?” She knew what he was referring to, but the connection to why he was bringing it up was not immediately clear to her.

Vael, however, understood Grik right away. He had already given the Unggoy a low growl out of annoyance for his clumsiness, but he did not do the same for his mention of the parasite. Normally, he might chastise an Unggoy, or any other of his warriors, for cowardice, but Vael too had the misfortune of having to face the Flood during the war. It was the one opponent to which Vael felt no shame in saying he feared. The parasite was a horror he would not wish upon even the San’Shyuum. ”These shield worlds were intended to preserve life when they used the rings. The researchers at Sarcophagus have found no presence of Flood.” Vael answered to Grik, basing his words off of the information he had been reading from his data pad.

”Yes, well, you all have your orders.” The Major continued. ”I will also ensure you all have access to the relevant mission files when you arrive on the ship. Now, as to the matter of Aegis Team’s command structure, the UNSC and Swords of Sanghelios have come to an agreement on a non-standard command hierarchy. Depending upon the context of your individual missions, either the UNSC or Swords will be given operational authority. Meaning, the command of the team will be given to either Vael, or myself. However, as I am not a field agent, it will be one of you taking command in the field. Spartan Aviza Morgenstern, in light of your service history, you have been authorized a promotion to Fireteam Leader. For this mission, the UNSC has been given operational authority, so you will be in command of Aegis Team. Also note that Vael will be considered your second-in-command, and when the Swords have operational authority, you will likewise be considered his second-in-command.”