Muttonhawk

Halo: Aegis Team

Yalu 'Suumko

There were plenty in the team already equipped to go down into the enemy base. Yalu was rarely ever requisitioned with active camouflage like a spec ops elite, but at the very least he could be useful from a distance by taking Commander Vael's suggestion.

"I can guide you," Yalu said. "One of my primary talents is warding death away from my team."

Yalu peered down at his carbine. "And we will all be ready to head an assault on your order. These rebels and brutes will not have any time to think. I think the shock will be spiced if we fire on the brutes with human firearms and then the humans with covenant weaponry."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

The telekinetic wave sent Fendros and Leaps tumbling. He had only just processed Rossarm flying off in another direction. They landed hard, Fendros especially so coming down from a saddle height. It was fortunate his armour did not buckle under Leaps' immense weight on his legs, even when the panicked beast wriggled up and off Fendros in short order.

"Leaps! Back!" Fendros shouted not long after he angled his head up to see the Breton. Seeing the lightning spell take shape even as the ethereal flesh making up her body steamed and boiled was something of a nightmare. Still, through winded lungs, he rolled up to his feet and broke into a run that made his chest ache. He pulled out his sword for the first time in the battle -- the dragonbone longsword specially crafted for him -- and with his other hand he cast aside his bow to form a ward. With a roar, he sprinted to keep the Breton's attention. He did not need his ward to hold forever, even as it absorbed what it received. He just needed to close the distance.

Nearby, Rossarm struggled up dizzily. He had been flung into a spin, being as close as he was to the spell. As he had numbed his pain back when the vines wrapped around his arm, it was with his eyes that he noticed that same arm was broken.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Rossarm had to dodge his arm away and stop his spell, but his next move was not quite as instinctual. He snapped his arm forward and snatched the vines in his hand. They immediately coiled and tightened around his wrist, but by then his next spell was already coursing through the otherworldly plant. In a dull, sinister light, the vines shrivelled and dried as Rossarm clutched them tighter and tighter. By the time the ghost came from its portal behind him, he spun and tore the desiccated vine from the cracks in the ground, having drained it of its life force. His hand dripped with blood from the thorns piercing his skin.

"You failed in life, you will fail here," Rossarm taunted. "Your little wand is no substitute for discipline." He flicked his eyes over to one side briefly, and then made movements for a powerful fire spell. It was a spell that would clearly take too long to cast before the Breton ghost could retaliate. But no sooner had Rossarm began than an arrow flew straight for the Breton ghost from its side.

Fendros drew another arrow before the previous had even hit. He recognised what his father was doing and made sure to keep up the pressure now that the Breton was in position. He loosed arrow after arrow while pacing forward. Each one was sharp ebony launched from a war bow. Sufferable for the Breton's magic, but impossible to ignore when fired as rapidly.

Fendros' pace quickened as he approached. He needed to keep the ghost occupied, and more if Rossarm's next move did not end the ghost outright.

Halo: Aegis Team

Yalu 'Suumko

And so they were to move out. The information that trickled in was welcome as far as Yalu was concerned. The enemy was not heading for them, neither were they heading anywhere they could not follow.

Yalu approached the only human he was properly acquainted with to pair up. "Ryker. Now is the time to put our practice to the test."

* * *

Yalu strode along in the line his allies created to advance, carbine in his hands. He stopped very occasionally to zoom his harness optics to scan the distance but found no reason to speak up through the radio while they moved.

After enough time, Yalu spoke up gently enough for Lucas to hear. "I have a question. Which of the humans is most likely to charge ahead for glory, in your opinion? Or the one who would...I believe the phrase is 'getting tunnel vision'." Yalu kept his eyes on the surrounding environment. "There is always one in sangheili fireteams. Good tactical information to have."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"This cannot be right," Fendros murmured to himself. "Who is this ghost?"

Through a frustrated roar, Rossarm attempted to order the Dominion soldiers to back down. It was too late. Whatever callous shouts he had to put the soldiers down, they could not be so easily heard through their screams, but Fendros could hear it.

"Numb yourselves, you fools! Do you not see a mage beyond your capabilities?!" He brought up both of his elbows. Purple magic crackled all the way around his arms. "You are all unworthy!" He struck a spell into the ground. A blast of radiant energy shocked out around him and just as quickly sucked its way back into the void they left behind. With it, the plants grasping the ankles of the soldiers blackened and rotted, as did the ankles themselves.

In horror, the soldiers dragged away their wounded, necrosis-inflicted legs and all.

Fendros was agape. "He's hurting our own men..." He said so Ahnasha could hear.

He could hear the cruel justifications of his father after he regained his temper. Probably something along the lines of considering the wounded men as combat ineffective anyway.

"Father!" Fendros called out. "Enough!"

Rossarm did not respond. He poured more power into a narrow white ray of magic that struck the ghost's ward like a battering ram.

All around him, Rossarm's mages rallied and drew up in pairs, one ahead holding a ward in both hands while another behind struck the oncoming Daedra with torrents of lightning.

A small thought died in the back of Fendros' mind as to why Rossarm was concentrating as much power into that particular spell. He pulled another arrow and drew it. His aim slowly edged to Rossarm's neck. If his father would spend more allied lives for his anger, Fendros would make sure to stop him.

Halo: Aegis Team

Yalu 'Suumko

Yalu was in no mood to avoid his teammates during the ride. He tried to at least speak to his fellow former-covenant contemporaries about their path leading up to this mission. He was quietly embarrassed to find he was consistently outranked and at times prying on business best kept a secret. Nevertheless, he kept himself well drilled for whatever lay ahead.

When the call came to wake up, whatever casual air Yalu tried to offer was gone. He was up and arming himself partway through the driver's announcement.

"Running the Mammoth silent may make them overlook us." Yalu snapped a fully green magazine into his carbine after checking it. "But if it is no patrol, we are no longer safe. We are not expecting a rendezvous."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Fendros had almost leapt in front of Ahnasha to raise a ward, but what he saw instead took his breath away. "It's working..." he breathed. "Whatever you're doing, Ahna, we'll help you see it through!"

The explosion turned his head. Soldiers flailed their limbs as they were thrown to the ground from the blast. Fendros heard his father bellow out an order to reform before briskly walking ahead with a ward ahead of his palm. It was unclear whether he knew anything about the soul of the mage pitched against them, but he did not hesitate to send out a curling red scarf of light from his other hand in an effort to drain her mind temporarily.

Fendros searched his mind for whoever the soul might have been. That staff was Sabine's, that much he knew. As the dark thought ran through his mind that they might have defeated her and taken the Staff of Magnus, he clenched his jaw and fired an arrow. His aim was shaky just at the emotions that threatened to overtake him, but he was still a skilled archer. It was headed straight for the soul's neck.

Halo: Aegis Team

Yalu 'Suumko

"Yes," Yalu replied. "The weight and material is impressive. I expect no remnant or swords ground vehicles short of a scarab focus cannon could puncture it. And that could take more than one direct hit." He turned an eye to look at the pilot rather than ahead. "How is this Mammoth's movement powered? It must be something more potent than the hydrogen cells of your smaller vessels."

Yalu did not have the tact to make the human pilot entirely comfortable, but he did learn a few technical details. The conversation was not especially long. It ended once Commander Vael called Yalu over to discuss plans with the team.

Halo: Aegis Team

Yalu 'Suumko

The calm had not quite settled in Yalu's mind by the time the others started to slow down. He escorted his commander Vael to the roof, as much to carry out his duties as to see what was going on. Thankfully he did not need to fire another shot. After stepping back into the mammoth, he took a deep breath and holstered his carbine. On any other mission, there would have been a few friendly bodies left behind by the crashed pelican.

"I'll be listening for orders, commander," Yalu mentioned to Vael before wandering off. Now that everything was well, he had a burning curiosity about the vehicle they were housed in.

Yalu stopped by every space on the mammoth, from the rear to the drivers seats up front, though the latter could be described as a bridge. He had piloted just about every covenant military vehicle there was, but human wheeled vehicles were a rare treat.

In his wanderings, Yalu happened to be in a position to eavesdrop on Commander Aviza's castigation of the runaway special operations warriors. Yalu had not judged them too harshly -- humans had a different idea of honour after all. At the very least, he thought Aviza wise to not give Roy's explanation any attention. It was provocative. Aviza was clear enough.

Do humans have just as much pride as sangheili? How did they not cut each other to pieces without sangheili honour?

Yalu shook his head and headed to the bridge again to see where they were going.

"Pilot," Yalu said to the human in the primary driving seat, possibly giving both the driver and co-driver a fright. "Once we are out of danger, I am interested in learning more about this vessel."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Fendros lent his efforts to the wards keeping the mages from being flash frozen in the coldfire. The air was already frosted with the leftover mist, but even through the wards, the grass under their feet went white with rime. As Fendros caught his breath with steam forming in front of his mouth, he saw the net of lightning tighten above them.

Jolted by arcs against its hide, the titan cringed away and further down from its perch. It tried to keep footing and held on like a cat to the stony structures, but the terrain broke and crumbled under the weight of its claws. It roared and the soldiers nearby scattered back. The impact it made on the ground travelled to everyone's chests. A cloud of dust and dirt billowed up far enough to momentarily obscure the titan's movements.

"Now! Go!" Rossarm shouted to Fendros and Ahnasha.

Fendros rode up with Leaps-On-Elves to rejoin Ahnasha and oversee her defence. He had an arrow nocked and ready, and just in time for the Daedric counterattack to meet their lines.