Zarkun

Halo: Aegis Team

Spartan Lucas Ryker

Admittedly, Lucas hadn't anticipated any issues arising as the team boarded the Pelican and each found seats. As he settled into his own pre-mission flight routine, he pulled his sidearm free of its holster and started to disassemble it in his lap and reassemble it. He proceeded to do this several times over the course of the flight before finally reassembling it one last time and holstering it again before pulling one of his modified energy daggers free and activating it, letting the crimson colored energy hum quietly as he flipped the blade around in his hand.

It was a joint Sangheili and human design that had only been issued to a handful of specialist SPARTAN-IVs with orders to give regular updates on things such as strange fluctuations within the blade, if it cuts out mid-combat, performance against other shielded enemies, such as Sangheili loyal to the Remnant, and other such odds and ends. Sending the regular reports back to the eggheads was somewhat obnoxious, but making the design more stable, and therefore more readily available to the rest of the Swords and Human military, was an important thing to do.

Finishing the usual non-combat observations, he deactivates the blade and stores the hilt and starts filing away the usual report to be sent at mission completion after he'd had a chance to confirm the usual combat effectiveness when the pilots shout "Contacts!" Report filing forgotten, Lucas is already moving between members of the team to make sure their harnesses are secure before swiftly moving and securing himself.

"Fireteam secure, Team Leader!" And not a moment too soon as he felt the Pelican shake from impact. The sound of the Mgalekgolo securing itself in place was startling, but not unexpected given it was too large to actually use the seats in the transport, but it was certainly unorthodox and an issue that they should address before the next mission. Bracing in his seat, the SPARTAN-IV rattled a bit with the rough landing, but other than that was fine and as soon as the ship quit sliding, was unhooked and had the twin SMGs in his hand. Vael'Virisusai made a good point about the issue with the precision weaponry against the Sentinel plating, but then, there was always another option, which admittedly required an answer to his question. "Are we looking at a group of Sentinels or a swarm? If it's a swarm, we may want to just get to the Mammoth and hope it's got enough turrets on it."

Halo: Aegis Team

Spartan Lucas Ryker

Lucas found his time training with the Sangheili major to be incredibly informative, both in terms of how to deal with enemy assassins and how well he could learn to fight alongside a new team mate. As it stood, it seemed working with that spec ops team while part of Regis had helped him somewhat prepare for the differences and similarities in their fighting style. However, eventually his partner found he had done enough for the day and left the SPARTAN-IV to train with his wrist mounted dagger for awhile longer until he decided to take a nap.

---

When Lucas had arrived at the briefing, he had his sidearm on his right hip, his DMR across his back and two silenced SMGs he'd picked out for this mission specifically in the small of his back. During his days as a black ops agent for ONI, the ODST's caseless silenced version had served him and his team well both upon infiltration and upon exfiltration post-mission. He saw no reason the weapon wouldn't do him some good now, especially given the covert nature of it all. Alongside that was his twin modified energy daggers and his standard issue combat knives along with a pair of fragmentation grenades for when things inevitably went loud. While the Major went over everything, including their new mobile base for the duration of the mission, Ryker took it upon himself to give it a more thorough look over while recording the briefing so he could dissect the spook's words later. Never trust ONI and you'll find you live a lot longer... Words his team's first leader had spoken shortly before ONI had fired him and moved him to a civilian job as a security contractor that the former black ops operative had taken to heart.

Major Yalu'Suumko asked a valid question as Lucas went over the ammunition stockpiles and the Major quickly made it clear that they wouldn't need to concern themselves with operating and guarding the vehicle themselves, but that didn't mean that Ryker wouldn't worry about it anyways. Marines are good, but if these are Remnant we're dealing with, Marines are outclassed in more ways than one. Guess we don't have a choice though... With no one else speaking up, it fell to Aviza to give the all clear to load up and move out. While he couldn't help but wonder if this was going to be SOP for every mission that took them ground side, he didn't think the question needed to be asked just yet, as it would be answered over the next few months quickly enough. "Ready when you are, Fire Team Leader."

Star Wars(AU) - After Knightfall

Talia and Riven Je'and-The Citadel, Mandalore

The twin girls looked at each other before Riven sighed and nodded. "Well, this evening has already been a wash anyways. And we got all gussied up too." Talia could barely contain the excitement of actually getting to go somewhere in the near future instead of suffering bouts of extreme boredom as a guard for the meeting chambers between her research times. The red clad twin stood and flipped her hair over her shoulder while the cyan clad one scratched the cat's chin. "How long before you depart, Chief Librarian?"

Talia ran the various things he could be looking for through her head a dozen different times before she snapped back to reality. "Oh! Do you think we'll see any rancors? One of my ancestor's raised a rancor from it's time as an egg and I had hoped to investigate the possibility of a strong bond forming like that with a predator like a Rancor. I tried to get a Krayt egg once, I'm sure you can imagine how that went."

Halo: Aegis Team

Spartan Lucas Ryker

The remark draws a chuckle from the Spartan as the duo approaches the War Games simulation area, stopping to call an elevator for them. "Yeah, I imagine the thought of fighting with our crazy asses is much more appealing than fighting against us. Gotta level, fighting with a Swords spec ops team...let's say it's a welcome change of pace watching those active camo shrouded forms appear behind the enemy instead of behind a friend."

Once the elevator had arrived, Lucas allowed Major Yalu'Suumko to board before he did and selected the floor it was on. "It was also very...enlightening. Seeing your people in a capacity other than as warriors and leaders. It was...pleasant."

Halo: Aegis Team

Spartan Lucas Ryker

Turning to face the Sangheili who'd addressed him, Lucas shrugged somewhat sheepishly as they pair of them headed for the War Games module. "Well, I can confirm about the sparring, but...the member of the Swords Spec Ops team who gifted it to me only had time to teach me a little before I was transferred here to Aegis Team. I'd welcome any pointers you have for using it..." The SPARTAN-IV left the sentence open for the Sangheili to introduce himself as he was fairly certain he'd missed some introductions before arriving.

Halo: Aegis Team

I'm not sure I like where this is going XD

Halo: Aegis Team

I feel that is a very important thing to consider XD

Halo: Aegis Team

Spartan Lucas Ryker

Making the medic the Team Lead...alright, well, seen stranger things in my life. Lucas hadn't spoken again over the course of the briefing, choosing instead to absorb the information about the mission and only whistling quietly when Shih gave them a holographic look at the sheer size of Sarcophagus. The SPARTAN-IV had been on several missions both inside and on the surface of that Forerunner dome and it always amazed him that they'd pulled off getting it built before originally firing the rings. With the briefing finishing shortly after, and after reassurances that the Flood weren't present within the installation, which Ryker wasn't sure if he believed or not, the team was dismissed with the naming of Aviza as Fire Team Leader. He had no reason to delay heading to the Falcon other than to let the Mgalekgolo get on first.

The Pelican ride was quiet, as no one yet wanted to break the social ice, but then he couldn't say he was surprised. Aviza was likely mentally preparing herself to be in charge in the upcoming mission, the other two Spartans likely SPARTAN-IIIs and weren't keen on conversation anyways and the former Black Ops operative wanted nothing to do with the pair of ONI spooks unless he absolutely had to, he'd left ONI for valid reasons and he wasn't about to answer questions about his past with the Office of Naval Intelligence from people who didn't need to know.

So while they were in transit between the landing pad the Pelican had started on and the UNSC Chorus of Thunder, he simply enjoyed the view. He had decided that he would learn the most about their Swords allies once they had all settled in on the Heavy Cruiser and were able to get some training together in. [i]Actually...they had the module installed already, so maybe we CAN get some training in, perhaps some one on one custom games or something. At the very least, I'm gonna run some combat sims, keep acclimating to this dagger that a Spec Ops Sangheili had given him after a few missions together. Her name was Comi'Masam, one of the leaders for a Swords of Sangheilios Spec Ops squad operating in another part of the Arm of Orion. His previous fire team, Regis, had worked in tandem with them for several months shutting down a series of Covenant Remnant operations and cells. During that time, she'd helped him improve his skill as an assassin and with the twin energy daggers he used and before he'd left, had gifted him a more traditional energy dagger to aid in completing his missions with Aegis team.

While romantic attraction wasn't his cup of tea, the Sangheili female had earned his trust in a way no one since he'd joined ONI had and he considered her a close friend. When Spartan Ops had asked for recommendations for Aegis from his previous post, they had been somewhat surprised that her name was the one he'd put forwards. When asked why he didn't put forwards other members from Regis Team, his answer had been simple. "These are war vets who fought the Covenant for nearly two decades before the War ended. Most of them could barely stand the Spec Ops team and that was a series of joint operations. Asking them to have to take orders from one of them on occasion?" SPARTAN Ops had let the issue lie and said they'd talk with the Swords.

As he felt the Pelican begin to settle down on the hangar deck aboard the Chorus, the SPARTAN-IV flexed his wrist experimentally, igniting the blade of the dagger. "Never get tired of that..." He gave a couple of small swings and thrusts with it before he deactivated it and looked around as the loading ramp lowered. Aviza was first off and headed to the Mess Hall, leaving an open invitation for the others to join her if they wished, but Lucas was sticking to his plan.

"Right, well, you have fun with that Fire Team Leader. I'm heading to the War Games module, get some training in before the mission starts. Gotta get adjusted to some newer equipment and it never hurts to stay sharp."

Halo: Aegis Team

Spartan Lucas Ryker

The SPARTAN-IV listened to the briefing in silence, absorbing the details and going over them from his experience in the ONI black ops team. Something about this didn't make sense, even with the presented facts. It wouldn't take rocket science to know that the UNSC would investigate the source of the weapons before launching accusations at the Swords, not with the tenuous peace that both sides had already worked so hard to achieve. However, he waited for the rest of the briefing and the additional information, before he spoke up, keeping the specifics of his time with ONI intentionally unmentioned.

"Are we sure that these aren't Remnant? That last attack was messy, and leaving weapons behind intentionally? I don't think they're trying to ramp up tensions, they're testing how the Swords and UNSC respond to it. In my unit before I became a SPARTAN-IV, we did similar tests during the war so we knew response times, what the response teams consisted of and what the best ex filtration routes were with the lowest chance of being spotted or intercepted. We may be walking into something much larger than simple rebels."

Halo: Aegis Team

Spartan Lucas Ryker

Following the others, Lucas' hand unconsciously fell on the grip of his sidearm as he tapped on the side of it thoughtfully. Being near the end of the group that was trailing after the Major, it gave him a chance to ponder things. Like why ONI has three separate agents assigned to the unit. Where are the ODSTs? The decorated Marines who've gone toe to toe with Brutes and came out to tell the tale? Hell, where are the Navy Captains who's tactical talents alone make a mission possible? I don't like it... Over the course of his internal monologue, not only had they arrived at their proposed location for their briefing, but the Major and Vael'Virisusai managed to clear out the other party who was in the way of their briefing.

Ryker took a moment to watch them all stand to leave, appraising them. He recognized most of them as high ranking officials who primarily focused on making sure that the various budgets were appropriately balanced, which would make them, Bean counters. Of COURSE these are the fuckers who were pissing off the major. Hard to believe that ONI, NAVCOM and UNICOM, and Spartan Ops all hate the same desk jockies. Some things I guess. Following the red armored Sangheili to one side of the table, while he chose to sit, Lucas opted to simply remove his helmet once more and setting it facing the central projection.

"So we're skipping simulated death to go straight to regular death. Sounds like a typical Sunday jaunt for the Spartan Ops. What's the mission?"