[Halo] Onyx Wind

[Erik Vale]

"Then perhaps I will see you beg."

Gnomere gracefully cuts of video and outward bound sound as Argyle aproaches, letting only her monotone though.

"I'll stop him before he does anything to drastic. Weapon demolision of everything we don't want to bring back is advised"

A few minutes latter, Argyle regroups with the rest with a few new bloodstains on his armour, and perhaps a second later, a muffled boom occours, as in the cockpit of the wraith, excess weapons are disposed of.

Where any to go to the elite, they would find him unconcious, with one hand and both feet nailed to the ground, and a few nasty cuts that sent the elite into unconciousness from pain beared by gritted teeth and religon. However, the elite isn't dead, and perhaps two meters away, is a single Inferno Grenade, the sort used by dispised brutes. Stripped of all other weapons and communications, if the elite want's to die quickly, it will be painful and weilding weapons just short of deamon weapons.

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Apologies for those who may think this overmuch.
As the elite was said to just be at the Coup de grace point, I assume It couldn't fight of the sparten nailing it down and then delivering some cuts.

[Erasmas]

The elite lays gurgling and wavering in and out of consciousness, obliviously to what goes on around him and slowly bleeding out.

John moves off the where Valen indicated and hits a switch on the Spartan Laser. Targeting a nondescript spot on the ground, he charges the red laser for a few seconds before the weapon beeps three short sounds and Valkyrie responds.

"Coordinates recieved. Initiating inter-atmosphere landing sequence. ETA - two minutes."

Valen then asks John to rig the remaining Ghost, Wraith, and both Hogs for detonation and disposal.

---

1

As the Dawn Evader lifts away from the site, the last members of Onyx Wind aboard, John hits the detonator in his hand, causing a massive explosion to mushroom up in orange and purple into the sky. The shockwave washes over each of you as Valkyrie pilots her way back to the ammunition plant. You catch a glimpse of a large violet dome a little ways further off in the distance, housing a large Covenant spire structure and who knows what else.

Once you return to the ammo facility, your team uncovers and loads up the bodies of Tristan and Hinderance.

---

1

As you begin rocketing back towards the black reaches of outerspace, you catch your last vision of the planet of Helion... the brilliant blue Kallanos setting over a vast body of water.

[Erasmas]

Hinderance, Tristan, and Sammael were all given a private Spartan funeral. Their usual custom-tailored Mjolnir armor and weapons re-appropriated and placed into specially made coffins. The members of your team, being a top secret organization, washed and dressed their bodies in their UNSC uniforms and placed them into the extra-long, black, steel boxes. And after loading them on board the Dawn Evader, the remaining members of Onyx Wind were allowed leave to dispatch to some far corner of space and conduct the funeral for their brothers-in-arms.

Valkyrie presided over the formalities, reading nearly-forgotten passages from ancient books that held some small amount of relevance to the situation. However, the meaning behind her words and the fact that she herself chose them held all the proper emotion that you had all felt. As was customary, you drove the standard issue combat knife of each Spartan to its hilt into the top of their individual coffins. With how thick they were made for withstanding outer space, the blades stood no chance at compromising the integrity of the structure... or perhaps the Fleet Admiral knew of the tradition and purposefully had these built for such a gesture.

Once you all said your goodbyes, the way only Spartans would do, the three bodies were jettisoned into the black beyond; one after the other, in the order of their demise, along the same trajectory - "Together. Feet first into Hell".

---

1

You had been debriefed before you were allowed to go and bury your brothers. However, upon the Dawn Evader's return to Crixus Station (located on the planet Oenomaus in the Rigel system), your team was assembled in the War Room once again.

As usual, when you enter the room dominated by a holographic projection table at its center, Fleet Admiral Harper stands at the far end, leaning over a bright blue recreation of a landscape, filled with small dark blue and red shapes. He was an older man, probably pushing seventy or so, but kept himself in good shape. He was clean-cut and sharp, his piercing blue eyes poised just beneath the surface of a wrinkled face. When you arrive, Harper straightens up and speaks in his loud, clear voice.

"Gentlemen. Amelia, bring up Operation Hawkeye, please."

Immediately, the visage on the table dissolves and reconstitutes itself into the landscape of Helion. Specifically, you recognize the site it shows as where you battled with the Wraith tank... where you lost Sammael. Once you were all situated around the table, he speaks again.

"After discovering Covenant presence on Helion, we sent in our Broadswords and nuked the bastards back to the Stone Age. We hit both the spire installation that you saw as well as the abandoned encampment, just to be safe. Afterward, we sent in Eagle Team to pick up the stragglers. You know what they found?"

The Fleet Admiral walked over to a nearby crate and kicked the lid open in no small amount of anger. Inside, you all clearly see an unfamiliar set of Mjolnir Spartan armor.

"This belonged to Eric T8R... a Spartan who was listed as KIA in the insurrectionist battle that took place on that damn rock three years ago! It wasn't just the suit... T8R was still inside of it when we cooked the whole block; and he was in a facility with several Sangheili higher-ups... weapons full. Now, does someone want to explain to me how a Spartan ends up in the godd@mn room with a split-jaw general and hadn't fired a single f^cking round?!"

Spoiler

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The armor:

Spartan ID photo (on file):

[DoctorFaust]

"Well sir, I can think of a few reasons. He may have been very good at stealth," Volsung says while craning up his neck to get a better view of the armor set, "which doesn't seem likely given the permutations he was using, we may have had a defector in our ranks, or one of the insurrectionists stole his armor after they killed him."

[Erasmas]

Spoiler

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Fleet Admiral Jonas A. Harper (Photo Record - approx. 10 years ago)

"That would have to be one damn big Innie to fill those boots; besides, the DNA matched up. And while he may have been capable of sneaking, as you all are, T8R's favored weapon was the Jackhammer rocket launcher. I doubt very seriously he would've passed up the opportunity to use it."

"Then he was a traitor, sir. But... why?"

Valen shifted uneasily. It was obvious that the idea of a defective Spartan was deeply troubling to him.

"Who knows, Major. The Brains down in Intel seem to think that he was feeding the Covenant sensitive information.", Harper sighs heavily. "We have reason to believe that he tipped them off about Reach..."

A heavy silence falls upon the room, draped over all of you as this particularly disturbing thought sinks in and germinates. Finally, the Fleet Admiral lets the lid to the crate fall closed with a clang, mentally bringing you all back to the room.

"If that was the case, then he got the death he deserved. And now that you have had time to mourn your lost, I have another mission for you. The UNSC Summer Storm, a Mako-class corvette, went dark two days ago. Her automated distress beacon was activated and we haven't be able to raise her since."

Harper moved back to the table and pressed a button, bringing up a three-dimensional holographic representation of the ship; the blue light casting a haunting underglow to the Fleet Admiral's lined face.

"The Summer Storm's mission was to check on the status of Operation: Torpedo, on the planet of Pegasi Delta. The aim of the initial operation was to destroy a Covenant deuterium/tritium refinery. These chemicals are used in the split-jaws' plasma reactors; therefore making this refinery an excellent refueling plant for Covenant ships, right on the edge of UNSC space. When this supply point was destroyed, it tripled the length of Covenant resupply time frames. However, based on intelligence that the facility was secretly being rebuilt, the Summer Storm was sent to verify or dis-confirm."

The officer hit another button and dismissed the image before him and straightened up, folding his forearms behind his back and looking at each of you in the face. It was always difficult to judge what Fleet Admiral Harper was thinking. The nickname used to describe him behind his back was "Stonehenge Harper"; at least it was back before you were assigned to Onyx Wind that is.

"You will be going in to find out what exactly happened and to reclaim some of the UNSC's property. Namely... the ship’s AI, the slipspace drive, and whatever else you deem necessary."

"Permission to speak freely, sir?"

"Granted, Major."

"Sir, what is it that you're not telling us?"

Harper looked to each of you again before he continued.

"I'm bringing in a secondary team to reinforce your squad."

"A secondary team?! But, sir... we've always operated in secrecy and..."

"... and that secrecy has been maintained. The Ivory Initiative is run by me alone, just as your team has been since its inception. The Spartans I have chosen have been training for a over a year to be brought up to speed with what Onyx Wind is capable of, and I expect the same level of discipline and obedience from them as I do from all of you. Understood?"

"Sir, I have never questioned an order from..."

"I said, Am. I. Understood, Spartan?"

The jawline of Valen went visibly taught once more and he snapped to attention as the much shorter man entered his personal space.

"Sir, yes sir, Fleet Admiral Harper, sir."

Harper himself relaxed, though Valen did not.

"Good. Now get some rest. Ivory Team will be arriving later tonight and your mission departs at o-six-hundred. Dismissed."

[Erik Vale]

They where getting reinforcements and trying for ship-board operations. It should go better, unless he got them all trapped.
'No, don't think that way, you can't' Argyle shook his head with the thoughts.

"Well then, Marching orders recieved. Sleep sounds good."
[Gnomere + Iaoch]"Shipboard mission. Put through locker requests."
[Gnomere + Argyle] "List accessed. Quatermaster alerted."
[Iaoch and Argyle] "It'll be a short sleep. Getting in and out of this armour."

Argyle begins moving as soon as they are dismissed.

[DoctorFaust]

"Gods yes. Sleep sounds amazing right now," Volsung says, as he rises from the chair and stretches, his knees popping from the time he spent sitting on the way in. He crosses the room in six long steps, banging one fist on the door frame on his way out. Out in the corridor, he leans against the wall as he transmits several requests to the resident quartermaster.
"Doc, you mind transmitting the list of stuff I need to Q?"
"No, but did you really have to include 'a code to shut my damn AI up once in a while' on it?"
"Yes. Yes I did."
Unsealing and removing his helmet with a small hiss, Volsung shows a rare smile as he walks back down the hallway to the bunks.

[Erasmas]

"Well... that went well."

Valen was only sarcastic when he was angry about something. He moved immediately to the AAES (Automated Armor Engagement System) station, located in the team's Ready Room here on-base. It was much larger than the one onboard the Dawn Evader and could handle two Spartan's at once and took about a third of the time.

Within Crixus Station, Onyx Wind had their own private section that was entirely isolated from the rest of the compound. This allowed you to live, exercise, eat, sleep, and train without compromising your identity. You spent far less time here than on the Evader and it was way more room than the four of you remaining needed, so it almost seemed like a waste. Almost.

Within hours, while you were all "relaxing" (which really just meant sleep
and/or exercising), Crixus Station's AI, Amelia, broadcasted throughout your sector.

"Onyx Wind, please be advised that the hardware you have requested has been loaded onboard the UNSC Dawn Evader and will be available upon your departure."

[Erik Vale]

Argyle didn't look up from his punching bag.
A small, pretty useless thing in the scheme of things.
Unless he was venting, in which case he had a small line of other bags to put up when he knocked one off (He had insisted no one fix it. Said it helped.). It didn't take an AI to guess what he was venting about.

"Thanks. Appologies for burning through the grenades. I know it's expensive."
Dispite saying sleep sounded good, Argyle made no move to go to sleep, and didn't move to any other training stations... He didn't exactly have a boxing partner at the moment.

As soon as that thought crossed his mind, Argyle threw a solid punch that removed the bag from the stand it hung on.
Almost absent mindedly, Argyle bends over to replace the bag.

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Yes, stolen almost straight from the Avengers. Do you have complaints?

[Erasmas]

Amelia responded, with her usual lack of emotion or comprehension of human interaction. It simply wasn't in her programming; she was completely utilitarian. Her personality made Valkyrie seem all the more warm and fuzzy by comparison.

"The expenses incurred by your team are well within the perimeters set by Fleet Admiral Harper."

[DoctorFaust]

Volsung rolls off of the bunk where he was just sleeping, rubbing his eyes to wake himself up. "Aw, thanks Amy. It's always nice to hear how much you like us," he deadpans as he reaches down to shake John into wakefulness, and then climbs back into his bunk to sleep more, almost absentmindedly dodging the punch John throws in retaliation on the way back up.

[Erasmas]

Amelia interrupts whatever you find yourself in the middle of and speaks plainly.

"The members of the Ivory Initiative have landed. They are being directed to the Foyer and your presence has been ordered."

With that, she dematerializes. As you finish up and head to the entry room into your sector, you hear the door beginning to unlatch. After the series is completed, the door swings open to reveal six Spartans, recognizable even without their armor.

Valen steps forward and speaks.

"Ivory Team, welcome to Crixus Station. I am Major Valen V21, known as Onyx One. Get to know the sector, settle in, but don't unpack too much. As I am sure you already know, we head out at O-six-hundred tomorrow... so make sure that you get some rest."

[moomoo]

Anex on his turn steps forward:
Hello sir, I am warrant officer Anex 544, Ivory 2. My specialties are Stealth and scouting. Pleasure to work under you sir.

[Thump]

One of the tallest members of the groups steps forward, with a charming smile and confident step. She has short, cropped red hair with a black T-shirt and sweatpants, and if one were to pay close enough attention, a long scar ringing all around her right wrist, with latent stitch-marks, and heavy black circles under her eyes. She is dragging a small cart, which carries suitcases of various sizes and shapes, the largest being about six and a half feet long, and two feet wide.

"Thank you for the kind introduction, Onyx One. I'm Ivory 3, or Ceara, combat designation T97, demolitionist and heavy-weapons expert."

She then looks around, and gives a loud yawn.

"Could someone direct me to the barracks? I'll take you up on that offer of rest... I haven't slept much. I can take care of my gear, I already have most of it right here. Amelia said that it would be delivered to my quarters, but I insisted on taking my essential gear with me. She got a bit irritated, if that's the right word. Maybe stubborn would fit it."

[Erasmas]

"Amelia is fond of... order. It's just her way. Barracks are down that hall, past the showers. Two per room, but stow your gear in the corner of the Training Area... you won't have room in your bunk for it."

Onyx 1 then focuses on the squad once more.

"I have already been informed that your individual suits are being loaded on the Dawn Evader as we speak. If you will, please submit your weapon and equipment requirements to the Quartermaster by no later than twenty-hundred so that we will be locked and loaded before the sun comes up. We will not wait on you; if you are not ready, you will get left behind. I want a briefing with everyone present in the War Room at nineteen-hundred, so that gives you a little more than three hours to get settled. If you have any questions, ask Amelia, one of the members of Onyx Team, or find me. Dismissed, Spartans."

[DoctorFaust]

Vaulting over the side of his bed as the Spartans file into the room, his duster flapping out behind him as he lands, Volsung steps up with the rest of Onyx and waits as the first round of introductions are made, followed by Valen's orders, and then steps forward again. He takes a deep, overly grandiose bow, straightens up, and flashes a lazy smile as he says, "Hello there new people. My name is Volsung R39, and I'm the one that you don't want to die. I serve as the battlefield medic and secondary communications officer, as well as an interrogator should the need ever arise. The quiet one that isn't standing is John, the pilot and demoman."

John waves, still stretched out on the lower bunk, and grunts a greeting before Volsung continues.

"I'm sure some of us would rather see our departed comrades, may they rest in peace, positions left unfilled, but I for one welcome being brought back up to strength. And I would recommend getting some rest. We're in for a fun day tomorrow," he says, before smiling again, this time peeling his lips back to expose his canines, as if in anticipation of a hunt.

[RagingKrikkit]

The shortest of the new arrivals moved to greet the doctor. Extending his hand, he introduced himself. "Jason. E507. I'm a hacking specalist, and hopefully a good enough shot as well."

[Erik Vale]

Argyle runs over Dossiers as he gains access to them, his tinted hud would be blue if it wasn't black to begin with.his small pad glowing rather brightly as he scrolls through. Two largish USB stick like protrusions stick out the side.

"Fresh meat. Yum. I could just chem em up."
"Play nice Iaoch. Appologies, My AI's are vocal. It is good to meet another Technical operations specialist."
"Aditional Scouting, Medical and Hacking Support. Why do I suddenly feel as If I'm becoming Redundent. Oh, and Tactical AI."
"Becoming one of the crowd bothering you?"
"Always."

Argyle minimises the Dossiers as he looks up entering the room the new Arivals are in.
"Greetings. It seems the desperate dead are quick to have their places refilled."
"I thought you were telling me to play nice..."
"Hehahaha."
"Quiet you two. It is nice to set eyes on you, I hope the shoes fit. I'm Argyle, the two other voices are my AI's Iaoch and Gnomere, we will try to keep the merged voices to a minimum. On the feild I am Onyx-3 and just Onyx-3. I'll let you know now I refer to myself as Unit in combat before you get concerned for my sanity on the field."
"Yea. He's Fine, I got him tested."
It was Iaoch's turn to laugh.
It was clear the Tech Opps specialist had a good rapport with his AI's. His greeting seems more polite and refrained then it seems on the surface, almost like an act.

[Creed]

During introductions, Dante remains quiet, then speaks up towards the end.
"Spartan Warrant Officer Dante, reporting for duty, sir."
The Spartan salutes Onyx 1 and then stands, arms crossed, as he surveys Onyx Wind.

[packersfan]

James snaps to salute. Spartin G426 reporting for duty, Sir. James then relaxs. I can be use for support where its need, but I can do a pretty good job at flying if I'm need to.

[Thump]

With another loud yawn, it is followed by tired laughter.

"Well, it's certainly nice to meet you two as well, Argyle and Volsung. Don't worry about us being left behind though, Sir. We'll be there. We've been training for it for a long time, anyways."

With that, she turns towards the barracks, and starts walking, only to stop for a moment and turn her head around.

"Oh, and Volsung? If you need someone to pair with you, ask Dante. He's taken more serious injuries than I can count on hands and feet during training that would have killed most of us, and he's only gotten tougher because of that. You have nothing to worry about."

[Unbeknownst]

Saluting, Valeria ran through her spiel, her Old-Style greatcoat over her uniform fluttering silently at her heels, "Warrent Officer Valeria, Spartan Designations Foxtrot-Uniform-Two-Three, Special Operations Sniper and Field medic. Glad there are two medics. Treating your own wounds suck."

[Erasmas]

You spend the next several hours either getting to know one another or exploring the limited space allowed your two teams. When the time comes to gather for the briefing ordered by Valen, you all make your way to the War Room. Once there, you see yet another holographic table, with a Mako-class Corvette on display... one that you imme diately recognize as the UNSC Summer Storm.

Valen is already there, wearing clothes that he had obviously been working out in - a pair of cloth shorts and tank top. A dark streak of sweat darkened the spine of his shirt and he sported a towel around his neck.

"I'm sure that the Fleet Admiral has apprised your team of the situation. We will be going in, gathering the objectives and ascertaining what happened, and then getting out of there. If you have any questions or recommendations... now is the time to voice them."

[DoctorFaust]

Leaning back in a chair in the corner of the room, Volsung calls out, "Actually sir, I do have a few questions. First and foremost of which is are we splitting the group. Secondly, would you mind transmitting the deckplan and cargo manifest to Argyle and I so we're not going in blind? And lastly, since Old Stonehenge is giving us some leeway on what else to recover, what would you consider priority targets?"

[packersfan]

Also Sir, what can we be expecting in terms of deployment and extraction? Can we be expection to fly yourselves in and out or will be deployed onto the haul and then breach our way onto the ship?

[Erasmas]

"Unfortunately, we won't know exactly what we're in for until we are able to get eyes on the ship. With her distress signal having been activated, I think it's safe to say that she ran into some kind of trouble. Whether we split the team will largely depend on how much of this trouble seems to still be around. As for what we're carting home... she wasn't carrying much, since she was on a recon mission. The deckplans should already be loaded in Valkyrie's mainframe, we can get it from her."

Valen then turned his attention to field James' question.

"Again, this plan has to be fluid... as it will likely change once we are on the ground, figuratively speaking Sargent. As for now, the plan is to dock here, with the ship-to-ship docking coupler. We could fly in and land in one of the landing bays... but the Evader will be too bulky.It's possible that we should expect this situation to be hot. I have been informed that most of our cargo is being removed to streamline the Dawn Evader's weight to compensate for the weight of the extra Mjolnir armor and the returning slipspace drive, as well as..."

The team leader places his hands on his hips and sighs.

"... to make room for the two Sabre-class fighters that we are being ordered to take with us. So, Harper is either being cautious..."

[Unbeknownst]

"Right, so we want whatever intel happens to be on the ship? Along with figuring out what the f**k happened to it of course." Val asked.

[moomoo]

... or something is going on that he hasn't told us, Anex finishes the sentence in his head.

Meanwhile he looks for the reactions of his teammates, especially the onyx ones. It is good to know what your enemies are thinking but sometimes, it is even better to know what your allies are considering.

He then smiles at James
There's a chance we are going to need those flying skills of you.

[Erik Vale]

"I think we know what Happened to it. Unless..."
Argyle shrugs, not being briefed on how much the others know.
"Lets not tempt the thought." Iaoch is kind enough to reply. Someone spares a thought as to how much free rain Argyle's AIs have.

Argyle thinks a moment
"We will need 1 or two clips of Frangible rounds for shipboard combat, Not total in case of shielded or hardened targets. And additional demolitions gear could be useful... Have we been informed of how close support is going to be on this mission, or are we pretty much flying in blind, I want to know how much my luck is going to have to hold."
Gnomere has a thought as to Onyx Wind's luck that shouldn't bear thinking.

[Erasmas]

"Intel is a secondary priority, but a priority none-the-less, yes. AI and Hardware first... then we worry about the software. As the pieces of the puzzle are coming in, I am becoming somewhat afraid that this might end up being a Smash & Grab mission, with Recon being a luxury we may or may not be afforded."

Valen pulls the towel from around his neck, wads it up, and throws it half-heartedly into a nearby chair. Those of Ivory Team who were paying attention, could see the lettering of a tattoo peeked out from beneath the upper parts of Onyx 1's tank top. He placed the heels of his palm on the edge of the table and leaned forward, staring into the visage of the Summer Storm as if he were reading a crystal ball.

"Frangible rounds would be a good idea, Argyle. Get with everyone and find out count and caliber and let the Quartermaster know, would you? I'll take one mag for my Battle Rifle and two for the SMG."

Valen enlarges the image and gives an 'exploded view' of the interior layout.

"I have also been told that if the ship is indeed derelict and we cannot fly her home, that our orders are to destroy her. So Demo Team... John and Ceara... I want you to get with one another and find her vulnerable spots, work out a plan. If we're going to have to blow her up, I want it done with both minimal charges and time."

The communications officer rights himself and folds his arms across his chest.

"And there will be no support on this one, Argyle. We're taking in everything we're going to need on the Evader and... unless we bring the Mako back with us... everything goes out on the Evader as well. Any other questions?"