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John-117	It's one of those worlds that doesn't even have a name, just a numerical entry in the UNSC database. Either so recently discovered or so strategically pointless that there was never any need to actually have someone name it. It's a harsh, dry and utterly barren world, with very little to recommend to anyone or anything.     And yet that is where the signal is coming from. It's a UNSC signal, an automated one, the sort of thing that might get triggered if the user is in distress - or, as a last minute way to track them. If the Master Chief is down there, he's dead, or wounded, in trouble, or without anyone else. All of those possibilities promise different things to those who hear the signal. After all, it's no secret that the UNSC has been having issues with him - and it's no secret that there might be interesting loot to find if he's no longer living. Hell, maybe there's still a reward for the body.     Those who head down to the surface would find that the local area the Chief's signal can be tracked to is a harsh desert. Flat windswept plains, gusts of wind kicking up sand that gets into eyes and mouths and intake vents. The sun beats down relentlessly, making any prospect of standing out in the open air an unwelcoming one. Luckily, however, there's the unmistakable clean, angular lines of a Forerunner structure in the nearby distance, possibly revealed by years of sand being stripped away. A great arch leads down into the darkness. The footsteps of a tall figure wearing heavy armor lead to it.     As do many others. Some small, some large, a few huge. Whatever else - SPARTAN-117 isn't here alone.
Courier Six	Well doesn't this look awfully familiar. The flash of light of a teleportation platform resolves itself into the sight of one Mr. Johnny Tallbranch. Cowboy hat, duster, Pipboy all of that check, along with a scarf tied around his face to keep the sand and dust out of his mouth and lungs.     Almost as if he's done this one plenty of times.     He sniffs and grumbles, shuffling around to button the duster tighter and look around. That structure sure looks familiar somehow, something comofrting about the smooth lines and busted look of the old ruins.     The cowpoke shuffles on after the footprints, radioing up to the rest of the folks that are poppign into orbit. <<Looks to me like the Master Chief might not be entirely lost.>>
Noble Six	It has been weeks since anyone in the UNSC had heard from 117. They'd been on the verge of marking him as MIA officially, then the signal came in. A Prowler had picked it up. They weren't equipped to investigate it, but ONI knew who was.     That's why the MJOLNIR clad SPARTAN-III is following the footprints laid out in the sand before her. She had been dispatched to find 117, dead or alive. She had to confirm his status one way or another. He wasn't the first of the remaining IIs to go missing for a long period of time only to show up again. Grey Team exceled at that sort of thing.     Noble Six had one of the newly issued UNSC M739 SAWs equipped, holding it at the low ready as she scanned across the sands for signs of John. The other footprints...She knows what they go to. She wonders how many of them are still alive. She's seen 117 kill a Hunter bare handed, so she doubts many.
Staren	Staren teleports towards the signal from the warpgate, then pulls a magic broom out of his bag and flies closer on that, following the trail of footprints in the air. He's wearing his armor, because if something put the Master Chief in distress, he's going to need it... He doesn't know what the footprints mean. He hasn't run into those aliens.
Starbound Flotilla	"Tall. Heavy. Armor. Many weaponsss, probably." "Ugh. Sounds like the old USCM." "Mmh. Not matter if like. We follow." "Either they will pay well for the recovery of his body, or we will find another path to another chapter. Regardless, we seek the beacon." "Worried. They lead into that structure. It is almost what the Ancients built, but so much larger..." "Aye, lass, and so much more profit in it I'm bettin'. Better find it 'fore the other tracks do, ye dogs!" "Enough. Squad, move out."     The STARBOUND FLOTILLA are here, in their standard Durasteel exploration equipment! Moonfin, the fishman, is in elaborate full-body durasteel armor that looks like a powered cross between a diving suit and a samurai's armor, glowing cyan at the faceplate. Biteblade, the humanoid plant, is in durasteel plating with elaborately carved wood and bone ornaments over glowing powered components that glow an intense green. Pavo the bird-girl wears a pirate-aesthetic set of mesoamerican-style armor, with yellow bands of energized fabric linking the pieces and powering them. Albert the monkey-man is wearing elaborate dystopian commando armor reconstructed with a 'rebel spy' aesthetic: A sleeker faceplate, a slimmer form, and a more chaotic design that integrates thin, resilient plates of durasteel, and lines of bright white. George (just plain human) wears a set of futuristic EVA-combat and exploration armor in a suit that glows a gentle red at the faceplate. Seft, the robotic Flotilla member, is wearing full-on medieval knight armor with a soft energized blue glow below the plates on her body, and especially around the eyes. Each has a heavy industrial-yellow two-pronged plasma-cutter-like tool strapped to their side, a Matter Manipulator.     They're hiking through the desert, tracking down the signal. Seft, of course, is operating their sensor array, trying to pinpoint it. The heavy industrial sensor suite occupies both hands, and she sweeps it around, trying to get a better lock, but it's unlikely to pierce the forerunner structure well. They're going to follow the tracks -- Biteblade leads that charge -- and any of the other Flotilla members along for the ride are invited to be with them! They did, after all, hike here from a nearby teleport-compatible spot, and they are letting any of their members use heat-protection Nanoskins. They're going to search out an entrance to the structure, if they can, a place for them to begin looking inside. Sticking close together, if they can find it, they'll move on in without much delay.
Yukihana Masamune	Being a little honest, Yukihana has something of no true understanding of why she's even here currently. It was... Curiosity mostly that had drawn the fox-girl. After the previous day's eye-opening and life-changing events despositing her squarely on the ship of a one Captain 'Nobeard', carousing through space with a jolly band of pirates.     It's... Interesting.     Still troubled by said events, however, means sometimes the best way to take one's mind off them is to get up, go out, and find something to do. ... And that's probably why there's now a fix-girl in an ornate pink kimono on the desert, holding a katana and looking as lost and bewildered as she should, peeking over Biteblade's shoulder while the Flotilla crew inspects the footprints, before just kind of... Following along after them.
HK-47	How ironic that, after having tried to eliminate one Spartan... HK-47 would be drawn onto the trail of another?     Let alone the only other Spartan that rivaled his target?     Trudging through the desert with soft clacks of shifting armor and metal against shifting grains of sand, the droid stepped from the gate and strode across the harsh desert that awaited on the other side.     Due to his notable hight - a head taller then most humans - one could almost mistake HK-47 for a Spartan himself if they didn't see his form. Kept hidden beneath a dense sand-worn cloak, the feint glow of the droids' red photoreceptors beneath the coal of his hood are likely the only thing that might give him away as being something else. Following in his steps, two HK-51 units - both garbed in their own cloaks - trailed at his flanks.     He hadn't partaken in a desert hunt for quite some time... but while his assassination protocols urged him to rectify this, the assassin droid was more motivated by the feeling of curiosity surging out from his creative simulation matrix.     John-117, known to his fellows as 'Master Chief', had been absent for some time. What made him decide to reappear now? And what was the cause for his lack of contact with the wider multiverse, or even his own universe for that matter?     As a result of that, HK-47 was willing to... forgo certain hostilities in the interest of learning these details.     After all... one needed to know their enemies to best eviscerate them. And observing the so called 'living legend' would be an educational experience that would go a long way in pinpointing that goal's most effective route.     Striding up a few paces to observe the sands, the droid levels his disruptor rifle to peer through the scope, seeking out any potential targets for extermination - and perhaps to see if he can locate the armor-clad meatbag warrior they were sent here to find.     When he speaks, he does so using his standard voice and speech patterning - best not to act like he is /trying/ to hide something. "Observation - Many of these tracks match UNSC records for known Covenant species, the primary combat threats being 'Brute' and 'Elite' forces. With the reputation of John-117 among them, it would not be surprising if 'Jackal' or 'Hunter' units were encountered either, among others." The droid pauses, processors analyzing any conclusions to be initially drawn from this. "Analysis - Based on past records, it is unlikely this force would be enough to kill or even subdue the target. However, if they have tracked our quarry this far into the desert when not even the UNSC could locate him, it is likely we may face reinforcements from hostile Covenant meatbags. Advisory - I recommend we charge all weapons to maximum, in the event we encounter any such meatbags too incompetent to make the disappointingly-smart choice and stand down when confronted by superior-quality combatants."      ... his regarding the Chief as 'quarry' likely will not win him any affection points with Noble Six.
Rory White	Dressed in skintight armor woven of fibrous metamaterials that flex like muscles and thrum with energy, Rory looks very different from her usual scientific self. She's tied up her blue hair in a ponytail, and then bound that up so it won't get in the way. She does not seem to care about the DRASTIC shift this has on the shapely body her fellows sculpted - she's far, far more interested in checking over the array of small weapons she's strapped to hard points on it. The suit pulses with active and passive tiny sensors, with several larger packages seemingly integrated into the fibers and a few of her saucers kept in a pouch.     She seems a bit put-off by the sandy terrain however, periodically kicking her feet left and right to clean off sand. So much dust and grit!     "I'd rather we find him alive. We seem to be on the trail of a very skilled and accomplished man. It's only right to rescue him!" But this structure worries her. She's never seen Forerunner construction before, and it's quite weird.     She strolls over to the thing and attempts further analysis idly while people are still preparing.     Her attention swivels over at HK-47. "Meat... 'meatbags?'"     Yukihana's presence is also taken in with a bit of worry. She has not really had any chance to get familiar with her. So she walks over and... hands her a plum-sized device, easily enough stuffed in a pocket. "This is a nanobandage. If you're injured, press this against the wound. It will dull pain and staunch any bleeding!"     Perhaps not the best way to greet someone, but they're going into dangerous places here!
Kotone Yamakawa	Kotone Yamakawa is fairly quick to arrive with the rest of the Flotilla personel showing up. She was geared up in her stealth gear but was carying a number of pouches and suchg that would carry extra supplies with her, she just recovered frm beaming in and she's already going about setting up a local tatical net. <<Hooking up now>> It's likely just her Seft and Rory on it but corridnation helps a lot, right? She notices that Yukiahana has jouined them and she's tailing after the rest near her. She is a bit uneasy with HK however she's heard things over the comm about him after all. She turns her attention to keeping with Yukihana who totally does not look out of place here /at/ all. "Hey we could hook you up with some better gear if you want." She nods to Rory for a moment as she speaks about rescuing the Master Chief, she's heard of him to be sure and his record. He shouldn't be left to die on a no name world like this alone.
Starbound Flotilla	"It is good to see you joining us in our work, child." "Sssword fox friend! Hi! You follow Floran, get to where fun isss, alwaysss." "Welcome on, lass. Ye ready for a taste of what it's like workin' with us?" Albert grunts and keeps close with the swordsmith. "You are combat-capable. I will help keep you uninjured if you stay close." He's going to be focusing on keeping more proximity to Rory, though, since she's much less combat-capable. "Confirming, Miss Yamakawa." Seft beeps briefly! <<Professional. Tacnet connection tested and functional.>> "Keep it careful, yeah? USCM weren't worth trusting and I don't put a ton of faith in the UNSC to break that stellar track record."
John-117	The wind howls, kicking up a spray of sand and grit.      The Covenant prints - correctly identified by many of those closing in on the structure - continue inside. There's a large cavernous portal, easily large enough to drive a Warthog down, that leads at a slight angle down beneath the surface. Soft blue lights glow from sections of the wall, floor and ceiling, making the darkness only slightly less uninviting. The power's still on - which could be good, or it could be bad. The UNSC signal continues to pulse out from somewhere down there, allowing Seft, Noble Six and the others an easy way to know they're heading in the right direction. There's a lot of intereference from some kind of ambient background radiation - or maybe an energy field - that makes many other sensor readings difficult at best.      Something moves in the blue light and shadows, however, just inside the entrance tunnel. Four squat figures - Covenant Grunts, going by their strange squealing language - and one taller one, standing over seven feet, wearing the sleek lines of a Covenant Elite. The war against the Covenant is over, however, so it's likely that these fighters belong to one of the many splinter factions who refused to accept the end of the war. "Keep an eye out for the Demon," the Elite growls, his attention on his unruly subordinates, "That defiler may double back! Stand tall, focus!"      It appears the various responders to the signal might be able to get the drop on the five aliens. They shouldn't be too hard to kill or disperse, although the Elite could be a problem.      On the plus side, it's much more temperate inside the structure. Thanks heavens for unknowable aliens and their advanced technology.
Courier Six	Lots of people here for this one. Mr. Tallbranch tosses salutes at the bunch of people he does know, casts a rather weary gaze at the chatty and murderour HK, and winks at Noble.     Though. "George, just be careful with too much of that assement. Big governments are big and bits of them are always rotten. That said, they're pretty much always valuble to keep at arm's length." A grin as they move inside the structure, and...     Well isn't this a fine sight. He's tangled with this lot before, though some people have a lot more experience. He clicks over to quieter comms as he pulls out the YCS/186 and shoulders the coilgun to his shoulder. <<...Really? They call him the Demon? I got the one on the far leeft beaded in, lemme know when you want ot take the shot.>>
Noble Six	The Sanghelli are always an issue, but if you take them down first, the others will go down much quicker. Head of the snake and all. Noble Six stops moving when she hears the voice of the Elite, raising a fist up to indicate the others should stop moving. <I have the Elite. Take care of the others when you get my signal.>     She suddenly fades out of existance, active camoflage going life. The Covenant pulled this trick on them far too many times, it's only fair to return the favor whenever possible. While most of the Sanghelli are now allied with the UNSC, there's plenty of bad eggs, just like in humanity.     She slips through to get behind the Elite, her right hand coming up to grab the large combat tanto blade connected to the left side of her webbing rig. Sliding it free from the sheath, she moves in close enough, moving slow and steady.     With a sudden flurry of movement, she reaches out to grab the Elite by armored helmet, to yank his head back and then ram the combat knife up between all four of his mandables. That's the signal, by the way.
Staren	Staren lands at the entrance of the structure, putting the broom back in the bag that should be too small for it. At the sight of enemies??? he unshoulders his laser rifle, but he looks questioningly at the others for whether they're going to attack or--     --Oh. Okay. That looks like the signal. Staren turns and fires a 3-pulse burst at one of the other aliens. It's powerful enough to blow apart the lightest armors of his own world in one burst, and most non-powered armors in two. Time to see how it does against the Covenant!
Courier Six	Johnny shakes his head as Noble does her thing and smiles. Ain't ever half-measures with her.     There's a /bark/ as the Railgun fires, launching a projectile at a small fraction of c at the grunt.
Starbound Flotilla	Biteblade takes a swig of water directly from her Matter Manipulator to ease the dryness as she leads the others down, then draws a heavy magnetic bow out of it and nocking a tungsten bolt. Albert makes a signal with his hands, and the other Starbounders follow suite. Seft draws her heavy laser pistol while Pavo draws her own energy rifle, and George pumps a shotgun, while Albert himself hefts a heavy grenade launcher. Only Moonfin draws his Power Katana, sticking to melee. "Alert. Sensor failures. We are getting closer, but no additional data." "Don't worry, Johnny. I always give 'em a chance to fuck up first." "The soldier is providing orders." "Eh, fuck 'em." "Keep in line. They'll provide timing." "Time? Oh! Isss fight for now." "Aye aye, cap'n. We got the irons all lined up on some different colors there." "They are an obstacle. We should clear them with grace." "Worried. The tallest one is dangerous. I will provide help to the soldier." "A melee target. I will, as well."     The Starbounders know how to handle unfamiliar aliens. When it comes time, they'll close in violently. Moonfin with a flashing, humming blade, Seft with a heavy pistol from a range, spitting a gush of bright red light. Moonfin is going for the arms of the Elite, trying to reduce its counterattack potential. Meanwhile, George, Pavo, and Biteblade are opening fire on the grunts. Biteblade, particularly, is using gear that you'd normally lance through heavy armor with! It's designed to shatter armor off the body in waves, If they can take the group down all at once, she's going to pounce on some of those grunts and immediately start partaking of fresh meat. Albert, keeps his grenades to himself. Too many melee sorts. He covers the opposite entry space with careful aim.
HK-47	HK-47 tilts his head to address the female in the nano mesh suit - a mechanical half-rotation of his upper-half accompanying this, his glowing red receptors peeking out from beneath his hood as he speaks helping to identify him as hardly being human. "Statement - Oh, yes indeed. After all, the body of a typical 'organic' is little more then a sack of flesh pulled taunt around a series of squishy sac-like fluidic components supported by a rather frail skeletal structor comprised of calcium, carbon and other inefficient construction materials."      As they keep walking, the droid proceeds t continue what is quickly becoming a tangent that might be making Rory regret having asked. "Continuation - And furthermore, there is all the /sloshing/ caused as your internal circulatory systems perpetually pump fluid across your forms without pause, in addition to the shifting and settling of your internal components beneath the layers of tissue covering your torso and abdominal regions, such as when your digestive tract starts churning to process pre-deposited nutrition or request more of it." Were it possible, the droid's gesture might be taken as one of open pity. "Musing - Were I not so convinced that the common meatbag has only as adapt a logic-processing center as a common Remote droid, I would find it impossible to believe anything could endure such endless sensory torment and not be driven utterly insane."     And so a valuable lesson is learned for those that had to sit and listen to the droid talk; /never/ ask an HK unit about meatbags. As they entered the structure - identified in UNSC records as belonging to a race dubbed 'the Forerunners' - HK-47 cannot help but feel slight sparkings of the feeling one would call 'nostalgia' flickering through his circuits. Something about the ancient structure - perhaps it's seemingly-pristene state in spite of it's advanced age - reminded the droid of Rakatan construction. The Star Forge, in spite of being over 20,000 years old, had been in what one could call perfect condition.     The fact that the Forerunners were regarded as having a similar role in this universe's history as the Rakata did in his own only made the comparison more apt in the droid's processors.     The droid also takes note of the persistent disturbance form the ambient radiation, wondering what device their target must have been using that could cut through it enough to reach beyond the planet.     Then there is movement in the dark.     The growled utterances of the primary fleshbag target - an 'Elite' - validated that not only was John-117 here, but that he was indeed still very much alive if the Covenant defectors were actively engaging counteroffensive protocols waiting for him to double back on them.     Then the Spartan-III acts, and HK follows suit, pulling his combat vibroknife and attempting to mimic her actions, stepping behind a Grunt and striking with the knife, intending to drive the blade through it's throat and twist sharply to sever the major arteries and windpipe.     Likewise, the HK-51's both take a knee and ready their disruptor rifles... though of course, not being as competent, they both end up aiming for the same target.     Of course, this means that it is unlikely the Grunt will be able to doge the attack... and the droids are eager to see how the disintegrating properties of a disruptor rifle will function on Covenant forces, wondering if it will be rendered a steaming husk of a skeleton the same as a human would.
Yukihana Masamune	Center of attention, suddenly! Vulpine ears splay somewhat bashfully when Rory 'greets' her with medical equipment. Now the slight issue in this is that kimonos... Kind of lack pockets. But Yukihana takes it anyway, with nothing to give in return but a formal- if somewhat hasty bow. "-Th... Thank you. But I will try my best to not have need of it." Mumbled, before she crowds herself in with the Starbounders when told to keep close. "I thought I would try to distract myself." She replies to the lot of them somewhat sheepishly. If she's useful in the process then so be it.     Happening upon the squad of Covenant, the kitsune's brow furrows. "... What manner of creatures are tho-"     It seems they're intended to be the 'dead' manner when N6 sets to her grim task and gives the 'signal' for bloodshed by moving in for a clean kill. Everyone around her is drawing weapons, but she opts to not draw her blade, taking a much more passive role to the sudden melee.     If any of the grunts so much as look at her, she'll lock eyes with the strange twittering little methane breathing creatures.     Unfortunately, looking into her red eyes, right now, might cause paralysis or even unspeakable terror, despite her serene expression.
Rory White	Sensing how things are about to get VERY complicated very fast, Rory deploys her thought-threads early. Dozens of them process in parallel, merging within minutes after coming to useful conclusions. It leads to a lot of stress in sa few ways, but she has been learning tricks for problems like this.     Twenty minutes of analysis and insight is over with in about one minute. She is not going to get overwhelmed by working from a bodily perspective THIS time. Not with proper resource management!     Surrprised or not, all the sudden violence has her irritated. Impassively she whips out one of her weapons and opens fire - with beads of expanding, hardening FOAM for the Grunts and lighter enemies. The riot foam is great for incapacitating small fry without killing and doesn't interfere with breathing!     She's doing her typical tacnet management, pegging enemies and mapping the area and conditions, but isn't able to hide her disgust much at the situation. Her whole face is like one massive frown.
Kotone Yamakawa	Kotone Yamakawa takes a moment to deploy a small recon drone of her own sending it flying into teh sky to give the entire group some addtional recon. She pauses at Seft's reply over the tac net. <<Copy that looks like we're all caught up though what incident is George talking about?>> Kotone gives Yuukihana a nod as she understands her choice. "Don't worry about it then." She gets the idea they are going tobe going into the ruins. She does howev er notice the alien tracks nad is going to keep on her guard for a moment. "I'm still gettin th signal and looks like we're not the first ones here from those track...." When she hears the voices she shuts up and gets quite. <<Ready to move...>> She wondered how she ended up in a life like this? She takes aim with her SMG mutters a brief I'm sorry and snaps off a burst shot at one of the aliens. She does not want to think about HK-47's words are a bit shocking the hunter killer unit seemed to think more than about his job, which made her wonder about that. She also gets the meatbag even if the look on her face shows she's not fond of the notion. Still they got to worry about the Xrays again though these ones talk a hell of a lot more than the ones she's used to.
John-117	All in all, it goes pretty well.     Noble Six steps out of the shadows and jams her blade deep into the Elite's braincase. He howls out something incoherent and slured and, somehow, goes to raise his plasma rifle towards the SPARTAN-III. But it's Moonfin to the rescue, who steps in to sever the Elite's arms, the plasma rifle dropping to the floor.     Perhaps because of the sudden display of violence, or the fact that they caught Yukihana's eyes, the Grunts immediately break and attempt to flee into the reassuring darkness of the Forerunner structure. They don't get far - Staren pops one with a three-shot burst, Courier Six' railgun reduces another to little more than a fine mist, HK-47 catches one and practically decapitates it, and with Biteblade's anti-armor attack having stripped away their protection, alongside co-ordinated fire from George, Pavo and Kotone, the disruptor fire from the HK-51s practically screams overkill.     Biteblade, for her part, would find the Grunt meat cold, thanks to their enviromental suits, and tasting vaguely of methane. It might not be too satisfying.     With the door guards down, the team is free to continue onwards. The hall continues downwards at a gentle slope for what feels like forever, with the background radiation still preventing anything but the most general of sensor locks. As they walk, more blue lights flare to life at their feet - perhaps the ruins are responding to the humans in the group. Either way, the hall opens up into one hell of an atrium.     It's circular, filled with pillars that stretch up towards the cavernous roof where things that might be blue fireflies dance like distant stars. Numerous levels and hallways lead from the main floor, like the spokes of a wheel. Conduits pulse and flare with blue energy, running from somewhere deep in the structure and up through the walls. Splitting the area in two, there's a great chasm that seems to go down forever into unending darkness. A blue bridge, seemingly made from solid light, does, however, lead across towards a door on the far side. If that bridge is active, and if the ruins are responding to humans, then a human has to have gone that way.     However, two Hunters, giant aliens clad in heavy blue plate, wielding a cannon on one arm and a great shield on the other, bar the path on the near side of the bridge. They don't seem to be moving to engage, for the moment, but it's clear that they won't be letting anyone past. However, if they were engaged, perhaps some people could slip past them...     Unfortunately, before the group can decide on their course of action, there's a volley of green bolts from above. On one of the upper balconies, over looking the main floor, a gaggle of Jackals has set up for sniping. Their long rifles are propped in the crook of their circular energy shields, and they rain down fire on the group!
Starbound Flotilla	"Reverent. This place... It is like the architecture of the Creator Species." "Do you feel at home, Seft?" "...Somber. I don't."     Cold meat is fine. Methane, too, is fine; Biteblade breathes carbon dioxide in the first place, it's not like she gives much of a fuck! She's most interested in the meat, because it can boost her FAR past the loss in energy and regenerative power she gets from not being in the sun. She gnaws on it on the way down, as the rest of the group progresses. "Sensors?" "Negative. Non-specific." "Ignore them. Focus on direct observation." "Aye, cap'n. I'm directly observin' some glitch lookin' scurvey dogs ahead." "Mmphh nnpphhh... Isssh heavy armor target-- Isss danger, above!!"     Biteblade calls out a warning, and the Starbounders immediately leap into cover behind those pillars, aside from Albert, who does his best to provide cover FOR his three allies, Rory, Kotone, and Yukihana, until they can get behind one of those pillars and into safety!!
Courier Six	Johnny slips the railgun to his back on its strap and chunks in after the group, spotting the Hunters. These... he's read about them before, but it's pretty clear to see what's going on with these fellows. "It's the Brute Squad. Well. I think we cna handle this." Albert is already moving down to engage, and the Science Cowboy draws out the long staff of the Protonic Inversion Axe, the blade unfolding into its wicked anti-pattern energy or whatever that awful looking stuff is. It's pretty flashy and attention getting. Perfect for drawing aggro.     He taps Albert on the shoudler and points to the side of the paired Covenant. "Flank em, give the shooters some angles, I say." And with that he's heading down into the chamber, yelling. "Come on you big bastards! Let's see what you're made of!"     And then he's being sniped at and he looks up, yelling. "Overhead! We can't draw these guys out-" He tanks a laser beam in the shoudler, the energy sizzling at his duster. "-with those skinny damn things shootin' us!"
Staren	Well, the first group was easy. As they head deeper into the complex, Staren comments, "Does this feel kinda like a trap to anyone else? Noble Six, how hard would it be for someone to fake this signal?"     But then, guards! They're not attacking, so Staren wonders if that means they're willing to talk or something -- but then energy bolts rain down from above, Staren's amber forcefield suddenly visible as impact points brighten and strain -- but it /is/ optimized for energy weapons fire, so it's not in immediate danger of dropping like it would from a hail of lead. Still, Staren takes evasive action, running towards one of the pillars in a zig-zag and looking up. They're on a balcony, huh...?     Staren raises his arms, and six micromissiles launch (two from the right gauntlet, four from the left), streaking up towards the balcony to try and lodge into the structure and then explode with the force of a high-tech grenade each.
Noble Six	The SAW isn't going to be much help against Hunters. She knows this from personal experience. Diving off to the side, Noble Six rolls behind cover, calling out to the group over the radio, <<Those cannon blasts can take a tank out of commission and their armor can withstand a rocket blast. They've got a weak spot on their back. I'll draw their fire, try to get them to expose their backsides.>>     Six rolls out from behind cover, scooping up one of the dead Elite's plasma grenades, and arcing it through the air towards the Hunter second of the pair. Other than the SAW she's just got her shotgun, but she'll have to get extra close to be able to use it. She switches to it anyway, firing a shell at the Hunter to get it to focus on her as she moves between cover.
Kotone Yamakawa	Kotone Yamakawa gets the waring from Biteblade and is quick to act the firt thing she does seem to ripple and vanish as she actives her optic cameo. Thanks to the support from Biteblade she should be easily able to reach cover. Hopefully the two things togeth should be enough for her to avoid getting shot at. She'll make sure she ends up getting to cover. She'll then try to snap a few shots off and she'll remain stealthed as it will give her some help even if they know where she is.
Rory White	Well. So much for the non-lethal route! Rory balks a little at the extreme lethality wielded on an enemy they might've been able to reason with, capture, or learn something from. Her frown just gets heavier, as does her frustration. But she dives forward when more hostiles appear at the end of a very long walk through one of the biggest chambers she's ever seen.     It's kind of eerie. When groups open fire on them from above Rory leaps back. The motion's a bit clumsy but also seemingly preternatural. It's no surprise, given her ability to notice the HEAT SIGNATURES in every direction. One of her upraised arms absorbs the brunt of the blasts that come her way, mangling it pretty badly. The armor's seared and charred, and the smell of burnt synthflesh is probably appealing to NOBODY here - not even Biteblade.     Strange then, that she shows no pain. As her one arm dangles unnaturally, half-molten and throwing sparks, with her other Rory opens fire on the distant bridge-guards with calculated precision. Riot foam bolts are fired again and again in far-reaching arcs, and the splattering rain will probably be quite immobilizing to the bridge guards!     <<Take care of the snipers!>>
Yukihana Masamune	"I am... Not quite understanding the reason for these hostilities." Well the kitsune is honest at least as she follows along, one hand resting comfortably on the tsuka of her katana while wandering deeper inwards. Still, she's not going to just stand there when faced with the massive bulk of the hunter pair, and sniper fire coming from above.     With a sharp squeak, as soon as the danger is called out, and the fussilade of fire begins, she's already scurrying behind a pillar, sliding into cover and nearly collapsing on her bottom in the same instant with a whine. There she waits, huddled and cringing for a moment-- before breaking cover with a wild and screaming panic, running out clean into the open as though asking to be shot down by a sniper or mauled by one of the massive armored Lekgolo. If anything her death will probably buy the others a good few seconds to take down the collected Covenant.     Excepting for the fact that... At the same time that she runs out squealing, she's... Also still curled up in a small ball, hiding behind the pillar, having never moved at all.
Starbound Flotilla	Albert falls in behind cover after the others get to it. He's not lethally wounded, but his armor is messed up bad and he'll need some help getting back on his feet. Medical help can get him back on his feet within the next round of combat if someone will administer it to the heavy wounds he has. The suit on his body is already rapidly purging radiation from his body, but he'll need some help just patching up. "I'm down. Chem smoke on upper targets. Incendiary denial on armored targets." "Urgent. Right!" "Uuuugh, whatever!!"     Albert heaves his grenade launcher at Seft, who catches it, and immediately begins firing upwards. The grenades... Airburst! Right in front of the Jackals. Those shields can block most of the Starbound weapons, but they can't protect them from a chemical attack! Thank goodness, Starbound Squad aren't bound by common warfare treaties. But shortly after firing, those whizzing green bolts catch her out in the open, and she's forced to take cover again as they burst around her!
Starbound Flotilla	This should hopefully give time for George to do his thing. "Heads up, incendiary out!!" He pops a pair of grenades in each hand, pulling their pins in a well-practiced thumb-only pop. He rolls them at the Hunters. If they intend to block the bridge, and they're covered in armor, George needs to bypass that the smart way! The grenades go off, coating the area just in front of the bridge with heavy globs of hyper-flammable substance, which is HORRIBLY lit up. George knows his shotgun won't pierce that plate. He'll just cook them in it instead. "The soldier will draw fire. Moonfin, Pavo, flank and strike!" "I will be as water through their defenses." "Aye-aye, they best have gear to be takin'!"     Both dart out of cover; hopefully the Jackals are occupied with chemical attacks, explosives, and Yukihana's illusions, and the Hunters occupied by Noble Six. Both leap and boost with energy thrust up and over the Hunters in a perfectly synchronized instance of swordsmanship. Wait, what? That's right, Pavo's drawn her POWER CUTLASS! "Third Sea Hylotl Style: Lightning Striking Waves." Both descend simultaneously, dramatically, attempting to slam their blades into the back of the armor, and then surge energy through them to disrupt whatever's inside.
Starbound Flotilla	"Biteblade. Head off any reinforcement /now/!" "Floran isss powered by murder!!"     Biteblade leaps out from behind one of those pillars, blasting off with tremendous speed and agility, trying to dart past the Hunters as well. She's going to go after that bridge, try to make it to the other side, get into cover so the Hunters can't get her, and zip her way into place so that she can cut off anyone coming to reinforce the bridge! She can, at least, speedbump them hard enough to break a charge in this state!
HK-47	As the Grunt is all but decapitated - only it's spinal column preventing it's head from detaching - the droid's cloak and portions of it's arm-casing are splashed with teal-green fluid as severed arteries deliver a final spray from it's slashed jugular before the droid pulls away to admire both his handiwork and his new decorative coating of teal vital-fluids. As the others fall in quick order - one of which being all but vaporized by his HK-51's - the assassin droid lets put a quick, satisfied-sounding remark. "Acknowledgement - Targets deceased... with extreme prejudice."     He also makes special note of Noble Six's takedown of the Elite, recording the tactic away to study and potentially adapt later.      As they enter the central chamber, the trio of droids find flickers of static creeping in on the edges of their visual perception - an effect of feedback from the radiation blanking out their sensors, leaving them to rely on audio-visual input alone.     Once again, HK-47 is reminded vaguely of architecture from his own world to use as an analogous comparison, finding the 'Forerunner' design to be almost like a blend of Rakatan and Zakuulian aesthetics. An almost tangible elegance to them that had an efficiency even he could respect. Mainly because it was formed with a precision only a droid would often have.      When Staren makes his comment, the droid pauses to consider the implications. "Admission - This is very much possible as, due to their benign reverence of the Forerunners, Covenant splinter-factions may account for why the UNSC beacon is able to reach beyond this structure when our own sensors are severely hampered. Observation - Compounding this, we have yet to see any corpses from prior encounters despite the fact that the now-dispatched Elite from before had claimed they already encountered our target. It is... most peculiar." The droid pauses, photoreceptors flashing as it saves an image of the dead Elite for future reference. "Admission - of course, we may simply not have breached the complex deeply enough to find the sites of battle... but my logic centers cannot deny that there must be something else at work here, though the exact capacity eludes me."     Then they are set upon by the Jackals and, more pressingly, may draw the attention of the Hunters.     A situation that called for a switch from reconnaissance and assassination protocols to full-combat algorithms.     In quick order, the three droids gain a shimmering aura around their forms - manual-activation energy-shields - that help boost their defensive capabilities. Something that turns out being very prudent as one of the Jackals manages to hit the shoulder of an HK-51, burning through the fabric cloak before being diffused by the shield - and leaving said barrier largely drained and unable to survive should another hit from those shots.      "Analysis - Hunters are similar to another species of my own reality; the Gen'Dai. They lack skeletal structures, centralized nervous systems or organ-clusters, so area-of-effect attacks are the only viable method" the droid exposits as he takes a sniping position behind cover, firing at the Jackals to try and atomize as many as he can - which would be two at most due to his rifle's slow firing time - while the HK-51's both activate their carbonate-projectors to try and slow the Hunters down with the streams of supercooled flash-freezing resin. "Warning - However, most attacks diffused by their resistant armor-shells - for maximum effectiveness, one would need to implant a grenade through the gaps of their armor! This will be problematic as their arm-shields make grenades or shots lobbed from the /front/ ineffective - we must either flank them from the sides or behind where their armor will be weaker!"
HK-47	"Addendum - We must also be certain to exterminate /both/ Hunters simultaneously! UNSC records indicate that, when deployed in pairs, a Hunter will enter what is referenced as a 'berserk frenzy' if their companion unit is slain!"     The Assassin droid doesn't seem to realize he's not the one in charge here, though he seems to speak with the same confidence one might expect a Spartan to use... not that it's much of a redeeming quality considering his sadistic personality and Confederate standing.
John-117	With Albert providing cover, it seems like the Jackals are all to happy to sight in on him and open up with their carbines, thin streaks of green light peppering the area around him. The various pillars seem more than sturdy enough to weather the plasma fire from the Jackals. As Courier Six draws attention to them, the Jackals begin firing at him, too - the one who nailed him in the shoulder hisses out something that might be laughter. Or a cackle.      Whatever the sound is, it vanishes under the sound and fury of Staren's micro-missiles. It appears that the balcony is fine, however, it begins to crumble and come to pieces. Three Jackals fall from a substantial height, breaking on the metal floor of the structure. The rest set their shields in something like a turtle formation and continue spraying fire.      The Hunters advance with slow ponderous steps, clanking and growling. The chemical weapons of the Starbounders manage to slip past the armor of the Hunters and find the fleshy worm-like gestalt mass and begin to poison it - but given that strange biology, how effective will it be? It'll take time, perhaps, and one wonders how much time the group will have as the Hunters stop their advance and raise their arms - green light seems to bubble around the tips of their cannon arms, and they begin firing some rather indiscriminate torrents of plasma around the atrium! Rory's foam ammo seems to clog up some of their armor but the Hunters adapt, covering themselves with those thick slabs of shields they're carrying. They're so strong that it's going to take a lot of foam to immobilise them! Which makes the efforts of the HK-51s quite helpful, slowing them and gradually freezing them in place.      They burn pretty well, as George finds out - maybe it's the various chemicals covering them. The huge aliens stink kind of like burning plastic as the orange worm-stuff under their armor ignites.      Caught off-balance and outflanked, it's all too easy for Moonfin and Noble Six to outflank the giant aliens and begin setting into their vulnerable points, where the armor doesn't cover so the aliens can still bend and move. One of them falls, however, correct to HK-47's warnings, the remaining Hunter bellows out a noise that echoes with anger and sadness and immediately goes to lash out at those close to it with its heavy shield!
Courier Six	Johnny weathers the storm, of lasers, though there's some staggering on his part as well as the bolts keep coming. Thankfully, he's got SCIENCE to help him through. There's the dull hissing of Auto-Stimpacks under that duster, keeping the man upright as his wounds knit themselves closed slowly.     He growls and watches as one of the Hunters falls to the efforts of the team.     Right. He scampers a bat as Noble and Moonfin slice up the first one, moving to cover Albert. He sits the Apex upright and growls. "Hold still, old man." A moment to fish around in his 'pockets' and he pulls out a rather hefty looking Stimpack. He pops the tip off the cap and slams it into Albert's shoulder. "Not sure how this'll work on you but it's better than letting you bleed out. I give it about 10 minutes before it's gonna knock you out like a light though, so make the most of it."
Zwei	What is it with Zwei and busting in late and unannounced on these missions recently? Normally the Armiger is there from well before the start. Nevertheless, nobody is given much in the way of warning as several tons of mass chain teleports through successive floors of upper structure, taking a little longer than it would than to simply go through the front door, but allowing the element of surprise as black against black drops out from the dark abyss of the upper reaches of the vaulted ceiling, slamming down on the hardlight bridge so hard that the construct crackles violently beneath.     Without warning, Asche's hand slams down on the top of the hunter's head, the Armiger standing behind it even taller than the hulking tank of an alien, wrapping pauli nanocarbon talons around the armoured faceplate and sinking them into the softer neck beneath, yanking on it with almost arbitrarily enormous strength. It'd be enough to lift the hunter up by the head if the other hand werent clenched around its shield arm, instead stringing the monster out as if he fully intends to viciously pull apart from end to end. He could do it too, but it's more likely someone else will beat him to killing it, because in the process, the hunter's belly is exposed by the strain of the armoured chest and hips pulling apart; a wide open target.
Starbound Flotilla	Moonfin manages to get his sword between himself and the shield, but that's about all he manages to do. It blunts the impact, but the overwhelming force of the enraged hunter takes him off his feet, careening possibly THROUGH a pillar and into the opposite wall, armor shattered in multiple places. He's forced onto one knee when he falls off of the wall they smashed him into, unable to stand any longer. Some medical help for him, too, might be best! "Moonfin down. I'm receiving aid, re-engaging shortly." "Hhhh... It is more elegant if I do not stand for the moment, that is all."
HK-47	Perhaps less welcomely, one of the HK-51's observes the Courier's efforts to heal Albert and pulls free a soldering tool from one of it's repair kits. "Unnecessary Addendum - If need be, I can close your injuries quickly and efficiently, provided your sensory systems are numb enough not to protest you ruptured epidermis being fused closed. Our methods of repair are generally incompatible but adaption should still be possible."     If this is refused, the HK-51 instead turns to offer the same to Moonfin.      In the meantime, HK-47 and the remaining HK-51 focus on a new tactic - namely that HK-47 switches to a more... reliable method of dealing with organics.     "Prejudice - Set to maximum!"     That method was utilized rather quickly as the assassin droid's arm is directed at the Hunter and, with a clicking of sliding plates, cyanogen gas - literally a gaseous cyanide that kills through skin-contact as easily as it does through inhalation - starts pouring out of HK-47's arm in thick streams, the droid intending to poison the Hunter through the gaps in it's armor while the towering creature is distracted... though the droid doesn't seem to care about the possibility of friendly fire in this instance. Likely because none present are actually directly affiliated with the Confederacy and thus not a prime concern to him.     Finally, the remaining HK-51 takes up it's progenitor's task facing the Jackal units, pulling out an adhesive grenade and lobbing it as far as it's servomotors can propel it in an attempt to immobilize the opposing snipers with the grenade's spray of bluish glue-paste... though it, perhaps ill-advisedly, takes the chance to banter with Rory White, tilting it's head at her exposed nature as a synthetic while seeming a mix of curious and confused. "Redundant Query - Why would any artificial lifeform be built to mimic the design redundancies and flaws of a meatbag?"
Noble Six	When Moonfin goes down to the Hunter's shield, Noble Six frowns inside of her helmet. She hates dealing with these things. They've taken out too many good men and women of the UNSC, too many SPARTANS have gone down to them. This one isn't going to kill any more.     She plants her foot, and then rushes towards the Hunter. She fires two shells from her shotgun and then drops the weapon and leaps into the air.     As she comes down, she makes a move to grab onto the shield and hold it. This should further aggrivate it and keep it's focus on her and away from the rest of the group. She gets swung around on the shield, holding on for dear life, until she spots an opporitunity to dive off of the Hunter, over it, using a downward swing to ensure it won't be able to have enough momentum to swing at her behind it.     A grenade is pulled free of her belt, grasped in her right hand as she depresses the thumb button and rams her hand upwards. It would be a massive uppercut to a normal target, but the Hunter is thousands of tiny worms in a large armor container, so the grenade filled swing will plant the explosives deep within the alien.     She tears her hand back out, covered in orange goo, and then turns to dive for cover. This tactic will work. No way for it to absorb all of that concussion and shrapnel without the armor.
Staren	Despite being something of an enemy, HK-47 provides some helpful advice -- get explosives /inside/ the hunter somehow, and strike from behind.     Also, kill them both at once, which may be a problem when Zwei is finishing one off right there.     Fortunately, Staren has a plan. He reaches into his bag and pulls out a pistol of sorts, using Rory's and Zwei's scan and tacnet data to aim at what he hopes is a weak point in the rear of the hunter's armor. Then he pokes his arm out from behind the pillar and fires a micromissile, which is programmed to fly over the enemies, then change direction before trying to ram into the hunter from behind, hopefully penetrate somewhat, and explode.     "It's to let her fit in with humans and use human tools -- oh, you said it was rhetorical. Nevermind."
Starbound Flotilla	"It will be enough. Do it." Albert's not afraid of needles or cauterizing. NEEDLES AND CAUTERIZING ARE AFRAID OF ALBERT. He knows how combat stims work and he takes it, rising quickly with the burns closing his wounds. This restores more of his combat ability here! "I'll make the most of it." Now properly stimmed out, Albert rushes around the corner, right into one of those plasma bolts that was being fired before. With a panicked swing, he draws his POWER HAMMER and manages to slam the massive anti-tank bolt to the side, suffering torn muscles from the strain of the deflection. Then he lets out a gutteral, apelike screech. They're right next to a chasm and there's a giant heavy armored dude here. The solution is simple. With Asche hopefully disabling them, he'll rush it down and try to slam it right off the edge after Noble Six's grenade goes off, meant to make sure it can't counterattack from the at least stunning blast.
Kotone Yamakawa	Kotone Yamakawa is in a fire fight with a bunch of aliens it looks like but it doesn't look like her shots do much if anything other than maybe distract the enemy at best. Either way She's got to help stop this she hears the warning from HK-47 about the Hunters, lovely taking one down would be hard enough and well that seems to be the issues as it's flipping out prety hard just lovely. She remains cloaked and keeps snapping off burst shots at the rampaging hunter, Albert's hit but thankfully Johnny's already helping him. She's also worried abotu Rory but she pops back out and opens fire again firing a longer burst.
Yukihana Masamune	After her illusory distraction, the truth is... Yukihana has not... Moved from her pillar. Having no reason to move from the sweet life-preserving safety of the solid barrier, she huddles, hunkered and curled in a small ball while the fight blazes on. Until she hears somehting...     It is the enraged cry of the Hunter that makes her ears prick up. The mournful dirgelike cry of loss, pain, and rage, sending such a familiar sensation through the girl, cutting keenly through her fear like a razor's blade. One scarlet eye finally peeks out from her cover as the other converge on the remaining Lekgolo. She does not draw her blade, but instead whispers to herself. A quiet, sad, poem for the falling beast.     "... Had I not known. That I was dead already. I would have mourned my loss of life."
Rory White	"So that's what you meant!" Rory doesn't seem too distracted by the speech thanks to her heightened perception speed. It's the only thing she has going for her because she is otherwise physically clumsy as can be.     "To be honest I prefer residing in a ship or something with wheels or insect likes. Bipedal form is very inefficient!" And yet, after seeing how ineffective her foam is... she decides this isn't quite working.     Instead she pulls out a much different-looking weapon. Shaped much like a gun, but with a cup-shaped 'barrel.'     It is quite the NOISY little cricket too. Or rather, the sound it makes is narrowly directed. At such distances it just can't be helped that other people hear bits and pieces of the thing, but while it's an UNGODLY screech for anyone near Rory...     The Jackals she is AIMING at, their shields probably won't help against this.     The horrifyingly high-pitched vibrations are overwhelming to predatory senses and 'hit' with a force like a sonic jackhammer to the BRAIN. Being in the way of those sonic waves is going to be like having your mind set on fire and put through a blender at the same time!     Rory hopes this will just leave the damned things too incapacitated and give the foam time to set. Of course...     They may be blown to bits by then, so it may be moot.
Starbound Flotilla	"Alert. Incoming fire." "Haaaahhhhhh... Yeah, I got that!"     Seft is forced to remain in cover, very effectively suppressed by the explosions, and unlikely to emerge even after the Hunter begins melee tactics. George is blasted off his feet by a nearby explosive impact, dented and lightly bleeding, and goes scrambling. "Thanks!" He shouts at Asche's grappling with the creature hopefully creates an opening for him to... Run past! "C'mon Pav', let's hit the road!!"     "Oh, aye? Yarharhar, let's get sailin', matey!" Pavo had landed on the other Hunter, and had been hanging on for dear life, out of striking range. But she swiftly disengages, yanking her cutlass out and just booking it with George. While the others deal with remaining Jackals, they're gonna go meet up with Biteblade on the other side of that bridge! And get ahead of the main group a bit.
John-117	The Hunter roars, pitting its gestalt strength against Asche as he seemingly tries to pull the creature apart. Luckily - or, perhaps, unluckily - the Lekgolo worms make it rather... pliant. The worms /wilt/ as they come into contact with HK-47's cyanogen gas and Asche would be aware of the strength leaving the creature, helped by Kotone's fire managing to perforate some of the exposed worm-mass. The explosives of Noble Six and Staren, combined with Asche's wrenching, quite literally blow the Hunter apart, splattering the ground with bits of luminescent orange gore and fragments of bright blue metal.      The legs remain standing there, orange worms blindly groping for their top half. Albert knocks the Hunter down into the abyss, soundly finishing that fight.     To everyone on the edge of the chasm, it seems like the remains of the Hunter just fall forever.     With the last Hunter down and the Jackals dealt with (courtesy of Rory shaking their brains into mush, regardless of their shields), it's a simple matter to get across the light bridge over that unending abyss. Looking down, however, probably isn't advisable. The door on the other side isn't locked or guarded and it sighs open when the group gets close.     There's a dead Elite just on the other side of the door, similar to the one they had encountered before. Not a high-ranking member of the organisation, according to Noble Six's files, but maybe a trusted lieutenant. Another, more like a leader with that gaudy helmet, likes at the bottom of the staircase, as if thrown from a great height, limbs broken and twisted. Ahead, up a flight of hardlight stairs leading to some distant door above, a tall figure, wrapped in a heavy cloak, hood up and over their head, stands like some kind of sentinel. For a moment, the figure, whoever they are, gazes down at the group and then turns on their heel, heading through the door. Those with keen eyes might catch the glimpse of something amber and reflective beneath the hood.     Something like... a visor?     It seems that the signal is coming from that figure.      The Starbounders, being just a little bit ahead of the main group, might have seen the cloaked figure hurl the Elite down the stairs.      The room at the top of the stairs seems like some kind of control room, replete with glowing holographic panels and displays. The cloaked figure stands at the central terminal, their back to the door. Hard to tell from this angle what they're doing.
Zwei	The hunter comes apart at the seams. The lower half falls off into the seemingly endless nothing below. Asche holds the limply dangling top half suspended for several moments, armour now splattered with the creature's lurid orange viscera, before discarding of the remaining corpse in turn, tossing it off the bridge with a flick of his wrist, optics pulsing briefly in the dark. Weiss takes the moment of silence to pop right into the midst of the group, now having Asche as a homing point to castle up to from long distance, dusting off an obviously non-combat outfit. "Geez, what's with you guys and getting neck deep in ancient alien catacombs that are such a pain to mass spectrograph recently anyways? It's like you're trying to avoid me!"     She turns on her heel, clicking on the metallic floor, before striding over to where Yukihana can be seen peeking around the pillar, or rather where her vital signs are obvious anyways, leaning over and extending one hand towards her with a winning smile worn on her pretty little ashen white face. "Kind of a rough debut for a newbie! Lot of people here! Lot of soldiers and killers! Proper aliens too! Weird guns though. Seems you're smart enough to not get shot though!" Asche is already tromping across the bridge, electronic bass sizzling in his voice. "Treat the wounded with all due care. The battle is over, and there is but one exit. We have time."     Seems all that scanning picked up on those life signatures going cold in the next room, not to mention the associated sounds and signals, and possibly a recognizable blob silhouette simply by comparing the MJOLNIR mark VI to the GEN II. The Armiger makes no attempt to conceal his approach, as unlikely as it would be to do so anyways, showing up as a sizable blip on the motion tracker. "This is an unusual place for a war hero to spend his days. Normally the procedure is to hang up the sword or be slave to an excuse to wield it."
Staren	The last enemies are down! Nice trick, Rory. Maybe he should get a sonic weapon himself... oh wait, he has the RAISER weapons and resonance cannon for that.     Staren gives the kitsune an odd look at her poem. He heard an alien scream. It didn't mean anything to him...     Staren waits for a moment, pulling spare micromissiles out of his bag to reload the pistol and his armor. Then Staren retrieves and shoulders his rifle and moves on...     "Well, I guess we're catching up. But how'd he get here without fighting those guys?" Staren comments when they find aliens already pre-killed for their convenience. Upon looking up at the cloaked figure, he shouts "Hey!" But they run off. And his sensors say the signal is coming from them!     "Are these stairs some kind of forcefield? Who does that?" Staren hurries up, expecting the stairs to shut off at any moment (he'll activate his wings and fly if needed). May as well chase the figure!
Kotone Yamakawa	Kotone Yamakawa is able to help bring the hunter dsown in some small part, at this point she's now she doesn't think too much about the Hunter down and the Jackles are down she's going to make a dash while still cloaked to the fallen moon fin but she might have just made a mistake there's something else here. Then again it's even more imporant she get to him now that there's osmehitng else going on. She'll leve the others to deal with whatever is going on now, she's also now after what happened ot Yukihana's father, she's carrying nanobadnages and some other basic Flotilla related medical supplies as she makes for the fallen moonfin.
Noble Six	Spotting the figure, and catching the brief glimpse of the visor under that hood, Noble Six runs after him. She moves to try to catch up to him as quickly as she can, taking the light steps two at a time until she reaches the top.     "SPARTAN One One Seven. Halt." She doesn't have any weapons drawn, but she's positive it's him. She's got to find out what on earth he's doing here, why he's not reported in. That's the task she was assigned, and she's going to see it through. Including returning him to ONI, should he refuse to come of his own free will.
Starbound Flotilla	"..."     Biteblade meets the cloaked man's eyes directly as she meets him first, having seen the body hurled. Then she smiles wide, showing all those sharp teeth, but seemingly in a friendly way! "Good hunter! Floran appreciate work!" She gives a thumbs up, and, of course, will likely take a quick snack of the Elite after the man is gone. It's George and Pavo who catch up next, and get the whole group heading up. Moonfin will be a little late, of course. He has some medical recovery to deal with. The nanobandages and other medical gear can get him onto his feet. He takes a moment to stop by Yukihana.     "You are doing well, to adjust to what life will be like now." He says, somberly. "To offer this sort of honor to your foes is important." He'll stumble on himself, though, heading over the bridge. "Thank you for the assistance, Miss Yamakawa. It should be a little more elegant to stand now."     Albert's not going to last too long. He meets up with Pavo before the stim failure catches up with him. She keeps at his side, helping him stand. "Assistance appreciated." He manages to grunt, apelike, through the pain of stim crashing and chaotically cauterized skin. He manages to get up the stairs. "This VIP is military personnel. I will speak to them." He advises his Starbound Squad, but the rest of the Flotilla are free to speak up to him. Seft comes to help as well, getting him up the stairs properly and quickly.     When Albert gets to the top, he leans on Seft and speaks up to the cloaked man. "SPARTAN-117, I am captain Albert Petrov of the Starbound Flotilla Core Fleet. Non-affiliated interstellar navy. Your beacon signal was received and we are here to respond. Provide briefing on necessary intelligence." Professional. Militaristic. Not particularly confrontational.
Yukihana Masamune	It's over, then? ... It seems over.     A small huff, and the kitsune picks herself up, taking a moment to delicately smooth out her kimono before- Zwei approaches- or at least Weiss does, of the gestalt pair. The shell-shocked fox-girl stares almost dumbly at the offered hand for a moment, before remembering her manners. She has, at least, managed to pick herself up after that fracas, but instead of taking the hand for a shake, the girl dips forward in a shakey but still formal bow of greeting.     "I think... I think this is somewhat above my league." Murmured back to both Weiss and Moonfin. Smart enough to not get shot, or not, there's a clear feeling of inadequacy there as she shakes the adrenaline away with another puff of breath. Before she glances up the hardlight stairs, at the figure overlooking them. "Is... That who we came for?"
HK-47	"Correction - I was not referencing your bipedal form, but rather the decision to forgo proper steel plating and a reinforced endoskeletal system in favor of synthetic polymers meant to replicate organic flesh" the HK-51 drones, proceeding to try and snipe out any Jackals that survived the sonic attacks that were delivered to their senses. "It is an inefficient design choice when creating a bipedal form."     Likewise, all three droids make note of how lethally effective sonic attacks seem to be on them.     Were it not an inadvertent action, HK-47 could almost admire how ruthlessly efficient the artificial humanoid was in dispatching their opponents en-masse... though her attempt at overabundant restraint was a downside that marginally hampered that praise.      Watching - and feeling a glow of excited satisfaction burn through his processor - as the remaining Hunter is literally bifurcated by explosions and his own toxin, HK-47 observes the halves of the Hunter's 'corpse' of a shell fall for a short time before moving on.     However, when they find the corpse of the Elite sprawled on the stairs, the droid only has just enough time to admire the brutal efficiency it was dispatched with before observing something up ahead. Something that seemed to be the source of the elusive signal they had been tracking.     Something that, like him, was garbed in a heavy obfuscating cloak... though traces of something orange glinted from beneath that cowl.      A short outburst of "Assessment - Target located!" issues forth from one of the HK-51's as the trio of droids forms up on the rear of the Starbounders, rifles still drawn in the event of combat as they move to quickly cross the light bridge.     Hearing Staren's general query, HK-47 again takes the chance to offer a commentary - "Musing - It is possible that they were not here when the Spartan originally arrived. In all likelihood they arrived some time later, and meant to cut off any reinforcements meant to assist our target and then slowly hem him in, assuming they were aware of his distress beacon. Addendum - iIt is also possible the beacon that drew us here was how they were able to track our quarry, as it seems he has not bothered to disguise his transmissions. Almost as if he does not /care/ who answers his call. Only that someone come."      "Continuation - This implies that, whatever it is he is here for, he requires others be present... regardless of intent or purpose. That typically speaks to a form of recruitment effort - an invitation to take part in something that cannot be confronted alone" The droid continues to speak as it takes in the sights of the command area, photoreceptors locked onto the hooded form of what is assumedly the famed John-117... speaking loudly to see if the figure will hear. Likely hoping the Spartan will reply to either correct or agree with him and in turn reveal his purpose.     "Observation - You have gone through a great deal of trouble to summon others after traveling alone without contact for so long." HK-47 draws slowly, stopping to level it's weapon at the cloaked form as a deterrent against sudden action. "Query - What could you have possibly found that you would risk simply calling out blindly to anyone that would answer you? Query - What could cause a soldier waive off all such concerns of alerting their possible enemies to their locations? Is it desperation? Or is it fear?"      "Query - What did you find here?"
Rory White	Rory... frowns. She was not expecting Jackal physiology to be so susceptible to sonics. An interesting, somewhat depressing factoid. She is not happy about ending their lives... but in the current situation, cannot afford to dwell on it too much. New tolerance levels are theorized, calibrated, and set for the future. But still, this experience is proving fruitless so far and depressing. Such is the problem of deploying with non-lethal tactics in mind while everyone else is using bombs, lasers, spears, and grenades!     She would sigh, except that would be a waste of attention. Instead the bluenette whirls around, damaged arm still dangling weirdly, and withdraws to the rear with Kotone and the injured Moonfin. But before she does so...     Her reply to the HK-51 is pretty straightforward. "There is prejudice against synthetic beings in most societies of my home system. I adopt flesh because most of the time I am a scientist, not a warrior! ... or an assassin as your configuration suggests. Yet I /should/ have been more pragmatic here... you are correct, flesh is not helping here."     She is not happy with this. It's not turned out right at all.     But she can get all stressed out later. For the moent she teams up with Kotone to attend to Moonfin and probably Albert if he needs it!
John-117	The figure turns from the console and, with a slight twist of their head, lowers their hood. They're wearing a MJOLNIR helmet, distinctive green and amber colors, and it's a definite match for SPARTAN-117. The Master Chief turns his head, regarding each individual in turn with the slightest movement of his helmet. Asche is a big blip on his HUD - that could be a problem.     As could the other SPARTAN. When Noble Six tells him to halt, the Chief replies with his even, gravelly tone: "I have a job to do."      He reaches up and tugs the cloak free, letting it fall to the floor. His MJOLNIR suit is dented and scorched in places, the usual olive-green having been worn away to a muted grey in some areas. It's the sort of gesture that says someone expects a fight, although he makes no move to engage Six. It's clear though, that even through the helmet, he's probably thinking about it and maybe even expecting it. Fully uncovered, it's clear he has something small on a dog tag chain, wrapped around one hand.     When Albert talks to him, John listens - maybe it's the use of rank, something practically carved into his neural topology. "With all due respect, Captain," John begins, "Take your people and leave. I'll do the same. I didn't call for help." To HK-47, John adds, "Nothing. My mission is only beginning."     He turns his helmet to get the panel in his peripheral vision again and taps a glowing icon. Behind him, the wall /shifts/, assembling into some manner of glowing gateway, blue light arcing around the edges - a teleportation device, maybe. Maybe that's what he was looking for. Whatever the case, it looks like the Chief wants to leave - so, the question becomes, is someone willing to try and stop him?
Staren	Staren approaches the Master Chief to get his attention, then stops a short distance away. "If you didn't call for help, what /did/ you call us for?" This doesn't make any sense...
Starbound Flotilla	"Yeah, kid. Careful here. Twisty military business." George says, quietly, to Yukihana. "Hey, stick near me, okay? This might get shooty. No charge bodyguard, huh?" George has a bit of a soft spot for kids, even if they're just sort of mid-teen. He doesn't do anything when Noble Six speaks up with more aggressive intent, but an eyebrow quirks under that opaque faceplate. How far afield is this guy from the UNSC?     "Yer beacon be blazin' bright, matey." Pavo says, with a half-chuckle on her voice. "If ye didn't call us, someone made ye call us. And same due respect, seems from yer look ye don't have a crew of yer own."     "Assuring. Please, give us a moment. Stand by." She puts her weapons away and instead brings out that heavy sensor array again, pointing it at John-117, letting any blipping and beeping speak for itself. He is still emitting that signal, isn't he?
Zwei	"Sure is!" Weiss chirps to Yukihana, going so far as to mimic the bow in return, though obviously much quicker and less uncertain. "He's been around before apparently. Vanished before I got here, but there's enough data still kicking that I can assure you this is the genuine article within a vanishingly small percentile of error!" Some of that data may have been illegally accessed. Possibly. Either way, once one knows what the designation means, it's not exactly difficult to determine who an obvious spartan II might be, with almost the entire public service record reading 'MIA'. "Getting in over your head is fine as long as you have people you can rely on around! Consider it a learning experience! Gets you up to speed faster to start without the training wheels."     "Half of that is likely, the other half rambles far ahead of what an unembellished weapon should claim to know." is Asche's sidelong response to HK-47. Zwei has only very briefly met the assassin droid once before, and so it still isn't clear on what his angle is, acting the part of a primitive, sociopathic toaster and a cynical, battlefield philosopher at the same time. Weiss mostly just seems to be trying to shoo the kitsune past the sight of Biteblade devouring the dead at the moment. The sight has literally no effect on an Armiger, but she reasonably assumes even a magical organic might find the spectacle repulsive.     "You'll do the same, huh?" she says as she saunters in the room. "As in, you'll leave, or you'll take your people? As much as it'd make sense that someone else here decided they wanted to bail on whatever shenanigans you're up to, you don't strike me as anything other than a man on a mission that nobody else will do right now. Assuming you're not ignorant of what your integrated transceiver is up to, you either barely know how to operate that ansible, or you haven't cleaned out that memory chip around your neck in a while." Saucily, she sways right into the way of Noble Six, deliberately eclipsing her and blocking her line of fire. It's not a useful tactic, but a visible gesture. "No need to be so hostile about it~ You used to be a great team player, if the records are to be believed."
Noble Six	"SPARTAN, that is a direct order from a UNSC Lieutenant Commander." Six says, as she steps up towards him again, "You are to stand down and report back to the UNSC Crimson Dawn for transport to Earth, where you will be debriefed."     The interruptions of everyone, including those getting in her way, are begining to annoy the SPARTAN-III, "This is a UNSC matter. I can handle it without the input of others." She states, looking between the gathered individuals. This is not how she would prefer to handle it, but at this point she doubts she's going to be able to FORCE Chief to do anything.
Kotone Yamakawa	Kotone Yamakawa has moved to help Moonfin and tend to his injuries as best she can she does decloak now that things seem to be settling down she'll make use of the bandages now they got a moment. She does see that he might need it too but she's focusing on it. She gets Albert is going to need to some rest and thankfully the stim was comptable with his species biologiy then agian humans and Apex are both primates after all. "No Problem Moonfin I just hope we were not too late but what now? They found the target he's spekaing of a mission but what is the misison. "What mission? You didn't call for help but we were tracking a distress call from you..."
Starbound Flotilla	"Ha ha ha, that a fact there, miss wind-up soldier?" George saunters in behind Weiss and leans on her like she's a part of the environment while he talks to Noble Six. "I'm starting to think I totally misjudged the Jolly Green Giant over there, if he's doing what needs to get done and the Jarheads From Space are an issue, I'm totally into helping him, and fact is, this is a UNSC matter, but right now, it's Flotilla turf. Hey, Big And Tall Murder Emporium." He's talking to John-117, probably...? "You're banged up bad, you wanna link up with us sometime? We got a ton of armorcrafting, weaponcrafting, the works. We can hook you up nice. Starbound Flotilla, works great."
Zwei	"Oh, I'm sorry, this is a UNSC thing? Some classified data or something? Under the table order? That's fine, I get it. Military procedure and all!" Weiss says, turning on her heel once again and flicking her nickel hair over her shoulder. "So there's no need to worry about it! I'm not with the UNSC so I completely don't care~!" The hell is up with her? Zwei has never had anything even approaching a problem with Noble Six or her parent organization before, and conversely, she's never even met one-one-seven. Whatever it is, George seems to be in on it, or at least thinking along the same lines, or at the /very/ least, taking ample advantage of the opportunity.     "It's legit you know. Only like, two of these guys are actually with the Union, and one of them's with us anyways. Hell, trigger happy is a Confederate! This'd have to be a /really/ poorly planned hit job, and I'm pretty sure the Union isn't run by idiots." Asche advances further up the stairs, to the level of the main console, seemingly undeterred. He can take a couple of hits if the spartan decides to get into kneejerk violence. "This portal is large enough to allow more than one person through. You surely realize that you cannot prevent every single one present from following."
HK-47	The HK-51 seems somewhat bemused by Rory's statement. "If there is prejudice among your world against droids, it is because they are either inept at creating us or terrified of our potential."      HK-47 seems rather annoyed by Zwei's commentary, letting out a prompt rebuke - "Indignant Rebuttal - Unembellished weapon indeed!! If you even had so much as an inkling of the horrors and humiliations I have been subjected to..."     The droid in turn regards the Spartan curiously, red photoreceptors glowing dimly beneath the cowl of his own hooded cloak, observing the Spartan's worn-out armor with something akin to muted interest.     Ten years ago, HK-47 himself had been worn down and dulled by age and damage... so perhaps what the droid was feeling was something akin to, repugnant as it was to believe... kinship? A fellow exterminator who had wandered alone and been battered and tempered by that path?     It was almost shoved aside as quickly as his creative simulation matrix conceived it, unwilling to even consider comparing himself to a meatbag, admirably-efficant killing machines that the Spartans had proven to be.     However, as HK processes Staren's question again, he once more offers a commentary - "Musing - A cautionary, perhaps. Likely a statement of redundancy known as 'a check and a warning' - calling us out here... simply to ensure we stay out of his way in the future. Or perhaps that was at least the intent of the message." After all, the avian meatbag was correct - they actually did not have conformation their target had even sent that message himself.     As a result, the droid's photoreceptors lock onto the device clasped in John-117's hands, recognizing it from when he'd infiltrated a UNSC vessel in his frustrating failure to assassinate Noble Six. "Query - That is an A.I. data-crystal, is it not? Yet the way you carry it seems to indicate it is more decorative then functional... at least on a practical level." A somewhat amusing idea then pops into the droid's processor, having heard of such occurrences before and even seen it happen between the Exile and a certain scrap-heap in his own timeline - "Amused Query - Was the A.I. in that damaged device an ally of yours?"      The droid waits to see the Spartan's reaction before continuing - "Query - If the avian meatbag is true and you did not summon us... did the entity within that data-crystal do so? Or was I correct in suggesting you yourself brought us here simply to warn us against pursuing you?"      HK-47 had seen something like this before. Two of his Masters, one of which being his own creator, had horrifically done something similar, gathering him and others together only to tell them not to follow in the mission they were leaving alone for.      ...     But that didn't explain what it was the Spartan was seeking.     However, there was one way to find out... not that HK himself needed to do much.     One thing about the droid's subsequent generations were that they really did lack much of a sense of patience... or depth perception.     As such, when it seemingly became obvious that conflict was imminent... they resorted to their most base directives.     That directive... was that when facing a potent enemy, make the first move. One HK-51 takes the time to glance at Noble Six just long enough to utter out "Snide Commentary - Then you can surely do better /with/ input... which we shall now deliver with extreme prejudice."      This is the last sentence uttered before the two droids ignore George's offer, march up to mid-range and activate carbonate-launchers, attempting to seal the Spartan in the quick-freezing resin in order to force his compliance.     And while HK-47 gives a mock-attempt to stop them - "Postulation - That is not necessary" - without doing a thing to stop them... the droid's focus seems to be more on observing how the Spartan will take apart his subsequent units, allowing them to march to their doom in order to glimpse of the so-called 'living legend's' combat prowess for himself.
Staren	Staren lets out a short chuckle when HK-51 comments on prejudice against droids. He can't help it. And then... wait what?!
John-117	Seft's scanner might reveal that the Chief's MJOLNIR suit is still broadcasting that signal. It's like a locator beacon, the sort of thing that might get flipped if someone hasn't reported in for a final, so they can locate the body - or, perhaps more accurately in this case, the hardware. Pavo might have the right idea. Or maybe it was tripped as result of some scuffle or skirmish, his armor is certainly banged up enough. Asche might be right - the Chief may have had no idea he was broadcasting.      "Things change," he says to Asche, at the mention of who he 'used to be'.      And things really have changed because, when Noble Six pulls rank, the Chief stops in his tracks. He turns back, only a few paces from the teleporter, and says: "/No, sir/."      His reaction when HK mentions the broken chip is telling. He says nothing but fixes the robot with a visor-shielded glare. Maybe he's not even sure why he's carrying it - after all, SPARTAN-IIs were never known for their emotional intelligence. He's just about to reply to George, when suddenly he's under fire.      When the HK robots open up, John comes to life. His first target is Noble Six, hammering away at her with a number of quick, heavy blows - but it doesn't seem like he's fighting to kill. He's pulling those blows, or maybe it's the carbonite that's hampering him. Hard to tell. Still, with a bit of distance, he pulls a standard-issue UNSC SMG into his hand, and opens up on the pair of assassin droids with accurate bursts - and then heads straight for the portal, double-timing it.      "You're right," John tells Asche, palming a plasma grenade he's evidently pulled from one of the dead Elites along the way, "Unless I destroy it from the other side."
Zwei	It takes Zwei more than a handful of processor cycles to appreciate the incredible irony in the situation of declaring the Union too wise to attempt what the Confederate is now doing. It's still a near-infinitely small fraction of a second, but still. It /really/ makes it wonder what exactly HK-47 is playing at. "Well, there you go!" she somehow finds time to say. "He doesn't care either!" She then turns to look at the Core Fleet members who are still combat capable, Staren, Rory and Kotone, clapping her hands twice enthusiastically. "Alright guys, this is our show now!"     Neither Zwei sub unit moves to either intercept John from his sudden attack on the newer generation spartan, but neither do they join in help him, stepping aside and aiming to neutralize the actual problem first. Asche is already on the platform, and so all he needs to do is spin and extend both arms outward, wristguards splitting open to expose the firing aperture of the built-in modular PDWs, abruptly discharging double bolts of ionizing radiation at the pair of remote droids, intense enough to make energy shields in the room sizzle. John has an easy time ducking right under his arms if he wants, due to the difference in size, but just as he arrives at the portal, Weiss pops into view at its threshold, teleporting the intervening distance to hop in as he does. "Good plan! I'll record it for later!"
Staren	Staren is... surprised when the HK-51s try to restrain John, but he's not going to stop it either. Restraining him /is/ within Noble Six's objective. And then....     All hell breaks loose. John deals with the assassin droids, tells off and fights off his commander, and runs for the portal. Staren miiiight be obligated to stop him now, but he doesn't see a way to win that fight.     Time is short. Staren would like to ask questions, but it doesn't look like he'll be getting answers right now. So he settles for parting words to John:     "Good luck. I hope you're making the right choice. For your sake."
Noble Six	As the attack comes in, Noble Six turns to stop the attacking assassin droids. This of course leaves her open to the attack from the Chief, the blows striking her off guard and sending her reeling.     Next thing she knows she's on the ground face down, out of the fight and left unable to do much to stop the assassin droids or the Chief. Not a good way to end the evening.
Starbound Flotilla	"What's up? Make a move, tin-kids, I know how the both of ya work." George says, and the dumb grin is heavy on his voice, when he launches off of Weiss when teleports, and, in a single clean motion, draws his heavy shotgun, pointing it at both HK-47 and Noble Six; neither intend to fight, but he's planning on making extra sure. Speaking of teleporting, the Starbounders have done so as well. Unlike Weiss, they can't spam it at all, but they can use some very short-range blink teleporting once or twice every great while. That's what happens, in fact: Seft and Pavo are the only Starbounders who remain mostly uninjured, with George being the least injured of the wounded, but they move in quickly to follow up on the combat. With Weiss hopefully popping the shields and Chief handling armor with some heavy SMG fire, Seft and Pavo will both strike intensely with huge sweeping blade attacks on their own! They're going to try to use their POWER BATTLEAXE and POWER CUTLASS respectively to simply slice the machines into halves.     Biteblade, of all people, attempts to bound through as well! "Hey!! Wait up! Armor isss tracking! You have beacon, ssscent for hunter! Floran isss help!" Biteblade, it seems, intends to... Well, not really "tackle" John-117, because that implies Biteblade will try to impede his movements. It's more like suddenly jumping on his back like a backpack. You could think of it more like a tactical glomp, except not as silly as that sounds. "Floran isss help, not hurt, promissse! Gotta fix beacon, no more hunt you." She assures in that hissy voice, trying to tag along.
Kotone Yamakawa	Kotone Yamakawa Was not expecting this or naybe she was? She does however make sure that Moonfin is all right for the moment Zwei is now very happy about this turn of effents and she's not sure fully why but either way this got interesting. She does make sure her weapon's loaded as George and Biteblade get to work there. She's just going to keep back fromt he fight she does however order her hover drone through the gate after Zwei and the Chief.
HK-47	The combat difference is almost staggering. Perhaps because 117 has arguably seen more combat then B-312 has?     That being said, the droid gives a mock-defense to what has happened - "Incredulous Remark - I cannot be expected to be accountable for the nonexistent self-preservation directives of my inferior counterparts in commencing hostilities! Now can I be at fault if they interpreted Spartan-117's disobedience of Spartan B-312's orders as a declaration of rebellion and moved to restrain the target! Their logic centers are not mine and I acutely suspect they were built substandard intentionally /just/ to annoy me!"      ... honestly though, the veteran assassin droid /could/ have remote-deactivated the attacking units. But in all honesty, it was better this way to observe the Spartan's reaction time and threat-assessment speed. If they succeeded, the target was captured and the mission accomplished. If not, the target may have escaped but it would not be under the protection of a 'neutral faction' such as the Flotilla, which would have complicated potential assassination attempts.     However, Noble Six decides to illogically try to prevent the HK-51's from completing the very objective she seemed to wish accomplished. In turn, Zwei's ion shots strip away their energy-shielding - not that it mattered as the Spartan's physical rounds couldn't be stopped by the shields anyway, but it /did/ leave the two droids vulnerable to everyone else in the group.      Of course, the HK-51's aren't even able to deal with 117, barely able to react as the veteran Spartan's accurate SMG rounds tear through the weak armor in its joints at the elbow for the first, the limb flopping uselessly to it's side. Another burst impacts it's knees and sends it kneeling, one arm raised to try and shield it's photoreceptors and processor.     A tell that, as with Noble Six before him, alerts the Master Chief of how apperently-vulerable the droid's 'eyes' are.     The other HK-51 is downed instantly as a result, the rounds of the third SMG burst striking just below the brow pates and punching through it's fragile optical lenses to bury themselves deep into it's processor core, rendering it a nonfunctional pile of scrap that topples to the ground in a lifeless heap.     The final HK-51 manages to force itself upright, raising it's limb up to fire it's rifle - and if the rifle is struck while in the midst of charging... the resulting explosion would be quite spectacular, showing the area with shards of the immolated droid.     As it does... HK-47 records every event with marked interest. Especially the fact that, when the HK-51's had first attacked, 117 went after B-312 /first/.      A fellow UNSC Spartan and Union member... and he showed no hesitation in engaging. Putting aside the fact that he refused to kill the other, John-117 was apparently resolute in considering anyone that impeded his 'mission', whatever it may be, as an enemy.      ...     Interesting. And, depending on the future contexts... very useful.      Tilting his metallic, hooded head towards the form of George, HK-47 valiantly fights back an errant urge to try and pull the meatbag's limbs off for brandishing a weapon at him, the droid instead giving a rather even response; "Assurance - I have no intention of harming the Spartan after having observed his actions. In fact... I am actually more curious to see what his exact objective is."     ... and on a more personal note, if the droid could find some way to work with that.
John-117	Barely a few meters from the teleportation gate, the Chief turns on his heel, maybe suspecting that he'll be shot in the back otherwise. He nods to Staren, however, which might be an acknowledge that he, too, hopes he's making the right choice.      The SPARTAN steps backwards, keeping his eyes on the group, and vanishes in a blue flash as he crosses some invisible threshold. Weiss goes with him and, presumably, Biteblade - unless she hops off his back before he vanishes.      On the other side, in a place where it's something like a humid rainforest, true to his word, John sets a plasma grenade and collapses the gate behind him. He stands, and heads off into the distance. He won't stop them from following, or even from helping him with that transponder, nor would he prevent them from leaving, but he's certainly not the most welcoming presence either. And, just like before, he's about to investigate another set of Forerunner ruins. Whatever he's looking for, he hasn't found it yet.
Zwei	Honestly, even that excuse is good enough for Zwei. 117's order of operations had been enlightening as well, and there's no real need to go starting something with the Confederacy when there's no reason to. Asche stares long and hard for several moments, before tilting his visor away, picking up a couple of the Starbound so the others don't have to carry them out. "No reinforcements detected. Return to orbit at earliest convenience." No doubt the Convergence of Arms will be making a drop on Weiss' location sooner or later, but the second sub-unit seems to be having plenty enough fun traipsing after John. "Nice! Living the lone wolf space explorer dream! Stranded on a strange and unfamiliar planet with nobody else but a pair of beautiful alien" there's a detectable pause "girls." The joke stands. "I don't think the naggy aunt will be following any time soon, but you might want to lighten up just a little bit, especially if you're serious on the whole 'flipping the bird to the Union' thing."
HK-47	Watching as the Spartan vanishes from sight through the gateway, HK-47 observes, with a modicum of fascination and concern, as two of the members from the Starbound Flotilla vanish along with the wayward John-117.     The results were... unexpected.     While HK-47 was now more confident that he had a reliable image of what the Spartan could do - how fast and adaptive he could be in combat - he was now curious as to the motivations of the target.     What could make someone who had served his faction so loyally decide to attack their members over other adversaries? What had him so determined to evade capture instead of trying to get the UNSC on his side?     What would effectively make him turn the Union against him?      ...     And perhaps, if the droid were careful about how he encountered him after this situation... might that division enable the Confederacy to draw on the rouge soldier?      Regardless, it was something to keep in mind as, with the obvious end of hostilities for the moment, HK-47 turns and proceeds to start wordlessly matching out of the Forerunner structure, not bothering to wait if anyone else leaves with him... however, he does spare what seems to be a longing glance at Noble Six's downed form, as if contemplating whether or not trying to finish what he'd started in his prior assassination attempt on her was worth it.     He decided otherwise of course. The situation was too tense and disfavorable for such an action, especially as he was alone. There would have to be another time for it.     After reporting to his Master - and the Confederacy in general - about these developments, at least. After all... a rouge Spartan would no doubt be a /very/ interesting development for them to muse on.
Starbound Flotilla	Biteblade remains... Holding onto Master Chief's back. She's like a little planty backpack on the giant man. "Okay! Good! Don't worry! Floran not know what Two Metal friend talk about, you ssstrand with Floran and one Two Metal, pretty sssure Two Metal not eat you. Ssso Floran not eat you too!" She giggles, having completely missed the point. She will also not demand that Master Chief cease his walking. "You keep go, Floran find beacon. You want fix for armor too? Floran have ssspare durasssteel, reinforce. You get extra ssstrong! Look lesss beat up."     Instead of letting go, Biteblade now crawls around the tremendous supersoldier as he walks, investigating his armor. "Hey, two metal friend, you have sssensor. Normally, Ssseft do all detecty thing for Floran, you do for Floran now? Gonna find beacon, turn off." Clambering around John-117 like a jungle gym as he walks off, she'll hopefully eventually find and disable the beacon.
Starbound Flotilla	George flips his shotgun dramatically, slinging it over one shoulder. "Good decisionmaking, kiddos, that kinda discretion'll take you far. Far away from here, mostly. Now that's over with, we're gonna strip this place down for whatever parts that the Ancients running this place left without superbolts locking 'em down and have a little scavenging party."     "Aye, lass, not here to make some problem for the UNSC, just here to get our pay and all." Pavo says, grinning wide. "And we're not /greedy/."     "'Course, you guys can get a share of whatever's here too, now that the business with the Jolly Green Giant is dealt with."     "Somber. I apologize for the conflict between our groups, but please do not..." Seft says, nervously moving between Noble Six and HK-47. "Worried. I am aware that there have been many collaborations and many conflicts between us, but..." HK-47 seems to be leaving. Seft's eye-screen changes to a u_u;;. "Relieved. Thank goodness." She was worried about that dangerous machine!
Kotone Yamakawa	Kotone Yamakawa is now left to watch and ponder as she sees the feed cut she got a bit of dat anad two more. She does get a heck of a view =though. She puses now that Moonfin is tended to and listens to the converstation at hand. She was also very much worried abotu HK-47. <<Seft am I the only one worried about HK there?>> She's pretty uneasy but thankfully she cna hide it better than she mighht if she were still flesh. "It seems we stumbled into something rather notable a Union Elite going off to do his own thing."
Noble Six	Armor finally booting back on fully, Noble Six rises up from her prone position. Of course Chief would be able to hit her and knock her armor out without doing any lasting damage." She looks to the Starbounders that remain, particularly Seft, as she was standing between Six and HK. She doesn't say anything, but the nod she gives is an indication of thanks.     She turns and collects her weapon from the ground, returning the direction they came from. She doesn't care if the Starbounders tear down this Forerunner site. It's not her concern. What is her concern is getting back to the Crimson Dawn so they can try to track the Chief.
Staren	Staren checks on Noble Six and has a short radio conversation. Seems she needs to go report Sierra-117 to the UNSC higher-ups or something. He's left in kind of an odd situation here. What the hell is going on With Sierra-117? Still, it seems that the situation is... stable-ish, for now.     He'd prefer to destroy or pack up the portal and leave, but it seems they might need it later. He has a brief chat with HK-47 which leaves the droid not answering him. Huh.     "Jolly green giant?" Staren comments to George, as he walks over to the headshotted HK-51, kneels by it, and pulls something from his bag, touching it to the droid. "Get up." As he stands up, so does the droid. "Stay here." It does, speechless. "We're a little short on people and we've got this whole alien complex thing. I'm gonna get us some more troops." He heads down the stairs, and returns a little while later with the reanimated Elite John killed and three of the jackals. Holy shit, he's a necromancer now?! Not really, they're just golems. "Guard the portal from anyone not here now, or these people." He displays holograms of Noble Six, the rest of the Core Fleet, Zwei's other body, and the Chief. "And defend yourselves."     Staren approaches George and Pavo. "Alright, I got us some guards. I didn't come here to tear down an alien ruin, but since we're here anyway, it seems like a good idea."