[Halo] New! San Angeles RPG

[Naked Crook]

Tye, Nighthawk, and Anaconda walked past Robertson, and walked through the door he was guarding, into the main engineering room. As they walked in, the door closed behind them, and they looked at the Stealth generator in the center of the room. Tyber: Holy crap...is that...? Jennifer interjected. Jennifer: An ONI Stealth generator. Right now, it has been shut down...but when it was active, it was the entire reason that we did not detect this base on the planet. The Trust had been using a ship-board Stealth generator to hide an entire facility from prying eyes. Nighthawk stepped forward, and whistled. Nighthawk: I will give credit where credit is due...that is pretty ingenius. Nighthawk looked around the room, amd took notice of several power conduits that were running into the Stealth generator. Nighthawk: Take a look at that. Nighthawk pointed at one of the power conduits. Tye, Jennifer, Cameron, and Anaconda looked at the power conduit. Nighthawk: This Stealth Generator is being directly powered by its own independent power source. Anaconda: Independent power source? Nighthawk: A secondary power source that is parallel to the main power conduits that run through the building. Tyber: How do you know? Nighthawk: Well, you can tell by how the surrounding walls have been cut through. See for yourselves. Everyone looked around, and noticed how the walls looked as if they had been forcefully cut through. These walls were not designed like this, they had been clearly modified. Cameron: Nighthawk is right, these walls have been modified after the fact. It looks as if these power conduits were added in after this facility had been built. Anaconda: Why would that be? Why not just build the facility around the power conduits? Nighthawk: That is a very good question. Nighthawk took a few steps to the side, and began to approach a large terminal that displayed the current status of the Stealth Generator. Nighthawk: Perhaps we can find out. Nighthawk activated the terminal, and he invoked several commands. Nighthawk: There is clearly a reason The Trust decided to power this Stealth Generator the way they chose to. There may also be no real important reason. With the Trust...it is hard to say for sure. Nighthawk managed to call up a power distribution grid for the facility. Nighthawk noticed something rather odd. Nighthawk: I think...this may have something to do with it. This Stealth Generator is not being powered by the reactor located outside the facility. It is being powered by a separate power grid that seems to be siphoning energy off the planetary geothermal grid. Tyber: What would be the advantage of this? Nighthawk: An indefinate power supply, for one. Jennifer: Why would The Trust need a Stealth generator running off of an indefinite power supply? Nighthawk: I could speculate... Anaconda stepped forward. Anaconda: Perhaps it is because of The Covenant? Everyone looked at Anaconda. Cameron: Care to explain? Anaconda: In the past, whe The Covenant have attacked Human worlds...it was a common tactic to engage and destroy planetary power sources, in an effort to cripple ground based defenses and put the local populace into disarray. The Trust may have tried to counter this tactic by using this world as a giant battery; utilizing the energy that is generated by geothermal to ensure that this facility was persistently hidden. Nighthawk snapped his fingers. Nighthawk: Persistently hidden...from the UNSC. I think Anaconda is right about this. That seems to be the only logical explanation. Jennifer: Well, the Stealth generator is no longer active. It was shut down a while ago, during the attack. Jennifer paused. Jennifer: The question is now...what do we do with this thing? Nighthawk: Well, that is simple; take it into your possesion. Get an engineering team down from The King Raven to disconnect this thing from its enclosure, and return it to The King Raven and store it away. Keep it under guard. Tyber: Would it not be more prudent to destroy this thing? Nighthawk: No...it would not be more prudent. These Stealth Generators are valuable peuces of equipment. Jennifer: Nighthawk is right...we should keep this thing. It could come in useful one of these days. Besides...I am sure Admiral Vernette would want us to salvage it. Cameron: Well, how do we get it out of this room? THat thing is way too big to carry out the front door. Nighthawk: Well, that is easy... Nighthawk turned back to the console that he was standing next to, and issued another command. EVeryone looked up when the saw a large maintenance hatch in the roof open up. Nighthawk: For the record...I seriously down that this facility was built with that maintenance hatch. That was defiantly added in after-the-fact as well. But yes...all you need is a Pelican with a cargo lift...and you are good to go. Cameron: Hmm...go figure. Jennifer laughed a bit. Jennifer: Alright...I will get an engineering team down here to disconnect this thing, and bring it back to The King Raven. Tyber: Ma'am...if you do that...I suggest we keep this from Harrison, and the rest of the fleet. AFter what happened with jacob...I am starting to doubt his CO as well. Nighthawk: Tye has a point. It would not be unreasonable to assume that more officers, other than Jacob, were compromised on The Vigorous Inferno. It is possible that Harrison may also be on The Trust's payroll. Both jacob and Harrison have similar backrounds concerning The Trust...and if Jacob could turn coat, Harrison would be more than capable of doing so. Cameron: Are you suggesting that Harrison is part of The Trust? Nighthawk: No...but I am playing it safe with the idea. There is no need to tell him exactly what we found here. Jennifer: You two may be right about that as well. AT the very least< Harrison is not ONI so he needs not know about classified ONI hardware that was found. Jennifer hung her head. Jennifer: I can't believe that Jacob turned on us. What a prick. God only knows how much he knew about our ongoing strategies and plans. Tyber: You can bet he is going to reveal everything he knows to The Trust. He is going to seriously compromise our efforts. Tye paused. Tyber: I never thought that Jacob would turn against us. Nighthawk: I dunno...he always had the potential to do it. He never liked me too much, and my very existence is defined by fighting The Trust. Perhaps I had a gut feeling about his trechery...but I ignored it. I guess we all learned something.

[Hells Sniper]

Jacob smiled. He and Yates had always had a troubled history, especially since Genesis. He knew he was about to enter a very heated debate with the man, regardless of what was said, the tension would be high. The again, Jacob knew this was bound to happen eventually. Jacob entered the room and immediately Yates looked up at him. Jacob smiled and walked inside. Jacob: Vice-Admiral Yates! How is my man doing? Jacob was clearly being sarcastic. Meanwhile: Dangerus and Xyrho had since left the area and gotten back to their phantom. It was at this time that Dangerus stopped and looked back at the facility. Dangerus: The humans are having problems, both with this Trust organization, and within their own ranks. It is something we must be careful with.

[Naked Crook]

Yates looked at Jacob and rolled his eyes. He didn't answer Jacob right away, but instead looked at Black 1. Yates: What is this? Is this some kind of bad joke? Black 1: No joke. It seems that The Captain has a revived interest in joining us. Yates laughed. Yates: I'm sure he does. Yates had the sarcastic tone now. He then looked back at Jacob. Yates: You want to know how I am doing? Let me make it simple; I am currently doing damage control on our most recent strategic loss. I am trying to figure out exactly how much was lost, and how much we need to correct. It is a logistical nightmare that your ex-compatriots are going to dearly pay for, I assure you. Yates paused. Yates: With that said...perhaps you could help with the "dearly paying" for part. Consider it a test of your loyalty. Meanwhile: Xyrho looked at Dangerus, and gave an uncertain inclination. Xyrho: Honestly...wiyh the Humans fighting each other...we do have an advantage. However...I feel there may be more to this internal fighting than what is clear. I have never seen the Humans fight like this. We need to be careful. If there is a divide in the Human ranks...it could complicate everything.

[Hells Sniper]

Jacob nodded. Jacob: I'll let you in on anything you ask, but I'm going to be blunt with you. Jacob paused. Jacob: I've been in the dark since I was sent on the mission to the moon. Clearly debriefing me wasn't on my Commander's list of things to do when I got back. But I will tell you anything I can assist with. Meanwhile: Dangerus nodded. Dangerus: Agreed. Humans fighting each other is normal, but something on this level, it seems like there is much more going on than expected. We must tread carefully. Dangerus looked at Xryho. Dangerus: In the meantime, let us return to the fleet. We will do as much as we can until we hear from Anaconda again.

[Naked Crook]

Yates: Alright...lets see how much you mean that. Let's start simple. Yates sighed as he leaned back in his chair. Yates: How much does Admiral Harrison know about The Trust and our current operation? What specifics do they know that they should not know? How far does Harrison's involvement with Nighthawk and Anaconda extend? Short of the intel gathered on Nighthawk and Anaconda in the most recent engagement...is there anything that you know about either of those two that would be of even the slightest interest to either myself, or anyone else in The Trust? Yates then paused. Yates: And lastly...to the best of your knowledge...have you ever observed Nighthawk or Anaconda have any direct or indirect contact with any officer currently stationed on The King Raven? Yates grinned. Yates: We have a paticular hatred for that ship and its entire senior staff. Meanwhile: Xyrho: Agreed. We can start making our next series of decisions then. With that said...the questions arises; what is our next move? Do we continue our campaign against The Humans? If so, how will we balance that with the goal of destroying Vanguard? The two objectives seem...incompatible. Xyrho paused. Xyrho: We cannot risk allowing Vanguard to survive...but we cannot risk exposure of what we know...and we cannot risk exposure of any possible redirection away from The Humans. Meanwhile: Voro, along with a few dozen other Elites had managed to escape the siege that was laid down on them in Carver by The Venture Capitalist. Voro, along with the rest of these Elites, had managed to put a great deal of distance between themselves and Carver, to the point where no further combat was currently possible. Voro had finally ordered a full stop for his Elites. Voro: Brothers...hold here! We have traveled far enough. Voro paused, as he looked around. Voro: Is there anyone here who can contact the fleet? Does anyone still have an active communication line to any ship in orbit?

[Kairu]

During the escape, Vhat had been running a diagnostics on his helmet. When Voro inquired about comm lines, he couldn't have been more helpful. Vhat remained silent, thinking it was best to not answer unless he had good news. Voro's body language appeared to Vhat that the long silence seemed to have been bothering their field leader. Before Voro would lose his patience, Vhat spoke up. Vhat: "I've been running an analysis program for my helmet. Some of the debris from the bombardment damaged my helmet. My analysis says my comm is functioning, but only partially. I will see if I can contact the Fleetmaster." Vhat activated the comm. Interference was audible, but he tried to radio anyway. Vhat: "This is Major Komata'ree to the fleet. We have fled the Filth's city and have gained distance from it." The interference was frequent and audible with no evidence of a reply. Vhat: "Major Komata'ree to Covenant Fleet, respond. I am with special operations groups from the Divine Inquistion, any one there?" The interference continued, but several variable pitches were barely distinguished. Vhat attempted to clean it up better, getting only bits an pieces from his recipient. He could tell that he got ahold of one of the Brute ships, although unknown of which one. From the pieces he could make out, it seemed that they couldn't hear him too well either. Vhat: "I am sorry, Commander, but I seem to have a malfuntioning comm system."

[Naked Crook]

Voro: Keep trying. If need be, try transmitting over a shorter range, in an effort to contact any Phantoms or drop ships that may be nearby. We must make every effort to regroup with the fleet, and plan our next move. We must not give the filth any quarter! Voro paused. Voro: Do whatever you must to contact our forces.

[Kairu]

Vhat nodded, readjusting frequencies as he continued to radio for any contact. He was getting impatient until a phantom picked up his broadcast. Phantom Pilot: "Phantom Righteous Recon 301 here, Major. Were are you and your teams and we'll extract you." Vhat was thankful that the pilot was an Elite. He was afraid that if he was a Brute, they'd still be having to radio for contact. Vhat: "I'm activating my system distress beacon... now." A marker on Vhat's HUD showed up in the top right corner. Vhat: "My beacon is active. We are out from the Filth's City." Pilot: "I see you. I estimate two minutes before pickup." Vhat: "Got it, I will inform Fieldmaster Voro." Vhat then muted the comm and updated Voro. Vhat: "A phantom is enroute to extract us."

[Hells Sniper]

Dangerus nodded. He agreed with what Xyrho was saying and was concerned over the Humans campaign as well as his own. Dangerus: Continuing the campaign against the humans right now seems almost unnecessary. We must focus our efforts on Vanguard. From now on, only our most loyal teams must be sent on ground missions. Tracking the humans progress along with tracking possible Vanguard sites. Dangerus paused. Dangerus: If and when the humans begin to make moves we will retaliate. Meanwhile: Jacob looked at Yates, he threw a lot of questions at him, but he was going to handle it as best as he could. Jacob: Harrison knows next to nothing, he only figured out the Trust was here a few days ago, only because of the fact that both of us encountered you guys before. I'm sure everyone here remembers that op. The only thing he knows is that you guys are active and currently invested in this planet. Jacob paused. Jacob: Harrison hates Nighthawk and Anaconda almost as much as I do, so he is only using them until he deems they have nothing else to give. Although, I expressed concern that they will betray us before we can betray them. They are invested in helping us, particularly a few officers. Jacob paused again, he hoped he was giving enough information for them to believe him. Jacob: Nighthawk and Anaconda are giving this fight all they have and focusing their efforts to help STRICTLY officers of the King Raven. They have saved the Spartan Cameron, Commander Vernette, and Captain Frost numerous times. Jacob shrugged. Jacob: While leaving many others dead... Jacob paused, he was hoping he could add in a little bit too. Jacob: Nighthawk and Anaconda have the most information on you and this organization. Separate them from the main UNSC crew, they'll go blind.

[Naked Crook]

Yates looked at Jacob, with a bit of interest and intrigue. Yates: I guess it is still very easy to pull the wool over Harrison's eye. His rampant ignorance and naiveté makes him almost as useful as an operative. None-the-less...we need to make sure that our immediate problems are taken care of to ensure that pr0gram is not diverted. Yates paused for a moment. Yates: Our goal should be the alienation of Nighthawk and Anaconda. If we cut off the information to the UNSC, we can ensure that people like Harrison do not disrupt any more of our plans. I believe I may have an idea on how to do this. However, that is not for you to know at this time. Yates paused again. Yates: Once those two are dead...victory is assured. They are the only real threat, short of The Covenant, but The Covenant can be managed. They are predictable, however destructive they may be. Yates sighed. Yates: If only you knew how MUCH we have spent trying to kill those two. The upper brass will never admit it...but every time we put a plan in motion, we worry about the success of said operation because of those two. They have caused us a lot of trouble. I don't understand why though. The Brute...what does he care? How was this ever his fight? As for Nighthawk...he is one fucking guy. His only advantage is anonymity, yet we cannot put a bullet in his head with any kind of success. Do you have any idea how frustrating it is? Yates shrugged. Yates: We just need more indirect ways of fighting them. Thankfully...indirectly fighting battles is something we are no strangers to. Yates looked at Jacob. He was silent for about a minute, trying to get a read of Jacob. Yates: I plan on killing all of your friends...you know that right? I am looking forward to killing everyone that you just turned your back on. We may not even kill them face to face. We may just launch a few airstrikes, and kill them from orbit...in the most undignified fashion possible. They will die, having never seen the faces of their killers. What do you think of that? Does this bother you? Meanwhile: Voro nodded. Voro: A step in the right direction. Voro sighed. Voro: When we link up with the fleet, we will consult the Brute fleet master for instructions. Voro gave a very disrespectful clicking noise with his mandibles after he said this. Voro: The Beast should be smart enough to provide us with enough direction to satisfy his own ego, all while displaying enough competence to warrent the respect that is forced upon him. But no matter his orders...blood will be spilled in the coming hours to redeem this defeat. Meanwhile: Xyrho: I warn your Dangerus...there are many Elites who will not sit idly by. Whether they are umong the most trusted or not, there is only so long that we will go without shedding the blood of our enemies before they begin to question their leadership. We are not above assassinating our leaders if they display the qualities of incompetence. I agree that Vanguard should be our target...but you must balance that with hostility towards the Humans...or you will lose the loyalty of many Elites...and there will be little I can do to help you in that respect. Xyrho paused. Xyrho: If I were you...I would think very carefully about your next targets. The wrong move will either anger those under your command, The Humans, or Nighthawk and Anaconda. Xyrho paused. Xyrho: Consulting The Humans on who to fight is out of the question, and consulting your subordinates will make you look weak and incompetent. However...consulting Nighthawk and Anaconda as to who you could turn your aggression on...could be permissible if you keep it quiet. Meanwhile: Nighthawk and Jennifer had wandered off from the main group, in order to get a bit of privacy so they could talk more freely. THey were whispering to each other. Jennifer: How are you holding up? Nighthawk: Not to bad. I have felt better. Jennifer: Injured? Nighthawk: Yeah. It is not too serious...but...it hurts. It is tough to always make it look like you are 100% and ready to go. Jennifer sighed. Jennifer: If you want...I can take a look. Nighthawk: No...at least not now. Gotta keep it arms length. Nighthawk paused. Nighthawk: I'll be fine. Jennifer: Just let me know if you need anything. Nighthawk nodded. Nighthawk: By the way...I may have some good news. I may be able to get the Covenant to tone down its offensive a bit, at least for a while. Jennifer: How? Nighthawk: The Covenant fleet commander was here, during the battle. Anaconda and I bumped into him during the battle. Jennifer: What!? Nighthawk: Recon, or something. They were here because of what The Trust is doing. However, that doesn;t matter. The important thing is...I might be able to cool things down a bit. I will do my best to play both sides. Its our best chance. However...just keep this between you and I. Do not tell anyone. IF anyone finds out I am having meet-ups with The Covenant...my credibility is dead...and only The Trust wins from that. Anythi9ng that helps The Trust...is bad. Jennifer: Fair enough. Just be careful Preston. You have to watch yourself. Not every member of The Covenant is as... Jennifer looked at Anaconda on the other side of the room, leading on the wall. Jennifer: Chill...as your friend. Nighthawk: That's true. He is pretty chill all things considered.