The Rise: An Introduction

=a few minutes later, the rear end of the Warthog was all pristine and ready for combat. Now I just had to work on the rest of the group of vehicles in the bay and the Athena's Province would be all set for a land incursion. I waved over the foreman, for lack of a better term, and signaled the 'hog was all set and ready. He nodded, made a mark on his tablet, and I went off with my tool kit over to a Mantis, checking to see what needed fixing, and how many people were working on it. It's joints on the left were needing fixing, and the power-core was shorting out occasionally during activation. Looking over the contratption, I saw two guys working on the various bits, so I decided I probably wasn't needed. I altered course to a different area of the bay=

(Athena’s Province)

Spartan Winshire stood in front of a door, adjacent to the door leading to the armory . He watched and waited for the rest of the fresh spartans to return to the room. When most of the Spartans had returned, he addressed them.

“Behind me is a hallway leading to multiple training rooms. Each room has a number assigned to it. The Athena’s Province is equipped with 21 such rooms. To make it easy for you to not get lost, a light will light up directing you to the room you are assigned. When you enter a training room you cannot leave until the end of the session, or “game”. Be nice, you might have to work these other spartans in the future. I’m going to call out a team and send you through, I’ll tell you the number you’re heading to, but in case you forget, or are somehow incompetent, then you can follow the light to your destination.” he cleared his throat. “Lucky for you, today we have a line-up in rooms 1-10, so you don’t have to go that far! First up is Jericho in room number 1! Second up is Goldenrod in room number 2! Next is Roman in room number 3! Holly in room number 4!...” and he went on.

The door closes after the first team enters, so that they have time to reach their destination before the next team can head to theirs. Jericho enters the hallway, and the door closes behind the three of them. Room #1 is about 200 meters away.

I nodded as our heard the CO call out Jericho, and broke off into a jog down the hallway with my team. We weren't too distinct, the typical GEN2 Recruit PVNC stuff came in the same schemes en masse, Recruit visors, 'Orchid' purple, and then of course a secondary fitting the associated team.
Safe to say Jericho didn't exactly come with the softest colour possible.

By the time we reached the room, I couldn't help but speak.
"You guys ready? First bit of combat with each other. We need to operate as a team."

I followed suit behind my team, stopping as we came upon the room door. It was hard not to worry on how your team is going to function together. I had good faith in my team but there is still much to ponder. I heard one of my teammates speak but I kept looking at the door.

Yeah, it hard to formulate a plan without knowledge of the terrain we will fight on but we can at least learn about each others strengths before hand.

I quickly slid on my helmet when Jericho was called first, then made my way down the hall at a brisk jog. It was a good thirty second jog to the door, that slid closed as soon as our three man squad entered.

I grabbed my DMR from my back, and slid a mag in and pulled the bolt back, chambering the first round.

"Alright."

I looked to my teammates, trying to figure out our best course of action. The field we were battling on could be close quarters, desert, thick woods, there was no way of knowing.

"Jack, I want you on point. Brezin, you can follow on the rear, watching our backs. Keep a good three-meter distance between each other. We don't know what we're walking into. But this is just an exercise, like Brezin said, getting to know our team's strengths and weaknesses. So let's just go out there and do our best."

I turn around and do a couple of stretches to get myself warmed up, then turn back.

"But if we kick-ass while doing that. . . I won't complain."

I smirk under my helmet.

I grabbed my AR and checked to see if it was in working condition.

Yes Sir.

It was time to get serious, and that meant no more casual talk. We were here to prove ourselves. I started to stretch as well to get loosened up. Didn't want to get cramps in the middle of combat even if it was training.

[Note: I would like to let the teams decide what their training rooms look like, if they can't for some reason, I will.]

Jericho enters the first room. The door to the hall-way opens, allowing the next team to head through. And so forth.

Announcer in Room #1: "This is a 1-flag CTF game. Capture the Flag as many times as you can. Each round is 10 minutes long. Go!"

Jericho stepped into a dark forested room. They could look up to see there objective through the trees, they were on the low end. There was one marked path up to the object. The Lights in the room dimmed, creating atmosphere. The trees were dark, and unlike those found on earth, some were twisted and gnarled roots made the ground uneven.Surely Jericho got the short end of the stick.

At the top of the hill, where the enemy's flag lay, were three spartans from Sanguine.These three spartans wore white and red armor. Each were veteran Spartan IV's. They knew their abilities and knew them well.






<sub>[note]Rules: (or things that people generally find annoying when not followed)

No team is unbeatable. (but there may be one of those teams who are on a winning streak)
remember: This isn’t like the game, there is hiding in cover, climbing walls. Using whatever you can to gain the advantage.

Rewards are merit based. (will be expanded upon in the future)

(submitted by Kabnit)Do not force an outcome on other roleplayers (you won’t have to worry about this part yet). For example, “Jimmy punches Bobby.” is incorrect. The right way would be “Jimmy throws a punch at Bobby.” This gives him a chance to dodge as opposed to god-modding your way through the match.</sub>

I gulped, heading into the forested land, looking around the large land. The trees were intimidating, the lands were intimidating, and above all the darkness was intimidating.
I quickly moved aside to one of the large trunks, crouching down behind it and pressing my body up, gun held upward against my chest.

I quickly opened a comm with my teammates, silent.
"Guerrilla Tactics. Hit And Run Tactics. We need to be careful, and watchful, as soon as those guys spot one of us the rest of us are doomed. We need to be careful."

I laid my assault rifle down carefully, and pulled my M6F out, holding it low and carefully peering around the tree trunk, zooming in and looking over the area.
Nothing.

I walked a short distance in the room, awestruck at the very surreal yet holographic forest that laid before us. It was dark, very dark, since the tree top covered our area

Turning on night vision. How do we proceed

=I follow the squad leader to our respective door, my mind thinking of how we might go about this strategically=

Could be any number of scenarios...and who knows how good our opponents are...?

=Those were the only thoughts occupying my head at this point=

=A nearby mongoose looked to be in bad shape, what with two of it's four wheels missing and the engine block being reduced to metal spaghetti. I registered myself into it's workspace and got to work, setting my toolkit down and taking out the welding torch and mask. The first thing I would want to do is take out the engine block, since that would be the biggest factor in which direction this thing goes, repairs or scrap. If it all worked out right, this mongoose would be fit as a fiddle on fiddling day, otherwise it'll just get taken apart and put into the spare parts section of the ship. I turned the torch on and made contact with the metal, sending sparks everywhere as the bright blue flame melted and cut with raw power, pure energy, unleashed fury of the universe. I kept a close eye on it though, taking it torch away when I thought it was getting close to cutting the wrong part. i wanted to save this machine, not scrap it=

I followed our leader since that's what she is. What else would I do?

"Here we go."

(Note to Roman - Forest, the team you're facing, has been given a green and white color scheme (armor). They are new to the Athena's Province just like you. You will control the npc's in this match.)

(Note to Jericho - Sanguine, the team you're facing, are veteran Spartan IV's. They've been doing this longer than you, and they've proved it both in the training rooms (war-games) and in the field. They are all Former ODST's, the three you are facing are three of the meanest members of Sanguine. When I say "meanest" I mean they don't also play fair and they will hit you when you are down. They're the rotten apples of Sanguine, is what I'm trying to get at.)

(Note to both teams: When I have a note for you, I will give it in your assigned color, Red for Roman and Brown for Jericho.)

(Note secundus: I've decided that teams will have their own color scheme, I'll let you decide what that is. Every team has a color, however, many teams have the same colors.

If you have questions and I'm not on, you can write them to me using the "()" which is generally used for OOC chat. or use the "hidden" code listed under "others".)

(Reminder: in Training you're IFF tags are set-up to read the opposing team as the enemy, so when you get close enough they will show up on your radar, though your radar has limited range.)

=I go into a crouch, having gone through similar stuff in multiple operations=

Easy now, easy now...

=I take position behind the squad leader, careful not to reveal my position=

I entered the forested area, marksman rifle at the ready. The trees were thick and the ground rough, the objective was marked on the top of a close hill. I looked through my scope, but the forest was too thick, I couldn't see any movement in the trees.

"Our objective is atop that hill."

I kept the chatter minimal.

"Watch your step, chances are these guys are pretty clever, might've planted some trip wires at the objective."

I made sure we were keeping space between each other, didn't want all of us to be mowed down in a small burst of fire.

=the engine block dropped down with a massive thud, and I took a look at the damage. Either this machine had been driven into a wall, or a wall had been thrown at the driver, missed, and promptly hit the engine block. This thing was a mess, and there was no way I would be able to save it. It'd have to be scrapped, no doubt about it, but what about the rest of the machine. The pipes for the hydrogen fuel were bent and broken, along with most of the suspension and axles. Apparently, this little machine had taken quite the beating, and whatever had caused all this damage was not a fight it would come back from. I sighed and started cutting away with my welding torch at all the pieces that would need it, leaving the rest alone. Those I could simply take apart and send off into the spare parts section. The rest would obviously go into scrap and either be melted down or just spaced=

Kabnit wrote:

N wrote:

Eir smiled, "Let's move out. Get yourself strapped in."

The team piled onto the Pelican, strapped in, and then the pelican left the ship only to enter slipspace and appear in front of a large aesthetically earth-like planet.

"Woah..." gasped one of the PVCs.

Adam gazed out the window of the Pelican for a few moments before looking back down at his gear, triple-checking that he had brought everything. He had been travelling to different planets for almost as long as he could remember, and it no longer phased him. The things it had in common with Earth shocked him, however. Not so much the similarities - but if this planet was so similar to humanity's home base, why had he never been here? This bugged him more than anything, and he wanted answers.

"So this is Karjur." Said PFC Nicholas, "Hm. interesting."

"So, how far away are we from UNSC space?" Asked LC. Turner.

"Pretty damn far," replied the Pilot, "We're pretty much the only vessel for a couple trillion lightyears."

"Haha, nice try." laughed PFC. Nicholas, "We're pretty close to UNSC space, according to the data charts this planet and the solar system it's in just kind of appeared one day."

"What?! Is that even possible?" exclaimed PFC Anders.

"Nick, we're going to have a talk about classified information that you seem to get your hands on." Said Corporal Eir, cooly.
PFC Nicholas looked at the Corporal and sighed, but smirked all the while. "Yes, ma'am."

PFC Nicholas was right, however. The Solar System that Karjur is in only recently appeared on UNSC star charts, as well as Covenant Star Charts. The space that it occupies was originally empty, but that changed a few months prior. Since it's appearance, many groups fleeing from the law, both Covenant species and humans, have attempted to take refuge there. UNSC Athena's Province has sent Spartan teams to perform an preliminary investigation of the planet. Most of them have gone dark.

Spartan 025 (Adam) and the marine fireteam Raven, have been sent to aid Spartan 149 (Nick). Spartan 149, having been sent alone to investigate a structure found by Ghostpaw† (Spartan 150*), the spartan sent to gather intel on the terrain of the planet.

(Spartan 149)

With Mimir and the Athena's Province out of range for suit comm's connection, Spartan 149 had no idea how far the the hallway or descent would be. On the way down there wasn't much to see, nothing that signified a door, or hatch, or anything abnormal. He had, by this time, descended more than 200m deep into the planet. The only thing he felt uneasy about was the deafening silence of this descent. Only his footsteps could be heard as a soft echo. The deeper he went into the planet, the more his heart thumped against his chest.

He'd been in war, he'd seen battles, been on countless missions. Surrounded by chaos. But this was different, there was no chaos here, only the quiet. It was almost unnerving. It made him uncomfortable.



*need to check if Spartan tag is available for use canonically
†see the Athena's Province thread for image

I did what the signal suggested after observing what little there is observe. I went into a crouch behind the III and next to the other guy.

Wait... wouldn't going through the wheat make it bend over and give away our position anyway?

As we wade through the forestry I had seen something on my HUD and then disappear quickly after that. I commed my team.

Hey guys did you see that on your HUD? It was just there.

I had pointed to 4 o'clock of my position. Wonder what that was about.

(note) It was the ordinance drop for the sniper rifle. Sanguine took it.()

Spartan-025 sat solemnly for the first time he had been on the ship. The guise of charisma could only last so long, especially for a man with the little patience he had for such long slipspace rides. He looked around once, frowning with the mention of questionably acquired confidential information.

Adam looked around the ship once more, trying to find a window to peer out of at Karjur, the planet in question, as if doing so got his mind off of the cocky little Private on the other side of the ship. Probably for the best.

My eyes were peeled, constantly scanning the forested terrain. When Brezin said he saw something I pointed my rifle towards where he said he saw it. I wasn't gonna be taking any chances.

I used hand signals, telling Brezin to flank right. Me and Jack would approach head on.

((Sorry for my absence, I've recently gotten back into WoW...))

I was Tyrese give the command to flank and I did as told. Quietly I started moving in a wide arc right of my original position. It seemed Tyrese wanted to see what was over there. I brought up my gun and ready for any action.

I started to move up on what Brezin thought he saw.

Hopefully he isn't just being jumpy...

I walked to the left of Jack, with a good five-meter distance between us, DMR at the ready, aiming to the area Brezin pointed out. I popped into the comms a moment.

"SitRep?"

Clear.

I started to wonder if I had actually seen something or could it be my anxiety messing with me. There was no sign of Sanguine, they were probably at their flag.

Sorry Sir, maybe it was my imagination

I kept my original objective of the flank.

I do as instructed. Moving to the left of my original position but still heading towards to flag. AR readied.

=I nod, moving off to the right, AR at the ready=

Easy now...Easy...

=I watch the field with my eyes, knowing the motion detectors would be useless in a field like this=

I mute my armour's external speakers and bring up squad chat.

Take it nice and slow. Listen for any movement.

I continue moving onwards, occasionally stopping and raising my head a little to watch for any wheat movement.

=I nod curtly=

Copy that, ma'am. I'll keep my ears open.

=I move forward, occasionally looking around for any indication for anything amiss=

I kill the volume on my external speakers too and bring up the squad chat.

"Uh huh."

Though I was already doing these things (considering I guessed it's what she wanted by making us crouch) it's polite to respond.

=I stop, keeping low and out of sight of the enemy=

Don't make any sudden moves...not yet...

=I flip of the rifle's safety and place my finger over the trigger guard=

I stop and wait. One head poking up is enough and can go unseen. If I did too we'd probably get caught.

"See anything? Traps maybe."

As the Pelican landed, Kamil was grabbing his bag as the hatch opened. His bag in his hands and a smile on his face, felt like nothing could stop him. As he got up, he looked at the Spartan across from him. Gave her a bit of a nudge on the foot and kept moving forward. "How 'bout that ride eh?" He said with a small smile upon his face, "The delay was horrendous!" He chuckled a bit.

She smiled slightly, before moving away from the Pelican. What was meant to happen now? They were later than everyone else of course, so she susposed that the only option was to wait here until somebody came along.

I shake my head, frowning a little and quickly moving to scan the other side of the forests, my eyes darting from every moving bush, every flickering scrub, every single piece of movement. Some seemed natural, others...

"Your imagination would not play a trick so cruel. They've seen us. They're waiting for us to make the first move."
I lift my pistol up slowly, frowning.
"So let's make it count."

I crouch down next to a thick tree, then peak around the corner of it... Nothing.
I look back to Jack, he was looking in the other direction that I was in.
We can't make a move if we don't know where they are at.

I crept toward Jack, keeping low as I could. I knelt down next to him, while still looking in the forest, checking for movement.

"If we can avoid head to head combat, that would be preferable. We stand a better chance at capturing the objective than taking out each target. I want you and Brezin to move up the hill, to the objective while I cover you from atop one of these trees."

He looks pretty bored.

I checked for the other members of his squad, but they weren't in sight. I crouch back down and signal the other two to circle around in a triangle formation.

"Good. Should make this easy."

Slowly I make my way over to the right and into position. Hoping the precautions I took kept me from being seen.

*sigh*

I felt like I messed up but I couldn't let that take over. I quickened my pace back to my squad, getting closer and closer.

What the hell was that?

I felt something, something strange. It was like a push of air. I looked at the trees but they were still, frozen. I felt it again, it was systematic at first thought.

It's probably nothing.

I continued back seeing Jack through the brush.

*note* Armor ability radar. Human take on promethean vision. Enemy sniper has it.

=I shake my head=

If it looks easy...then assume anything.

=I head towards the left in low crouch=

Moose wrote:

She smiled slightly, before moving away from the Pelican. What was meant to happen now? They were later than everyone else of course, so she susposed that the only option was to wait here until somebody came along.

Kamil set down his bag once he stepped out of the Pelican. He then turned to the other Spartan and put out his hand. "Names Kamil Turski. Pleasure to meet you, well formally." He smiled as he had his hand out.

Kabnit wrote:

Spartan-025 sat solemnly for the first time he had been on the ship. The guise of charisma could only last so long, especially for a man with the little patience he had for such long slipspace rides. He looked around once, frowning with the mention of questionably acquired confidential information.

Adam looked around the ship once more, trying to find a window to peer out of at Karjur, the planet in question, as if doing so got his mind off of the cocky little Private on the other side of the ship. Probably for the best.

The Pelican (Warbird-1) approached the spectacularly green planet that bore so much resemblance to earth. As they drew closer, the marines loaded up their weapons, checked their suits systems and helmet-cams. They checked their bio-foam supply, their field equipment, made sure the backpacks were full of what they'd need in case they were spending the night. Routine, as only the military could achieve.

LC. Baldwin, turned around to face the squad, "Who has the Spoofer?"

PFC. Nick O., Without turning around from his pack, "That'd be me, Turner."

LC Baldwin, "Oh great, he has the spoofer, let's hope you don't lose this one."

LC Nick O., responds, "You mean like the time you lost your rifle in that last mission?"

LC Baldwin turned a shade of red, "Shut it! That was your fault!"

PFC Nick O. chuckles at this and shakes his head, double checking his gear to make sure he had everything.

In the Cockpit, the Pilot and Corporal Eir are talking about the time it will take to get to the LZ. Marines. Charles H. and Alex C. are talking quietly, and Ryan Anders is staring blankly at his pack.

(Spartan 149)

The entire area was clear. There were no signs of life in the bunker. I took out a portable light source and placed it where I was standing, so that it lit up the area around me. The marines would have to fill the place up with light when they got here. It bore a resemblance to the inside of a warehouse. Walls that reached up to the ceiling, a clear floor space, no supports coming down from the ceiling. I placed lights in the corners of the room and in the doorways of hallways I hadn't gone through yet.

The ground had a thin variable layer of dirt and grime on it. This place must've been abandoned for some time, or Karjur reclaims it's land faster than other planets. I was, of course, inclined to think the former of those two options.

A brief sound...

... a soft echo...

...a footstep...

... I drew my gun and turned around bringing the barrel of my rifle to the chest of a lightly armored elite. He, or she, wore what looked like very light armor, no helmet, no gloves, and no boots. Legs and chest were the only body parts covered. The first difference I noticed about the armor was that it was white, not something that a typical ground-trooper would wear. The Elite, who I had caught off guard, had been expecting to catch me off guard, was holding an energy staff above its head about to strike. It had stopped in its tracks when I turned around. After a brief moment, it brought the energy staff down over it's head, and I stepped forward, into the blow, blocking the metal of the staff with my DMR. The gun was torn from my hands by the force of the blow, and I rolled out of the way of the next swing.

(OOC: Seth you're going to laugh at this next part)

The Elite covered the distance between us and swung again, it was a left sweep, coming from my left, I weaved under it and threw a left hook at the elites' face, staggering him. I took the opportunity to grab the energy stave and tear it away from the Elite, but it countered and threw me back a few feet, and then hit me with the energy staff and knocked me some distance away onto my back. I lay there, stunned for a bit, but the Elite didn't approach me. I looked down my chest at the Elite standing not 3 meters away. I grunted, and staggered to my feet. I looked up at the Elite, and it met my gaze. The Elite looked sickly, scabs and bruises already covered it's body. What had this elite been through here?

I took a few steps toward the Elite, and he charged me, swinging energy staff at my head, I ducked, and struck the "elbow" of the elite with a palm-heel (palm-heel strike is a Kenpo Karate strike), the staff clattered to the floor, and it became an unarmed fight.

In the moments following the fall of the staff we exchanged several blows, and after several minutes we had tired each other out. We were breathing hard, but still standing. The Elite quickly snapped his head toward one of the doors that I had set a light by, and then turned its attention to the door, keeping me in sight. I would've taken the initiative and struck the elite while it was distracted, but my gut told me that whatever he was focusing was more important. I walked over and picked up the energy stave, and tossed it towards the Elite, and then took out my pistol, and aimed it at the door. And As we both focused our attention to the door, it opened, and another Elite came through the door. His armor was the same white as the one I had been fighting, but this one had a head piece, and boots on its feet.

It said something in Sangheili, usually I had an AI that translated what it said. So I didn't understand the exchange they had, but the elite that had just come through the door, activated his energy sword and charge the one I had been brawling with. I sidestepped to get a better view, the elite that I had fought with barely brought the stave up to defend himself, and it was cut in half. I opened fire on the Elite with the sword, I saw the other elite fall backwards, and the Elite with the sword came at me.

I managed to jump out of range of his first swing, but as I did, I saw that his next would be my last, so I closed the distance between us before he could throw his next swing...


(Cliffhanger!)

=a little while later, I was done. All the damaged pieces torn and cut off, the rest left alone. I had formed a little ring around the vehicle, a small halo, if you will, to mark this machine's end. I put the welding kit away and took out the various power tools I would need to take it apart. With a sigh and a quick clearing of an area with my foot, I got to work. Bolts and screws came loose, falling to the ground in a clatter of metal on metal. I moved around, taking out what i could get to on the first pass, and then taking off the pieces, and starting another round=

"Roger." I look over to Sean and hold up two fingers.

"We're headed for these two trees." I held my hand out, pinned to the tree as each finger aimed directly at a tree.
"I'll go right, you left. You first, I'll keep you covered, then you'll watch for me." I crouched down and begin to edge out around the tree through a bush, still scanning the area.

"That sound good?"

I locked my DMR to my back before grabbing unto the tree and started making my way up. Though large, these trees had a good amount of places to grab onto, making them easy to climb.

Once to a higher, thick branch, I lie down, taking my rifle from my back and looking down the scope, first towards my teammates, checking to make sure they were in position, then to the forest, looking for movement.

COMM - "In position."

"Wilco."

I made a quick but quit bee line for my position by the tree. Upon arrival I placed my left shoulder to the center of the tree and peered around it for any enemies. Coast was clear so I gave the wave to alert my teammate that is was safe to move up.

I dart down and forward quickly through the bushes before slamming hard and silently into my tree, and spinning around to peer briskly over the arena before us.

COMM - "What's it look like up there?"