Space E-war

[dinoman666]

Bias floated out of the APC, followed by the Sangheili. Bias quipped, "This structure is very interesting, though not of the quality of my makers."

[The Kingpin]

"I'll make sure the utmost is done to help" said Serephir as he found himself a seat, waiting for the craft to arrive at it's destination...

[dinoman666]

The shuttle didn't take to long to land, this time back at the city, on the balcony of a massive spire, easily 30 stories tall. The balcony, which was about halfway up, was big enough to comfortably fit the shuttle. Grievous walked out with his droid compatriots, waiting for Serephir's crew.

[Doc 42]

Karlash answered the drone wryly "This is the council building, all of our ruling branches are housed here... Its ment to be more a symbol of koultian unity and culture than something of great use or design."

He continued briskly towards the large arched entrance, glancing around at the soilders spread out along the square, keeping civilians out, most likely having been arranged only minutes before he landed....

Three guards were waiting at the door way, all fully suited in black armour, warriors, though not like Karlash. While he was specilised with dealing with hostile creatures, such as aggressive aliens like the flood, they were all purpose fighters. Urban or wide open combat, the Adv warrior infantry could do the job and do it well. Karlash instantly saluted, each one of them being well past him in rank. The lead guard waved him down and growled "Glad you got here in one peice, soilder. The council is assembled in the chambers, take them right up."

Karlash nodded, leading the party behind him into a huge central hallway, red carpet on the ground, light filtering through into the cylindrical room through many wide windows up along the walls.

Karlash walked straight foreward, climbing up the red carpeted stairway at the far end of the room, strideing towards two large wooden double doors which noiselessly slided open as he approached, entering another circular room, various koultians sitting on strange stool like chairs, several guards standing around the edges...

[dinoman666]

The Sangheili walked in, looking around the Council room. It reminded them all of their own Council, now long-dead. Bias floated in, humming, then looked around and said, "Greetings! My name is 666 Mendicant Bias! My primary function is control, study, and, if necessary, neutralization of the Flood!"

[Doc 42]

The council just stared, puzzled. Karlash made a slight bow taking off his helmet"Councillors...."

One of the koultians said, in a tense tone "Warrior, over the past few hours, we have recieved reports of zombies, the destruction of an alien space ship and curiously, immeninet invasion.... As you can imagine, amidst all the chaos, formalities are the least of our concerns. Cut to the chase."

Karlash nodded and continued, not appologising for fear it would annoy them further"
As you have gathered, this is medicant bias.... as you all probably know, several others and I were on a mission, called in by trackers investigateing the dissappearance of numerous people from local tribes. As you probably know, the culprits were of the horde variety... I found Medicant Bias in there... Or more, he found me.... I will let Bias fill you in on what the flood are..." He gestured to the machine, stepping away from his spot and waving the construct into the centre of the room.... He glanced towards the sanghelli leader, wondering if he would be shed some light on the cruiser that shot down that koultian fighter....

[dinoman666]

Bias floated forward. "Certainly. The Flood are an Extragalactic parasite my Makers discovered and battled many millennia ago. They had to resort to using the seven Halo Installations to wipe out every sentient species in the galaxy to stop the parasite from spreading. The Flood infects any being with sufficient biomass and makes it into one of its won. Insidious, and quite effective. They are controlled by a central Hive Mind, known as the Gravemind, and absorb the memories of all they infect. Simply put, the Gravemind and many Flood escaped the planet on a Sangheili cruiser, and my duty is to stop them, by any means necessary, even if that means activating the Halos once again." He moved to the side and Elch stepped forward, who bowed. "My name is Ship Master Elch 'Masal. I made the grievous error of landing my ship on the planet's surface, allowing the Flood to board. My brothers and I will assist in any way possible to stop the Parasite." Bias bobbed once. "My Sentinels will now not attack any Koult or Sangheili they see, and will help in the eradication of the Flood." "Please, Councilors, we must stop this infestation before it spreads out of control," added Elch.

[Doc 42]

After a moment of silence, one of the koultian councillers cupped his hands and growled in a tone without emotion. "So.... This... flood infestation.... They are the cause of the recent dissappearances.... led by a sentinant being?"

[dinoman666]

"Yes," replied Bias. "The Gravemind, a creature that absorbs the memories of its hosts, which gives it an intelligence approaching that of omniscience. Quite vile, but very interesting to study."

[Doc 42]

From the expression that fell on the councillers face, it was obvious to Karlash that they had struck a chord.
The counciller stood up and said in a tone that could be described as an almost growl "A sentinent creature is responsible for the possible THOUSANDS of innocent koult civilians now dead.... Believe me ship master Elch... They won't get very far... From what I heard of the passangers on your cruiser.... I am sure you feel even more strongly about this than I...." He looked to the side and said in more controled tone "Kar'ki, what can we spare?" A female koult across the room said in an air of determination "We have several pursuit cruisers on standby, if needed, they can be supported by the battlehship, K.A Starlight. It's currently setting up stations near post 1 and could easily be rerouted." The first counciller nodded in appreciation, waiting for anything anyone else had to submit.
If it wasn't for her voice, it would have been almost impossible foreigners to tell the female apart from any of the males, as with all koult, being almost exactly the same in build. An oddity amongst the koult which had caused more than a few misunderstandings.

Another koult on other side of the room growled in a deep voice "Once preparations have been made, we should contact the Maricans and warn them about the flood craft to mark it as hostile to their drones." Another counciller piped up "We could try convince them to re-activate the beta-omega, Disintergrator cannon... That would severly limit the floods movement options. One wrong step and they would be dust."

[dinoman666]

"If I may say," said Elch, "The Flood should be easy to track. It's even possible to beat them to their next location if we act fast enough. They may be able to pilot a ship through Slipspace, but that doesn't mean they're very good at it. All we need to do is track the Slipspace field from the cruiser." Folding his arms behind his back, the gold-armored Sangheili asked, "Do you have any way of doing that?"

[Doc 42]

Another counciller merely waved a hand at the ship masters words, saying "No need. our observation post should pick up their engine trails, their displacement trails radiation refelction which ever. We could track them a hundread different ways... If we launch soon enough, our pursuers could reach shelling range within a day or two"

[dinoman666]

Elch nodded. "Then let us come with you, as well as Mendicant Bias and his Sentinels. We know many of the Flood's weaknesses." Bias dipped forward, as if nodding. "I agree. We will prove quite invaluable should a conflict occur. And it is my duty to make sure the Flood do not spread beyond our control, so I do insist that I join you, Reclaimers."

[The Kingpin]

Serephir and his crew descended the small ramp from the craft, following Grievous. "General...would you care to, if you have access to any examples, show me what the Empire uses in combat? weaponry, craft, forces, the like?" said Serephir as he walked alongside Grievous...

[dinoman666]

"Essentially what my armies use," replied grievous, walking up to a pair of sliding doors, which seemed to be made of glass, but was really made of hardened transparasteel. They slid open soundlessly, revealing a long hallway with Trandoshans and droids marching along, going into adjacent hallways. "Blaster technology and powerful shielding. Their main strength, however, is the sheer size of the Empire. They control an entire galaxy, and have the forces to keep it that way. They use cloned soldiers mostly, with the exception of high-ranking officers."

[The Kingpin]

"Sounds similar to our forces on Vardia, though at a more advance state of production" said Serephir, crossing his arms. "Do they have Mechs of any type?" he asked...

[dinoman666]

"Manned walkers, mostly." Grievous turned to the right, into another hallway. He passed a pair of hulking Trandoshans, their bodies encased in thick body armor, turret-sized weapons in their clawed hands. "Most of the Empire's droids are simply used for duties the organic soldiers won't or can't do very efficiently."

[Doc 42]

A booming chorus issued out of every council member "Agreed!"

One of those who had spoken earlier added "Elch, we sympathise with your cause... Vengence... is completely justified in this scenario... Bias, we would have requested your assisstence if you had not asked... I can foresee your knowledge becoming critical...

[dinoman666]

Bias, surprisingly enough, giggled. "I am a genius, aren't I?" Arching a brow at the little AI, but saying nothing, Elch turned back to the Councilors. "Where can we find a ship?"

[The Kingpin]

"How many of these Walkers do you estimate would be deployed in a typical 10,000 man platoon?" asked Serephir as he calculated what he'd probably need to take out a typical invasion force...