Space E-war

[dinoman666]

Grievous stared for another moment at the dead Brutes, before nodding. "Let's find a way underground. This entire base knows we're here now, and I want this operation finished before they decide to call in capital ships from somewhere and glass this place." He walked down the entrance corridor, and Lissarkh and his droids followed. Lissarkh looked around at the deep purple, latticelike metal the corridor walls were made of...

Vampires scattered as the Covenant counterattack faltered, most of the troops now stranded outside dead. However, this hardly concerned the three alien leaders hiding deep below. Their goal wasn't to repel this surprise attack...

[C S]

A few moments later, Kystion walked back into the pub, holding a large barrel, which he was able to carry without much difficulty suprisingly. The short bar keep undid the gate to the wooden counter. He let Kystion pass before stepping in himself. The Ascatian walked over to the door and put the barrel down. It thumped against the floor. He opened the cellar door and then lifted the barrel, walking into the cellar in such a way that his body blocked those trying to peer inside the room...

[dinoman666]

Grievous group soon came upon a locked door at the other end of the hall. The trapezoidal portal had three red light in its center, indicating that it was locked down. "BX-66, move up. Let's see if we can blow this door open. The rest of you, get ready for guards on the other side. Serephir, Lissarkh, stay back here with me." Grievous moved to the back of the commando squad while their squad leader moved to the door, placing what looked like half a thermal detonator on the center of the hatch...

[The Kingpin]

Serephir took careful aim, switching to Gamma Ray scanning to see the enemies behind the wall, training his crosshair on one that was likely going to charge out at them or attempt to fire at them once the door was breached. the large Gunner Troopers took aim on the door, their Plasma Cannons charged and ready to fire, a low mechanical hum coming from within. faint clicking along the ceiling of the hallway announced the presence of T-20s, which had by this point torn the Covenent troops near the entrance to the building to bloody ribbons, dozens still flowing out of the Dropships and working to crush the enemy ground forces while the Arrows, V-35s and V-25s tore apart the airborne defenses...

[dinoman666]

The charge beeped once, then exploded with incredible force, but only in one direction: away from Grievous and Serephir's troops. The explosion tore the door into superheated shrapnel, throwing an unfortunate orange-clad Grunt Minor across the room. Three more of the diminutive aliens leaped to either side, one of which was clad in red armor, signifying its status as Major. One other alien stood in the center of the room, flanked by two waist-high walls of consoles the Grunts were hiding behind. The Brute Minor, which wore green armor that was less extravagant than even a Brute Ultra's, bellowed and swatted the flying Unggoy carcass with a single paw. In the other it hefted a Spiker, which it never got a chance to fire as two commandos wheeled into the crouching positions and fired. Their blasterfire tore through the Minor's shields, shattered its Power Armor and knocking the beast backwards. With a howl, it finally toppled, riddled with burnt holes where blaster bolts had hit...

[The Kingpin]

a trio of Vardian soldiers walked in after the Droid forces, checking the room ahead for threats, as Serephir holstered the assault rifle and drew his pistol with his right hand, his left wrapping around the hilt of one of his swords...

[dinoman666]

Suddenly, the Grunt Major sidestepped from around cover, leveling its Needler at a Commando. Before it could get a shot off, however, the commando returned fire, blasting the Unggoy in the head with a single bolt. As the gray-skinned aline tumbled back onto its pyramidal methane tank, there were two muffled squeals, and the two remaining Grunts appeared, waving their arms above their heads as they attempted to flee towards the taller, thinner hatch on the other side of the room. This door opened upwards, and a gold-armored Brute Captain Major stood in the doorway, bellowing and leveling its Brute Shot, ready to fire on the hostile forces...

[The Kingpin]

within a blink of an eye, Serephir had crossed the room, slashed the Brute's hands off, tripped it, and kicking it in the gut while it was airborne, sending it slamming into a wall, his blade at it's throat before it even had a chance to move. "Charging your enemy head on isn't always a sound decision, Brute" said Serephir. the Vardian soldiers, Gunners and T-20s included, had their weapons trained on it. there was enough firepower there to obliterate it completely if it even thought of moving...

[dinoman666]

Before the Brute could speak, a Lightsaber blade impaled it's helmeted head, stabbing the wall of the Grav-Lift behind it. "The Covenant don't take prisoners. Neither do we," Grievous snarled, pulling his blade out of the dead Jiralhanae. His commandos had finished off the scattering Grunts during it all, and guarded the lift as Grievous stepped inside. "Shall we?" he said. The lift could only fit three human-sized figures at a time, so they would have to make several trips...

[dinoman666]

Before the Brute could speak, a Lightsaber blade impaled it's helmeted head, stabbing the wall of the Grav-Lift behind it. "The Covenant don't take prisoners. Neither do we," Grievous snarled, pulling his blade out of the dead Jiralhanae. His commandos had finished off the scattering Grunts during it all, and guarded the lift as Grievous stepped inside. "Shall we?" he said. The lift could only fit three human-sized figures at a time, so they would have to make several trips...

[The Kingpin]

"Wait" said Serephir. tapping a few buttons on his gauntlet Computer, one of the T-20s faded out of sight and entered the lift. "Best to let it be the decoy for any booby traps. not to mention it'll be able to provide cover when we go down ourselves" he explained...

[dinoman666]

Grievous nodded and left the left to give the T-20 more room. He tapped a holographic, inverted triangle on the inside of the lift as he left, and the door shut behind him, sending the lift down...

It was the better part of five minutes before the lift finally reached the bottom, and opened. The only immediate threat was a single Jackal, carrying a Carbine and wearing a silver helmet that covered the left half of its skull. It turned around to face the lift curiously as the door opened, not expecting it to be seemingly empty...

[TyrannoTitan]

The small being had taken the drunken man as far back into the cellar as possible, so they would not be seen from the door. The stout creature looked up hopefully as the bartender returned, hoping that their path was clear.

[C S]

Kystion put the barrel down on the ground. He straightened his back, which cracked as he did. He was tempted to taste what was in the barrel. He qickly focused on the matter at hand. "Follow me" Kystion growled softly, which was still loud enough for the small hooded figure to hear. He moved down the racks of barrels and bottles. He stopped not too far from the men. Another door. It was huge, as if some sort of garage door. A nearby control panel confirmed this. He pressed a red button, the chain paneled door rising up with a mechanical hum, the relatively dark cellar now flooded with sunlight...

[dinoman666]

The Jackal took a cautious step towards the lift, sniffing carefully, sensing something was amiss. He made sure not to lose his footing on the narrow bridge that extended from the lift, over a pool of yellowish coolant, to a structure in the center of the gigantic cavern where the lift had descended into.

THe bridge connected to the bowl-shaped structure by a single platform that was attached to the bowl's outer wall and created a slight overhang. Two ramps extended up from either side of the platform, towards a pair of doorways into a pair of structures on the sides of the bowl. Standing on this platform, back to the lift, was another Brute Captain Major, arms crossed as he looked down on the dozens of Grunts that milled around on the bottom layer of the structure. They pushed Grav-carts that carried either large canisters of greenish coolant and glowing blue plasma cores or crude bins filled with writhing, orange, meter-long Lekgolo worms. Many of the Grunts converged on the tall spire that was in the center of the bowl, which projected a bright beam of energy to the top of the cavern, where streams of near-complete Covenant vehicles, equipment, etc. were being pushed along by an invisible gravity beam, the equipment being pushed out of a massive, shielded hatch, stopping at the beam of light (where coolant and plasma cores drifted upwards towards the machinery), before continuing their journey through another hatch and disappearing from view. The Lekgolo worms made their purpose obvious as the massive, legless hulk of a deactivated Scarab walker drifted through the hatch, just barely fitting. Lekgolo drifted up to the Scarab and wriggled their way inside the tank. Suddenly, it seemed to come to life, its main cannon now glowing bright green and looking around like a tiny head, even as the Scarab was pushed along.

There were four hatches around the bottom of the spire, and four mirrored above, where catwalks connected to the spire from either end of the two mostly covered structures on the right and left of the bowl. Patrolling each of these catwalks were lone Spiker Jackals, heavily armored and wielding Spikers like rifles instead of handguns like the Brutes did. They paid no attention to the distant lift either, keeping their visors focused on the Grunt workers below. Trundling up the ramps towards the side structures were Grunt patrols, made up of several Minors, two Majors each, and a white-armored Grunt Ultra leading each of them. Disappearing into the structure ahead of the Grunts on the left was a single Minor Domo Elite, with blue armor and a pair of Plasma Rifles. The Grunts to the right seemed less eager to follow whatever was leading them, and there was only a small glimpse of some sort of armored, hulking giant before it disappeared into the structure...

Another ramp extended from each structure at the other end, but there was no bridge on the other side of the bowl, but another lift. However, this lift was made up of only energy, and no walls to protect its occupants. The tower that supported it a short distance up had a single platform extending from it, a bit hard to see past the central spire. On this platform was a Jackal Sniper with a Beam Rifle, also focused on the Grunt workers on the bottom surface of the bowl. The only other readily noticeable aspect of this strange factory was the small amount of decorative structures on the floor and catwalks of the bowl, as well as the large openings in the bottom of the side structures, where a pair of ramps twisted around and met directly inside the structures...

[The Kingpin]

the T-20, completely silent, now using it's stealth equipment to silence any sounds it made, including walking, climbed out of the elevator from the ceiling and onto the side of the lift shaft, and onto the underside of the bridge from that. the elevator was then called back, Serephir showing Grievous everything in the room via his wrist computer, the T-20 scanning the entire room, the screen split into three different views, one visible, another ultraviolet, anda third infrared, to nullify any potential attempted stealth. afterall, there was no guarantee the enemy wouldn't use his current tactic against him. "Ready to move in?" he said....

[dinoman666]

Grievous nodded. "You, Lissarkh, and I will go in first. Our soldiers will follow." He stepped into the lift with Serephir and Lissarkh and activated it...

The Jackal had turned away from the lift, thinking there was simply a malfunction, and was about to report to its Brute overseer when the lift opened again. As the Jackal turned back around ,this time a bit annoyed, he was shocked to see Grievous bound forward, wrench the Carbine out of his clawed hands, and kick him into the pool of coolant below. The Kig-Yar's surprised squawk was drowned out by the rumble of machinery, and Grievous looked around. "Seems we've gone deeper than I suspected." He looked at the bowl-shaped structure before him. "Serephir, I think I have a plan to get through here with minimal casualties..." He pointed at the Brute Captain. "If we can take out the Brute first, I can send in my commandos and maybe your lighter troops to distract the Unggoy workers and their guards. We can split up and each take one of the side structures. If we're faster enough, we can meet on the opposite side at the same time and finish off the defenders."

[The Kingpin]

"Sounds good. the T-20's already infiltrated their ranks. the moment combat begins at close range it'll attack from behind" he said. holstering his handgun and sheathing the sword, he pulled his assault rifle, the weapon converting to it's Ranged mode, switching to a larger Plasma pulse reaction chamber for more powerful shots. taking aim, he locked onto the Brute. "Be ready to move" said the General. the Assault Infantry stood ready to move in the moment Serephir opened fire. a split second later, a deafening boom echoed throughout the chamber as everything over the Brute's shoulders, and even some below, were blown apart by an explosive shot from the General's Sniper Rifle, the wound being cauterised on impact from the intense heat of the round, as the Vardian Assault Infantry began to move around one side of the chamber, Serephir following, rifle back in assault mode...

[dinoman666]

The Covenant soldiers were still staring at the fallen body of the brute, wondering what to do, when a hail of blasterfire slammed into them, knocking the two closest Spiker Jackals off their catwalks and sent, screeching, to the floor and knocking several Grunts off their stubby feet. The droid commandos leaped into the bowl after a short charge down the bridge, opening up on the Grunts as they either pulled out Plasma Pistols or fled in disarray. One of the fallen Jackals managed to get to its feet, Spiker gone. Instead, it pulled out what looked like a cutlass whose blade was made of the same material as Needler shards. It charged at a distracted commando and stabbed the droid in the back. Even as the commando spun around and gunned the Jackal down, the Energy Cutlass glowed ever brighter, before exploding with the same force of combined Needler fire, ripping the droid to pieces. As the firefight broke out, Grievous and Lissarkh ran towards the left side of the factory, slicing through a few Grunts and running into the structure, letting Serephir handle the right side. The Elite Minor inside roared a guttural challenge at Lissarkh has she charged him, opening fire. Her Lightsaber, while unable to deflect the incoming plasma, was able dissipate every blocked shot. As she got within striking distance, the Elite attempted to backpedal, but Lissarkh made a short Force Leap and sliced the alien across the chest. Howling in pain as the energy blade overloaded his shields and sliced through armor and flesh, the Sangheili fell to his knees and was quickly decapitated by Lissarkh, its snakelike head rolling across the floor. "Not so tough without your camouflage, huh?" she hissed. Grievous said into his com, "Serephir, we are on our way to the other side of the factory. Are you at your structure yet?"

[TyrannoTitan]

The star burned bright, as it had for countless years, providing vital warmth and light to those planets that surrounded it. The orange behemoth served as a guardian of their secret for some time. Now that the secret was free, it would fulfill its last obligation: Destroy every trace of their involvement. Unseen by the solar system around it, the star was changing. Machines worked within the chaotic energies that surrounded it, built solely to withstand the radiation and sheer heat the star emitted. They were actually enhancing the star's nature function of fusion, changing helium into carbon, forcing the star into fusing the various layers of elements, speeding up those processes as well.

Fox sat calmly, far from the site. Massive panels depicted various angles of the star, as well as the space around it, spy drones keeping the Shadow Haven leader well informed. Things were going smoothly. Soon, the star would collapse into itself, resulting in a supernova. This would destroy not only their old headquarters, but the surrounding solar system as well. In its wake, thanks to its unnatural death, a black hole will be created, forever condemning the system as being inhospitable. "You do realize, they have long since left?" a robotic voice emitted from a device near Fox. "But with severely reduced numbers. This will not destroy them all, no...but it will delay the inevitable, and completely remove our involvement in this matter." Fox explained calmly, lighting a cigarette. "And of the TGDA?" the voice asked. The Shadow Haven leader took a puff from the cigarette, faceplate retracted. "They are self centered fools. They will not realize the consequences of their actions until it is far too late. Their realization will lead them to us, yes...but not now." Fox responded, dumping the ash from the cigarette into a dish. "Just enjoy the show." he added, the voice grunting in response...

The small being, after helping its drunken companion up, pushed the man toward the opening, trying to hurry him out of the building...