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(Delta Team: TtLG) Chapter 02 — Description

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Unknown Planet

Leading his team, Alan Willmore used his M20 SMG's light to help illuminate the large room that they had just entered from the Forerunner Portal. Even with his augmentations and his helmet's VISR system that was tracing his surroundings, the light helped provide further detail of his surroundings.

The large room appeared to be some sort of crypt with the ceiling being held up by several large pillars with markings on them. The Forerunner Portal was providing a great deal of illumination, but there were many corners left protected by darkness.

“We are on the other side of the portal,” reported Alan as he looked around the room and paid close attention to the the markings on the pillars, “looks like we have a Rep-Ru situation here.”

“Rep-Ru,” asked Liyet who wasn't fully use to the term.

“Re purpose and Re-use,” answered Alan, “it's an unofficial term for when another civilization stumbles upon another's technology and re purposes it for themselves.”

“Like the Covenant and the Forerunner,” added Ava as she searched the darken corners of the room with her weapon.

“And ourselves,” added Kadmon as he walked over to a console that appeared to be controls for the portal. He pulled out his scanner and interfaced with the Forerunner Controls “looks to be good working order, we shouldn't have a problem getting back home.”

“Good,” replied Alan as he searched the last darken corner and radioed back to the personal back over to Sparta, “This is Spartan Willmore, we have found the controls to the portal.”

“Roger Spartan Willmore, we are shutting down the portal on our end,” replied the mission controller on the other end of the one way portal.

The room became even darker as the portal shutdown, leaving the room only being illuminated by a multitude of torches. Liyet walked up to one and held out here scanner, “interesting.”

“People, or someone most visit this place often if there are torches lighting this place,” commented Alan as he walked over to Liyet.

“Not exactly,” replied Liyet, “Stand over there, so that you can see several of the torches in a row.”

“Okay,” said Alan not knowing what Liyet was coming at.

“Just humor me LC,” said Liyet.

The Spartan walked over to where Liyet had suggested and looked down the row, “Okay, what am I looking at?”

“Pay attention to the flames,” said Liyet looking at the torches around them.

“They're holograms,” spotted Ava as she looked at them more closely.

Alan then caught on to the illusion as all the flames were moving in identical motions, which would never occur with a real flame, “I'll be damn.”

“Outside of the laziness to program them with different projections, they are unremarkable realistic,” commented Liyet, “they are even producing heat.”

“But why,” asked Alan as he looked more closely at the piece of technology that was putting on a convincing masquerade.

“Odd that a Civilization would try to mask it's level of technology like that,” said Ava joining the group by the torch.

“Could be an ascetic choice, many of the building in Sparta still hold a more traditional look of old Terra buildings,” theorized Liyet as she put her scanner away.

“Or maybe there is an advance civilization oppressing a lesser one,” said Kadmon who knew first hand how dark the galaxy could be.

“Either way, our job is to scout this planet and found out what is out here,” said Alan.

“Agree,” said Ava and Liyet together who were both getting uncomfortable that this planet may be home to something dark.

UNSC Headquarters

New Avalon, Installation 0

Spartan Hamm and Lau walked into the busy upper lobby of the UNSC Headquarters on Sparta. The Falcon that brought them there lifted off behind them rushing air into the lobby that caused the plants to sway inside.

“Agents Hamm and Lau,” greeted a young Ensign who was wearing an ONI duty uniform, “I am Ensign Lori Madison, Director Zoli's assistant at HIGH COMM.

“Glad to meet you,” greeted Hamm with an offer of a handshake.

Ignoring the friendly gesture, Ensign Madison replied in a polite manner, “If you would follow me.”

Hamm and Lau looked at each other confused by the ignoring of the handshake, but followed Madison to the elevator that would take them to Director Zoli's office.

“So when were you assigned to be Director Zoli's assistant,” asked Hamm once the elevator door's had closed.

“About a month ago,” replied Madison as she tapped the controls to the elevator to access the proper floor. The screen then displayed an hand print scanner, which Madison promptly placed her hand on.

“If you would please,” asked Madison as she stepped aside to let Lau and Hamm place there hands for identification. The two Spartans placed there hands on the scanner one at a time proving their credentials, which authorized the elevator to proceed to the floor where ONI kept their offices.

“So, what did you do before you became Zoli's assistant,” asked Lau trying to strike up some casual conversation as the elevator began to descend down to ONI's section of the building.

“Field work, it's mostly classified,” replied Madison not making eye contact with either of the Spartans, “while I assume you have the security access, I don't talk about it.”

Commander Hamm was now assuming that Ensign Madison was either some sort of badass or didn't like the two Spartan for some reason. Judging by her rank as an Ensign and her polite, but unfriendly mannerism, he was thinking the later.

Before Commander Hamm could make the space uncomfortable by bringing up the issue in the elevator, they came to a stop and doors opened up to the floor. The three of them walked into the floor's greeting and security area.

The area had several full size body scanners that would scan the individual for any sort of weapons or monitoring devices, and would scan the individual's DNA and neural patterns to further verify their identity.

The three individuals stepped into one of the scanners as it took several seconds to scan them and gave them an okay status to proceed and notified the security personal that they were all armed and authorized to be so.

A security guard motioned them to proceed, further verify that their presence was authorized.

Ensign Madison lead them to a back office that overlooked New Avalon. Several monitors in the room displayed the status of Installation 0 and ingoing and outgoing travel. Unlike most personal, Director Zoli kept her desk position to one of the sides of the room, so she could monitor both the outside and people entering her room. The large window that overlooked the city was made of a special one-way material, that only allowed light into the room but not out; like a one-way mirror.

Director Zoli was sitting at her desk reading through several reports. She looked up to see Hamm and Lau being lead by Ensign Madison. She tapped a panel on her desk, which activated two large window shades the moved over the windows completely blocking them.

“Extra security,” said Zoli as she got up to formally greet the two, “please have a seat.”

“What's going on Emily,” asked Hamm as he took a chair. Ensign Madison looked at Commander Hamm with mild confusion, followed by the disgust at his familiar tone with Director Zoli.

“That will be all,” said Director Zoli looking directly at her assistant. The Ensign nodded her head in acknowledgment of her dismissal from the room. The Director and the two Spartans watched the assistant leave the room. As the door latch could be heard locking, the mild tension in the room relaxed.

“She is a good assistant, but has some minor attitude problems, which is why we pulled her from the field,” commented Zoli.

“I saw,” said Commander Hamm as he watched the door, making sure Ensign Madison didn't come back into the room.

The Commander then turned his attention towards the Director of ONI and said, “You're not putting her on my team, its complicated enough as it is.”

“Oh, don't worry about that,” said Zoli with a smile, as she relaxed back into her chair, “From your multi-species crew and the AI turned human, I think you have your hands full.”

“And no ship to to fly the traveling circus around in either,” added Commander Hamm, “Please tell me that you found a ship for us.”

“I am sorry, but that is not why I called you two here today,” responded Zoli, “but it does have something to do with the ship that I gave you.”

“It has to do with the falsified reports that it was severally damaged,” spoke up Lau.

“It does, I assume you looked over the reports,” asked Zoli.

“Yes, but the whole affair has me puzzled,” said Lau as he pulled out his personal comm device and pulled up the reports that he had seen.

“I know the reports don't tell the full story,” said Zoli.

“I know that the UNSC Air Force Safety Board was the one that declared it not combat worthy,” responded Lau.

“Interesting thing about that determination is that it was done in two days,” Zoli knew that this statement would catch both the Spartan's attention.

“Doesn't it usually take one week for most ships that size to have that determination,” said Hamm who had a solid understanding of the subject, but knew the other two in the room had more experience in the subject.

“It does Commander, and for an advance ship like that it should have been even more,” answered Zoli.

“And even if the ship was obviously damaged severely where decommission was inevitable, unless in a time of war, the time frame is still the same for salvage and disposal evaluations,” added Lau, “To have a ship pulled from combat status to limited duty in that short of time is not possible.”

“The evaluation was signed by a Major James Barns, but he got orders from Colonel Seers to sign it,” said Zoli placing a datapad that played a short video of Colonel Seers aggressively ordering the Major to sign the evaluation as his own.”

“Colonel Seers, he is General Rickenbacker's intelligence dog,” said Hamm.

“That is correct, he is the Colonel in charged of the UNSC 25F Air Force Intelligence,” answered Zoli, “essentially the Air Force's version of us.”

“Am I to assume that the tensions between the Navy and Air Force are about the same amongst their intelligence branches,” asked Hamm.

“That would be a fair assumption,” said Zoli understating the situation.

“Both ONI and the Twenty-Fifth Force have been known to have Agents place amongst each other ranks,” said Lau.

“Spying amongst our own,” said Hamm.

“And it's encourage by the UNSC HIGH COMM in order to prevent corruption,” said Zoli, “especially now after the civil war.”

“I know we had a bloody split with ONI during the civil war, but what happened with the Air Force's little group of spies,” asked Hamm not really having thought about it.

“Well that might possible be our little slip up here,” said Zoli, “when we had that split, we really weren't watching our fellow intelligence branch in the Air Force.”

“Right, we were too busy watching our own backs,” said Hamm.

“Do you think that they may be loyal to the Empire,” asked Lau, who was thinking of the worst case scenario.

“Maybe, but I don't think so,” said Zoli, “I think they are tired of their position on the UNSC Defense Force.”

“Can't really blame them, everyone thinks of the Army as the ones that defends our homes, while the Navy fights the bad guys in space. They don't know that the Air Force protects the upper areas of our homes,” sympathized Commander Hamm, “but do you really think that they would go as far as to go against one of its fellow branches.”

“I think the issue is isolated,” said Zoli, “95% of the Air Force is on our side, but I think there are a few disgruntled individuals that are taking matters into their own hands, which is why I called you in here today.”

“What do you need us to do,” asked Commander Hamm.

“I need you to help weed out some of the rats and hopefully find out where the UNSC Serenity is at,” said Zoli, “One of the Navy's patrols ran across the research team that was suppose to have the Serenity, they didn't.”

“So we need to find its location,” asked Commander Hamm, “Do you have any leads?”

“Well we got one lead out in the field, but I already have an independent operative looking into it,” said Zoli, “I also have one here locally.”

“What is it,” asked Hamm.

“Air Force is having a little open house at Ukrainka Base here on the Installation,” said Zoli, “One of the attending companies that will be showing off its products to the public is Lau Industries.”

“I told you we needed to pack out suits,” said Lau referring to an early conversation the two Spartans had.

“Didn't I get sick at the last one of those things were your family's company was at,” asked Hamm who was getting off subject.

“I'd like you two to try to get access to the Base's mainframe to see if we can find the ships true location,” said Zoli.

“Isn't two individuals like Lau and myself, going to catch the Air Forces attention,” asked Hamm.

“Not really, Fireteam Osiris and Majestic will be there from the Spartan Branch, and several of my own Agents will be there,” said Zoli, “You should blend right in with the rest of the public, plus they know that ONI is having a presence there to prevent anyone from accessing the base's computers.”

“Really,” said Hamm.

“The base's commander is a good friend of mine and asked me to supply him with added security to the base for the open house,” said Zoli, “heard Rickenbacker was not pleased with that request.”

“Additionally he is not a fan of Air Force Intelligence,” said Zoli with a smile.

“Well sounds simple enough,” said Hamm getting up from his chair, which Lau followed suit.

“I don't have to remind you, that you are not to be caught or leave any traces on what you are doing,” said Zoli with a stern voice, “The base's commander doesn't like Air Force Intelligence, I don't want to give him a reason to hate ONI.”

“We will be careful,” said Commander Hamm with a nod.

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