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Operation: RETRIBUTION: Difference between revisions
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Midway through the ''[[Silent Claw]]'''s stealthy insertion, [[Damon]], a fifth-generation [[Dumb AI|"dumb" A.I.]] riding in Fred's [[Mjolnir]] armor, intercepted a recall order that went out from [[Taram]] to [[Fleet of Glory|the Keeper fleet]].<ref name="R14"/> All vessels which had launched from Salvation Base had suddenly been commanded to inexplicably return. For Blue Team and the Owl's pilot, [[Ashveld]], breaking comm silence to request an intelligence update from the ''Silent Joe'' would instantly alert the enemy to their presence. Though the ''Claw'' had already been detected in other ways, it was still outside of the visual range of any other ships and could pass itself off as one of them. In order to keep up this facade, Ashveld piloted them in as if they were part of the fleet. Plan Charlie had outlined that Blue Team would be inserted just over the horizon from Salvation Base and make its way there on [[M274 Mongoose]]s. The prime objective was then to secure the Turaco and if possible, the team would attempt to reactivate the nukes still on the ''Stolen Faith'' with the required tritium boosters and wipe the Keepers' base from the moon. Their Owl was eventually recognized for what it was, however, and began to be shot at. Plan Charlie changed in an instant to plan Delta, as they would now be dropping from the craft under heavy fire. One particular hit sent the ''Claw'' spinning after it had already entered the atmosphere. Knowing the dropship was doomed, the Spartans begin launching themselves from the rear compartment when they were just under seventy meters from the ground. Fred followed last, from a height of fifty meters.<ref name="R14"/> | Midway through the ''[[Silent Claw]]'''s stealthy insertion, [[Damon]], a fifth-generation [[Dumb AI|"dumb" A.I.]] riding in Fred's [[Mjolnir]] armor, intercepted a recall order that went out from [[Taram]] to [[Fleet of Glory|the Keeper fleet]].<ref name="R14"/> All vessels which had launched from Salvation Base had suddenly been commanded to inexplicably return. For Blue Team and the Owl's pilot, [[Ashveld]], breaking comm silence to request an intelligence update from the ''Silent Joe'' would instantly alert the enemy to their presence. Though the ''Claw'' had already been detected in other ways, it was still outside of the visual range of any other ships and could pass itself off as one of them. In order to keep up this facade, Ashveld piloted them in as if they were part of the fleet. Plan Charlie had outlined that Blue Team would be inserted just over the horizon from Salvation Base and make its way there on [[M274 Mongoose]]s. The prime objective was then to secure the Turaco and if possible, the team would attempt to reactivate the nukes still on the ''Stolen Faith'' with the required tritium boosters and wipe the Keepers' base from the moon. Their Owl was eventually recognized for what it was, however, and began to be shot at. Plan Charlie changed in an instant to plan Delta, as they would now be dropping from the craft under heavy fire. One particular hit sent the ''Claw'' spinning after it had already entered the atmosphere. Knowing the dropship was doomed, the Spartans begin launching themselves from the rear compartment when they were just under seventy meters from the ground. Fred followed last, from a height of fifty meters.<ref name="R14"/> | ||
While Blue Team had been rocketing toward them, Ash had raced to find Veta and Mark within the grottoes affected by the time differential.<ref name="R15"/> When he did find them dragging the bodies of the Tuwas near the point they had initially entered through, their chronometers told them it was still around 1524 hours, even though Olivia had told Ash it was 2035 hours only a short time ago. Ash took as little time as possible bringing his compatriots up to speed. They were shocked to hear that Blue Team could be there any minute, and when he mentioned Dark Moon Enterprises, the mysterious delivery squad finally made sense to Veta. She and the Spartans each grabbed hold of a Tuwa and began dragging the with haste away from the detention center. They emerged just as the ''Silent Claw'' careened into the ground in the distance, causing a firey explosion which engulfed Ashveld. The sights and sounds of a battle became known to them as they left the tranquility of the contemplarium's illusions behind and rejoined reality. Blue Team was engaging the Keeper host that had piled around the ''Stolen Faith''. Before exiting the ''Claw'', Fred-104 had armed himself with a [[MA5D assault rifle]] and Kelly-087 had a [[MA5C]] with a [[M301 grenade launcher]] attachment, but Linda-058 held only a [[M6G magnum]], since she had been unable to reach for her [[BR55 battle rifle]] in the midst of the tumultuous tailspin. The four individuals from Dark Moon had not yet reached their Turaco, as they were had been contending with fire from the Keepers prior to the arrival of Blue Team. One of them had been injured and was being dragged along by two others. Just as the single female in the group was felled by a shot to the head, Mark asked for permission to engage the remaining three. Veta shot down his request, stating that they needed to find out what they knew and why they were here. To this end, she had Mark and Ash take shots at the humans' limbs in order to pacify them and halt their approach. Curiously, the dorsal turret on the Turaco started shooting laser pulses in its own crew's direction at the behest of [[Argie]], who was fighting Olivia for control of the craft. Its output mirror had been damaged, so hitting its didn't hit any of its targets before Mark put an end to it altogether. Realizing new combatants had joined, a mass of around thirty remaining Keepers (evenly divided between Jiralhanae, humans, and Kig-Yar) charged the Ferrets' position. This effort was short-lived thanks to the efficiency of the three [[Spartan-II]]s still in the fray, which allowed Mark and Ash the chance to sprint for the Dark Moon operatives.<ref name="R15"/> Linda vanished into the ''Stole Faith'''s hold to arm the HAVOK devices. Most of the surviving Keepers were fleeing, but [[Castor]], [[Orsun]], and two other Brutes took cover behind a pile of bodies near the Turaco. Kelly swiftly dispatched one of the cluster with a [[ | While Blue Team had been rocketing toward them, Ash had raced to find Veta and Mark within the grottoes affected by the time differential.<ref name="R15"/> When he did find them dragging the bodies of the Tuwas near the point they had initially entered through, their chronometers told them it was still around 1524 hours, even though Olivia had told Ash it was 2035 hours only a short time ago. Ash took as little time as possible bringing his compatriots up to speed. They were shocked to hear that Blue Team could be there any minute, and when he mentioned Dark Moon Enterprises, the mysterious delivery squad finally made sense to Veta. She and the Spartans each grabbed hold of a Tuwa and began dragging the with haste away from the detention center. They emerged just as the ''Silent Claw'' careened into the ground in the distance, causing a firey explosion which engulfed Ashveld. The sights and sounds of a battle became known to them as they left the tranquility of the contemplarium's illusions behind and rejoined reality. Blue Team was engaging the Keeper host that had piled around the ''Stolen Faith''. Before exiting the ''Claw'', Fred-104 had armed himself with a [[MA5D assault rifle]] and Kelly-087 had a [[MA5C]] with a [[M301 grenade launcher]] attachment, but Linda-058 held only a [[M6G magnum]], since she had been unable to reach for her [[BR55 battle rifle]] in the midst of the tumultuous tailspin. The four individuals from Dark Moon had not yet reached their Turaco, as they were had been contending with fire from the Keepers prior to the arrival of Blue Team. One of them had been injured and was being dragged along by two others. Just as the single female in the group was felled by a shot to the head, Mark asked for permission to engage the remaining three. Veta shot down his request, stating that they needed to find out what they knew and why they were here. To this end, she had Mark and Ash take shots at the humans' limbs in order to pacify them and halt their approach. Curiously, the dorsal turret on the Turaco started shooting laser pulses in its own crew's direction at the behest of [[Argie]], who was fighting Olivia for control of the craft. Its output mirror had been damaged, so hitting its didn't hit any of its targets before Mark put an end to it altogether. Realizing new combatants had joined, a mass of around thirty remaining Keepers (evenly divided between Jiralhanae, humans, and Kig-Yar) charged the Ferrets' position. This effort was short-lived thanks to the efficiency of the three [[Spartan-II]]s still in the fray, which allowed Mark and Ash the chance to sprint for the Dark Moon operatives.<ref name="R15"/> Linda vanished into the ''Stole Faith'''s hold to arm the HAVOK devices. Most of the surviving Keepers were fleeing, but [[Castor]], [[Orsun]], and two other Brutes took cover behind a pile of bodies near the Turaco. Kelly swiftly dispatched one of the cluster with a [[40mm grenade]] but the other three managed to lay down enough suppressive fire to cover their own escape. Mark and Ash, unarmored as they were had to fall back from where the Dark Moon agents were to avoid being killed by them. Another blast from Kelly's grenade launcher took out a another Brute, but Orsun still was able to stomp on the head of one of Dark Moon's people and scoop up the remaining two. It was only as he and the dokab were retreating that Veta realized one of them was Castor, who she had shot almost six months prior [[Operation: JOVIAN WHISTLE|during the fighting]] on [[Gao]]. | ||