1,379
edits
Operation: RETRIBUTION: Difference between revisions
m
→Return to Gao
Covenant PhD (talk | contribs) No edit summary |
m (→Return to Gao) |
||
| Line 180: | Line 180: | ||
The journey to Gao in the [[Cordoba system]] took the ''Silent Joe'' roughly sixteen hours.<ref name="R18"/> The prowler stayed hidden but Veta, the Spartans, and a [[Covert Services]] pilot by the name of [[Taj McAvoy]] made for the planet's surface in the Turaco taken from Taram. The [[Spartan-III]]s had now donned their [[SPI|semi-powered infiltration armor]] but Veta had chosen to go with a light battle dress uniform composed of little more than a ballistic vest. A false transponder code was used to placate the [[Gao Republic]]'s [[Ministry of Aeronautics]] with full understanding that they would be receiving greater scrutiny once their tiny craft disappeared from the traffic control system without landing at any designated zones. Taj originally aimed for a landing pad in the [[Yosavi Jungle]] thanks to Olivia's comparative analysis, but changed course after thick smoke could be seen boiling from the remains of the [[New Leaf Extractions]] [[New Leaf Field Complex|Field Complex]] from five kilometers away. There had evidently been some sort of attack within the last hour or two. Bodies were strewn about the complex and some had even been draped with sheets. Given the fact that the [[GMoP]] could be there to investigate at any moment, the teams wasted little time. The six Spartans established a secure perimeter while Veta studied a large crater the Turaco was hovering a meter above, which she discovered was actually made up of five craters. She was able to determine that the explosions that had created them had come from inside the building that had stood there just before McAvoy alerted her to a cluster of unknowns heading their direction. The individuals were bunched up in a group, which Veta took to mean they must have been [[civilian]]s. Fred reluctantly permitted her to disembark the craft so it could vacate the scene in case of hostilities.<ref name="R18"/> | The journey to Gao in the [[Cordoba system]] took the ''Silent Joe'' roughly sixteen hours.<ref name="R18"/> The prowler stayed hidden but Veta, the Spartans, and a [[Covert Services]] pilot by the name of [[Taj McAvoy]] made for the planet's surface in the Turaco taken from Taram. The [[Spartan-III]]s had now donned their [[SPI|semi-powered infiltration armor]] but Veta had chosen to go with a light battle dress uniform composed of little more than a ballistic vest. A false transponder code was used to placate the [[Gao Republic]]'s [[Ministry of Aeronautics]] with full understanding that they would be receiving greater scrutiny once their tiny craft disappeared from the traffic control system without landing at any designated zones. Taj originally aimed for a landing pad in the [[Yosavi Jungle]] thanks to Olivia's comparative analysis, but changed course after thick smoke could be seen boiling from the remains of the [[New Leaf Extractions]] [[New Leaf Field Complex|Field Complex]] from five kilometers away. There had evidently been some sort of attack within the last hour or two. Bodies were strewn about the complex and some had even been draped with sheets. Given the fact that the [[GMoP]] could be there to investigate at any moment, the teams wasted little time. The six Spartans established a secure perimeter while Veta studied a large crater the Turaco was hovering a meter above, which she discovered was actually made up of five craters. She was able to determine that the explosions that had created them had come from inside the building that had stood there just before McAvoy alerted her to a cluster of unknowns heading their direction. The individuals were bunched up in a group, which Veta took to mean they must have been [[civilian]]s. Fred reluctantly permitted her to disembark the craft so it could vacate the scene in case of hostilities.<ref name="R18"/> | ||
Mark and Ash, hidden by the [[photoreactive panel]]s of their SPI armor, flanked the eight people at the tree line's edge.<ref name="R18"/> [[Miguel|One]] was armed with an [[SAD-8|8mm Sevine Arms Defender]] but otherwise they carried [[Wikipedia:Panga|panga]]s or kitchen cutlery. Veta slowly began making her way toward the group whilst giving her [[SPARTAN-III Gamma Company|Gammas]] instructions on what to investigate. At this point, Kelly announced that she had found [[Jiralhanae]] tracks. [[Kig-Yar]] and human prints from what must have been ten attackers in total were also present. Though it now looked as if Dark Moon had intentionally framed the Keepers for what happened to the ''Donoma'', signs pointed to this being an actual Keeper raid. The evidence indicated that [[Castor]] had learned about this location from the operatives he had gotten away with and had just managed to beat the ''Silent Joe'' there.<ref name="R18"/> Lopis handed Olivia her [[M6C/SOCOM]] [[Suppressor|suppressed]] automatic pistol. When he was just five meters away from the civilians, one of them, a stocky woman in her forties named [[Nita]], called for her to halt. The group was made up of service workers who had worked at the field complex and had been assisting survivors of the raid get to safety before the Turaco had shown up. They were under the impression that the UNSC had sent the Keepers to strike them. Veta's accent betrayed her as a Gao native, and for that she was labeled a traitor by Nita. Keeping a cool head, Veta managed to talk the survivors into divulging a good amount of information about the operations at New Leaf, mainly by inventing an armored track-shovel she named "the M606" that they would supposedly need to dig out the lab, in addition to an imagined resolution referred to as "the [[Ganymede]] Accords" that she used to threaten Nita and the others with. She convinced them that if they did not share what they knew, she could have them arraigned as co-conspirators to an illegal [[bioweapon]] plot per the accords. Through these tactics she learned that for the past two weeks, the service crews had been banned from the laboratory itself. It was also shared that the Keepers had entered the lab during the attack seemingly intent on recovering something within and had taken the lab's director, [[Agnes Sabara]], with them when they left. Veta pressed for information about the presence of any [[cryo-jar]]s, and [[Miguel]], the man with the SAD-8, revealed that they had been gone before the Keepers showed up. Nita corroborated this, saying that she had personally seen a Dark Moon team leave with cryo-jars the previous night. Kelly, speaking on [[TEAMCOM]], asked if the situation might be developing into a [[Hydra (code)|Code HYDRA]] problem. Veta believed it could be. It was also now clear to her that President Casille must be involved in some fashion, but she wasn't convinced he was behind it all. She told Fred she wanted to question him. At the mention of the president's name, the eight civilians reacted in a way that Veta read as indicative of the fact that they wouldn't need to hunt down Casille, as he was actually coming to them right that minute.<ref name="R18"/> | Mark and Ash, hidden by the [[photoreactive panel]]s of their SPI armor, flanked the eight people at the tree line's edge.<ref name="R18"/> [[Miguel|One]] was armed with an [[SAD-8|8mm Sevine Arms Defender]] but otherwise they carried [[Wikipedia:Panga|panga]]s or kitchen cutlery. Veta slowly began making her way toward the group whilst giving her [[SPARTAN-III Gamma Company|Gammas]] instructions on what to investigate. At this point, Kelly announced that she had found [[Jiralhanae]] tracks. [[Kig-Yar]] and human prints from what must have been ten attackers in total were also present. Though it now looked as if Dark Moon had intentionally framed the Keepers for what happened to the ''Donoma'', signs pointed to this being an actual Keeper raid. The evidence indicated that [[Castor]] had learned about this location from the operatives he had gotten away with and had just managed to beat the ''Silent Joe'' there.<ref name="R18"/> Lopis handed Olivia her [[M6C/SOCOM]] [[Suppressor|suppressed]] automatic pistol. When he was just five meters away from the civilians, one of them, a stocky woman in her forties named [[Nita]], called for her to halt. The group was made up of service workers who had worked at the field complex and had been assisting survivors of the raid get to safety before the Turaco had shown up. They were under the impression that the UNSC had sent the Keepers to strike them. Veta's accent betrayed her as a Gao native, and for that she was labeled a [[Treason|traitor]] by Nita. Keeping a cool head, Veta managed to talk the survivors into divulging a good amount of information about the operations at New Leaf, mainly by inventing an armored track-shovel she named "the M606" that they would supposedly need to dig out the lab, in addition to an imagined resolution referred to as "the [[Ganymede]] Accords" that she used to threaten Nita and the others with. She convinced them that if they did not share what they knew, she could have them arraigned as co-conspirators to an illegal [[bioweapon]] plot per the accords. Through these tactics she learned that for the past two weeks, the service crews had been banned from the laboratory itself. It was also shared that the Keepers had entered the lab during the attack seemingly intent on recovering something within and had taken the lab's director, [[Agnes Sabara]], with them when they left. Veta pressed for information about the presence of any [[cryo-jar]]s, and [[Miguel]], the man with the SAD-8, revealed that they had been gone before the Keepers showed up. Nita corroborated this, saying that she had personally seen a Dark Moon team leave with cryo-jars the previous night. Kelly, speaking on [[TEAMCOM]], asked if the situation might be developing into a [[Hydra (code)|Code HYDRA]] problem. Veta believed it could be. It was also now clear to her that President Casille must be involved in some fashion, but she wasn't convinced he was behind it all. She told Fred she wanted to question him. At the mention of the president's name, the eight civilians reacted in a way that Veta read as indicative of the fact that they wouldn't need to hunt down Casille, as he was actually coming to them right that minute.<ref name="R18"/> | ||
After confirming her intuition was correct, the civilians were secured to make sure they didn't cause any problems for the teams and Veta and the Spartans hastily put a trap into motion.<ref name="R19"/> Just under five kilometers remained along [[Yosavi Route 4]] when a [[Wikipedia:Cyathea|cyathea]] tree fern was felled to split up a convoy that was driving on the jungle track. The convoy had been led by a disaster-response [[Bronto]] and followed by a [[Roamer]] sandwiched front and back by two [[Murat]] gun trucks. The tree fern cut off the rest of the convoy from the Bronto, which continued to barrel on ahead once its driver realized they were under attack. A Spartan-III had no trouble subduing the lead Murat's gunner and taking over the [[20mm Sawtooth chaingun]]. In a panic, the Roamer's [[Ramond|driver]] put the vehicle in reverse but another tree fern dropped behind the aft Murat, cutting off an escape in both directions. Another Spartan-III took over the other Murat and both Fred and Linda handled their drivers. Kelly pacified the Roamer's driver and [[Rodas|guard]] and Olivia pulled [[Duena Sandos]], the Republic's [[Minister of the Environment]], from the backseat. That left only President Casille himself, who was naturally surprised when Veta Lopis seated herself where Sandos had been a moment prior. She immediately began to question him about his role in the murders of Admiral Tuwa and her family, but Arlo denied any involvement.<ref name="R19"/> Through threatening him with incarceration at a fictitious "Borodyne facility", Veta eventually got Casille to admit that he had agreed to allow Dark Moon to use the lab on Gao. He adamantly maintained that he hadn't known about any bioweapons or their plans to target a UNSC admiral, however. He relayed that Dark Moon had promised to get the UNSC to handle his "Keeper problem" in exchange for the use of the facilities, in addition to other compensation they provided. He claimed that he had only learned two weeks ago that UNSC captives were being held on his planet. Lopis believed his story and pressed for further information concerning how they could find the ones responsible. To that end, Casille let her know that he had originally been introduced to [[Dark Moon Enterprises]] through the [[smart AI|A.I.]] boss of [[Pinnacle Station]] on [[Meridian]], Administrator [[Sloan]].<ref name="R19">''[[Halo: Retribution]]'', ''Chapter 19''</ref> | After confirming her intuition was correct, the civilians were secured to make sure they didn't cause any problems for the teams and Veta and the Spartans hastily put a trap into motion.<ref name="R19"/> Just under five kilometers remained along [[Yosavi Route 4]] when a [[Wikipedia:Cyathea|cyathea]] tree fern was felled to split up a convoy that was driving on the jungle track. The convoy had been led by a disaster-response [[Bronto]] and followed by a [[Roamer]] sandwiched front and back by two [[Murat]] gun trucks. The tree fern cut off the rest of the convoy from the Bronto, which continued to barrel on ahead once its driver realized they were under attack. A Spartan-III had no trouble subduing the lead Murat's gunner and taking over the [[20mm Sawtooth chaingun]]. In a panic, the Roamer's [[Ramond|driver]] put the vehicle in reverse but another tree fern dropped behind the aft Murat, cutting off an escape in both directions. Another Spartan-III took over the other Murat and both Fred and Linda handled their drivers. Kelly pacified the Roamer's driver and [[Rodas|guard]] and Olivia pulled [[Duena Sandos]], the Republic's [[Minister of the Environment]], from the backseat. That left only President Casille himself, who was naturally surprised when Veta Lopis seated herself where Sandos had been a moment prior. She immediately began to question him about his role in the murders of Admiral Tuwa and her family, but Arlo denied any involvement.<ref name="R19"/> Through threatening him with incarceration at a fictitious "Borodyne facility", Veta eventually got Casille to admit that he had agreed to allow Dark Moon to use the lab on Gao. He adamantly maintained that he hadn't known about any bioweapons or their plans to target a UNSC admiral, however. He relayed that Dark Moon had promised to get the UNSC to handle his "Keeper problem" in exchange for the use of the facilities, in addition to other compensation they provided. He claimed that he had only learned two weeks ago that UNSC captives were being held on his planet. Lopis believed his story and pressed for further information concerning how they could find the ones responsible. To that end, Casille let her know that he had originally been introduced to [[Dark Moon Enterprises]] through the [[smart AI|A.I.]] boss of [[Pinnacle Station]] on [[Meridian]], Administrator [[Sloan]].<ref name="R19">''[[Halo: Retribution]]'', ''Chapter 19''</ref> | ||