Operation: RETRIBUTION: Difference between revisions

Olivia righted the ship, which had pitched forward during Chur'R-Sarch's death throes. Veta confirmed with Mark and Ash that all Kig-Yar aboard had been eliminated just as the Chur'R's abandoned headset began making noise. Veta grabbed it and covered the microphone as best she could. A [[Seraph]] fighter and a [[Ogoro Workshop Tronto|Tronto]] boarding craft were headed their way. It became clear in that moment that hiding in the system until the ''Silent Joe'' arrived was not going to be an option. Mark and Ash both suggested that they take defensive measures and meet the approaching craft with force, but Veta shot that notion down, reminding them that they were supposed to be covert operatives. She was forced to admit to herself, however, that she simply was more concerned with their survival at that moment than with completing the mission. She declared to her team that they would be allowing the Tronto's boarders to enter, but she did tell Ash to gather the ostanalus he had stored in acetylene bottles and prepare it for quick dispersal through the starsloop's ventilation system in case things came to that. So that the ''Silent Joe'' would know which moon the Keepers were located on when it arrived in-system, Olivia loudly declared Taram to their target so the spy gnat attached to Sarch's corpse would broadcast it when the prowler arrived. Veta took her hand off of the mic and spoke to the voice on the other end, letting them know they were speaking to the ''Stolen Faith's'' new captain.{{Ref/Reuse|R6}}

[[File:Banished Logo.png|thumb|right|150px|Veta attempted to use the threat of a conflict with the Banished to keep her team alive and free.{{Ref/Reuse|R7}}]]

Having ostensibly disarmed herself, the rest of the boarding party entered, consisting of six humans and two Kig-Yar. The Keepers took control of the craft and piloted it toward the moon while the Ferrets were herded into the galley unarmed and under guard. [[Seruphi|A young woman]] entered to inform the [[chieftain]] after the secretly-inactive nukes had been secured and sat down to speak with the four "pirates". The woman let them know she had discovered one of the devices was in fact the slipbeacon Veta had mentioned. Lopis reiterated what she had told the chieftain concerning their agreement with the Banished to see those nukes safely to them. The human Keeper told them that avoiding a feud with the Banished was certainly something she wished for, but she considered allowing the murderous group to be given thermonuclear weapons to be just as bad. She casually floated the idea that Veta's crew might be able to redeem themselves by helping to doing significant damage to the Banished. When Veta asked if she was offering to let them go if they complied, the woman clarified that they would never be free to go. They knew too much. If they would share the arming codes for the weapons, they would be allowed to live. That is, of course, she reminded them, unless Castor decided they were ONI spies and ruled otherwise.{{Ref/Reuse|R7}} Veta shared the accurate codes and then, hooded and with their hands tied behind their backs, she and the Spartans were led down the boarding ramp to a spaceport within Salvation Base. Ash pretended to accidentally run into Olivia so that she could release the gas with the detonator in his shirt button. At the sound of canisters being blown within the ship, everyone sprang into action. Veta drove headfirst into the woman who had spoke with them. They both fell off the side of the ramp, with Veta landing on her shoulder. Veta headbutted her captor repeatedly in the temple until she was dead, while the three Spartans had little trouble breaking free of their restraints and dealing with the four other Keepers that had made it off the ship.{{Ref/Reuse|R8}}

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/Reuse|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 them with haste away from the detention center. They emerged just as the ''Silent Claw'' careened into the ground in the distance, causing a fiery 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 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 it 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/Reuse|R15}} Linda vanished into the ''Stolen 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 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]].{{Ref/Reuse|R15}}

===Truths revealed===