Operation: RETRIBUTION: Difference between revisions

===Out of time===

{{Quote|no=three|q1=Still here. But that's going to change when I'm back inside. There's a time differential ringing the spaceport.|Ash-G099|q2=Time differential? Like on [[Trevelyan|Onyx]]?|Olivia-G291|q3=I guess. It might even be a continuum warp. With as much artificial gravity as it takes to hold an atmosphere over the entire installation, that's a real possibility--especially since it's Forerunner tech.|Ash-G099|Ash shares his theory after figuring out something is off about how time is passing relative to the detention center within the contemplarium.}}<ref name="R11"/>

Shortly after reaching Pydoryn, [[Blue Team]] was ready to deploy to Taram in ''[[Silent Claw]]'', an [[Owl]] [[dropship|insertion craft]].<ref name="R10"/> Before it could leave, however, the team was recalled by Captain Ewen to the situation room. There, the Spartans were made aware of the big picture regarding the status of the operation. The Keepers' fleet had been visibly mobilized around Taram, indicating that the group was expecting trouble. In addition, recordings from the spy gnats within the ''Stolen Faith'' painted an unclear picture of what had happened after the Ferrets had been led off the ship. They indicated to those on the ''Silent Joe'' that the Keepers may have simply been preparing for the Banished assault they thought would be coming, but the sounds of gasping and wailing that followed the point at which the ship had landed were impossible to draw conclusions from. What had made the captain recall them just then, however, had been a microburst of data from just minutes ago. It confirmed that the Keepers had discovered the gnats, since they spoke of them and then presumably destroyed them. But more importantly, it confirmed [[Castor]] was present. Owing to his position as one of the Keepers' most important [[dokab]]s, Ewen was faced with a decision to make regarding the furtherance of the mission. There was nothing to suggest the Ferrets had accomplished their objectives or were even still alive, and if the ''Silent Joe'' pinged their TEAMCOM, it was likely that it would be giving away its position to every Keeper ship in the area. The best option left to them, Ewen thought, might have been to simply eliminate Salvation base with M947 [[Shiva-class nuclear missile]]s. All three Spartans of Blue team strongly opposed this idea, but Fred conceded that he understood the captain's perspective and signaled for Linda and Kelly to stand down. Preparations were made for a launch against the base, but the captain stopped just short of giving the final authorization. He made sure Fred understood that even if they could know any of their own were still alive down there, Blue Team wouldn't be deployed to the surface unless it furthered the goals of their mission. Once Fred stated that he was in agreement regarding that point, Ewen told [[Anki Hersh]] to signal the Ferret team. Olivia responded to their probe with a message wherein she informed them that she was alone within a captured Turaco and had been waiting for more than five hours to hear from the rest of her teammates. After the briefest mention of [[Argie]], whom she named an "uncooperative AI", the message cut out since Argie had terminated the connection in response. In what little she had been able to verbalize, however, she had given enough to hint through precisely-chosen language that [[Dark Moon Enterprises]] might have been involved in what was happening. It didn't take long for the Keepers to get a bead on the ''Silent Joe'''s location following the communication and relocating became necessary. The contact with Olivia convinced Captain Ewen that sending in Blue Team was now justified, since he wanted to know if Dark Moon truly was involved and why. Recovering the Turaco also was added as a new mission objective.<ref name="R10"/>