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Kelly-087: Difference between revisions
Added information from Silent Storm.
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As the rest of Task Force Yama mobilized to meet the alien vessels, Kelly and the other Spartans were sent to [[Subsurface Maintenance Grotto 6M430]] where they would direct the captured insurgents onto [[Emmeline|a transport]]. While the line of roughly 300 prisoners marched onto the vessel, John noticed that a group of them were hiding the presence of an officer, [[General]] [[Harper Garvin]] of the [[United Rebel Front]]. He ordered the officer to step forward, but [[Petora Zoyas|another rebel]] presented herself instead, trying to stall for Garvin by flirting with John. Over SQUADCOM, Kelly informed him that the woman was not actually flirting with him, but that it was meant as a diversion. However, John had already realized this and come up with a new plan. To show that he meant business, John grabbed the woman by her tunic lapels and threatened her with summary execution for interfering with a guard while on the field of combat, as per the [[UNSC Military Code of Conduct]]. John's plan worked and General Garvin presented himself. He began trying to pry information out of John, but this effort was interrupted when a situation with Captain Ascot's [[flagship]] was relayed over the task force's command channel. The ''Starry Night'' had been shot down on takeoff, crash-landing back into the quarry. Crowther was unable to send a unit of his Black Daggers to search for survivors without putting more prowlers at risk. Since they were the only unit available to assist, John decided that he and his Spartans would go for the ''Starry Night'' once the transport was loaded. After sending Garvin back to his people and ordering the transport pilot to launch, John had his Spartans move out, much to the concern of [[Joshua-029]] and [[Kurt-051]]. Not only would they be disobeying a direct order from Crowther, operating without the support of the task force in such a situation would be very risky. Kelly reminded John that even if they managed to save some of the ''Starry Night''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s crew, they would still need a ride off of Seoba.{{Ref/Novel|Id=HSS13|HSS|Chapter=13}} | As the rest of Task Force Yama mobilized to meet the alien vessels, Kelly and the other Spartans were sent to [[Subsurface Maintenance Grotto 6M430]] where they would direct the captured insurgents onto [[Emmeline|a transport]]. While the line of roughly 300 prisoners marched onto the vessel, John noticed that a group of them were hiding the presence of an officer, [[General]] [[Harper Garvin]] of the [[United Rebel Front]]. He ordered the officer to step forward, but [[Petora Zoyas|another rebel]] presented herself instead, trying to stall for Garvin by flirting with John. Over SQUADCOM, Kelly informed him that the woman was not actually flirting with him, but that it was meant as a diversion. However, John had already realized this and come up with a new plan. To show that he meant business, John grabbed the woman by her tunic lapels and threatened her with summary execution for interfering with a guard while on the field of combat, as per the [[UNSC Military Code of Conduct]]. John's plan worked and General Garvin presented himself. He began trying to pry information out of John, but this effort was interrupted when a situation with Captain Ascot's [[flagship]] was relayed over the task force's command channel. The ''Starry Night'' had been shot down on takeoff, crash-landing back into the quarry. Crowther was unable to send a unit of his Black Daggers to search for survivors without putting more prowlers at risk. Since they were the only unit available to assist, John decided that he and his Spartans would go for the ''Starry Night'' once the transport was loaded. After sending Garvin back to his people and ordering the transport pilot to launch, John had his Spartans move out, much to the concern of [[Joshua-029]] and [[Kurt-051]]. Not only would they be disobeying a direct order from Crowther, operating without the support of the task force in such a situation would be very risky. Kelly reminded John that even if they managed to save some of the ''Starry Night''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s crew, they would still need a ride off of Seoba.{{Ref/Novel|Id=HSS13|HSS|Chapter=13}} | ||
Kelly and the others proceeded to the grotto's access vestibule and entered its airlock, sealing the inner hatch. With that, they stepped out into the dense sublimation fog enshrouding the floor of the ice quarry. Visibility was so poor that each of the Spartans could barely even see the ends of their rifles, but the flashes of plasma bolts could be seen dancing through the clouds above. John accessed the command channel and requested that he and his teammates receive a [[Navigation point|waypoint]] leading to the downed prowler. Colonel Crowther responded by asking what he thought he was doing. John stated that they were checking on the status of the ''Starry Night'' as they were the only unit that could do so at the moment, carefully choosing his words so that Crowther could deflect blame onto the Spartan if need be. This would make it more likely for Crowther to not stand in the way of their self-assigned mission. While John waited for a response, he signaled Joshua and Kurt to spread out their teams in a hundred-meter-wide search line. Green Team spaced out on the left of the more tightly-gathered Blue Team, and Gold Team spaced out on the right. By doing this, the Spartans would be more likely to find any debris from the ''Starry Night'' that might have otherwise been missed in the fog. Kelly pointed out that Nyeto had said the prowler went down intact, but John was not convinced that it stayed that way once the vessel dropped into the quarry. John also ordered them to advance at a trotting speed, leading them away from the dockyards where they had engaged insurgents the day before. When Crowther still had not responded, John added over the command channel that they would take a look at the crash site and report their findings.{{Ref/Novel|Id=HSS14|HSS|Chapter=14}} | |||
Finally, Crowther replied and acknowledged John's plan, but ordered him to not take action unless immediately warranted. He also informed the Spartans of Biko's naval response to the alien bombardment of Seoba and that Nyeto believed that the small Covenant flotilla would either be in full retreat or destroyed within the hour by the approaching overwhelming force. An inexact waypoint was placed on each of the Spartans' HUDs, and John had them adjust course to match the new trajectory. At this point, Kelly and the rest of Blue Team were arrayed in a diamond formation with only five meters between them, with only their [[motion tracker]]s revealing the locations of their teammates. John ordered them all to advance at a full run while keeping their eyes on their feet, since that was all they could see anyway. As they ran, the ''Emmeline'' departed the grotto and flew over the Spartans, churning up the fog and allowing a brief moment of visibility. Through the haze, they could see five Covenant vessels fire towards the transport as it crested the horizon.{{Ref/Reuse|HSS14}} | |||
Nearing the provided waypoint, the fog had lowered to shoulder-height, allowing the Spartans to discover that the ''Starry Night'' was largely intact, but sat atop a large avalanche about seven hundred meters up the quarry wall. Fred spotted a Covenant intrusion corvette sliding over the rim of the quarry and descending over the prowler. Kelly theorized that they may be trying to recover the ''Starry Night'' themselves. Realizing the danger, John declared to his teammates that the mission was no longer a rescue mission. Their primary objective was now to deny the Covenant from recovering the prowler and the data stored within. Then, John opened the command channel again and relayed this information to Crowther, who echoed John's concerns and insisted that they could not let the Covenant take possession of the ''Starry Night''. The vessel's [[navigation computer]] and other onboard data devices could reveal the locations of UNSC outposts, entire force deployments, or worse. Crowther asked Nyeto if there was any way that the prowler's nuclear [[self-destruct]] [[Fury tactical nuclear weapon|system]] could be remotely activated, to which the lieutenant commander responded in the affirmative. However, there were only three positions that had access to that ability. The first two were the flight commander and wing commander, both of which were roles held by Captain Ascot, who was either dead or unable to be reached aboard the ''Starry Night''. The final person with the ability to remotely detonate the prowler was the captain of the ''Vanishing Point'', which was holding station two planetary orbits out from Seoba. At that distance, it would take nearly an hour for the request to be sent to the cruiser and for the return signal to arrive. By then, the Covenant might already have retrieved sensitive data from the wrecked prowler. Crowther began to reluctantly order the Spartans to prevent the ''Starry Night''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s capture, but John cut him off, assuring him that they would not fail. The Spartan requested that Task Force Yama assist them by keeping the assaulting corvettes off their backs. Nyeto began to say that their prowlers were not designed for ship-to-ship combat when Crowther interrupted him, promising that they would find a way. Crowther started to tell John to standby for instructions on how to manually activate the prowler's self-destruct, but he reassured the colonel that his Spartans already knew how to activate a [[Nuclear weapon|nuke]].{{Ref/Reuse|HSS14}} | |||
Just then, a [[Type-32 Ghost]] appeared on John's motion tracker, firing at him through the fog. Once it showed itself, he killed its [[Jiralhanae]] driver with his MA5B's [[M301 grenade launcher|underbarrel grenade launcher]]. Shortly after that was handled, more Ghosts entered the quarry, so John ordered Green and Gold Teams to deal with them as Blue Team followed him. At this point, the looming intrusion corvette had begun deploying EVA-equipped Sangheili, Jiralhanae, and Kig-Yar warriors via gravity lift, with the first already looking for a way inside the ship. Another corvette crested the edge of the quarry, firing its main cannon on the Spartans. [[Grace-093]] took a hit, and John requested an ETA on Nyeto's support. The lieutenant commander told him not to worry, as it was nearly set up. However, John realized it would be too late for that and he ordered Blue Team to simultaneously fire on the avalanche just below the ''Starry Night'' with their grenade launchers to cause the vessel to fall to quarry floor and prevent the Covenant from gaining entrance. Despite Kelly and Fred's uneasiness, all four members of the team acknowledged and followed his order. As they feared, the volley of [[grenade]]s worked a bit too well, bringing the avalanche down on top of the Spartans, but successfully delaying the Covenant in their boarding attempt.{{Ref/Reuse|HSS14}} | |||
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