Welcome to Gaia! ::

Anthony followed the Elites onto the grav-lift and entered the ship. The interior was almost like molded plastic. Very intriguing on its design.

"Commander, You said something about firing the rings. If you dont mind my asking, what exactally do you mean?" He asked, hefting his rifle on his shoulder.

The Commander eyed the human suspiciously. He raised an eyebrow as he spoke.

"The rings we once considered holy. The Halos. They will destroy all known life in the galaxy if the prophet is allowed to activate them. He foolishly believes he will become a god if he does. The ark is the starting point for his Great Journey."

He turned and walked forward into the cockpit and accessed the Battlenet.

"Unyielding Reverence, this is Seventh Spearhead, we are diverting to the human encampment."

There was a pause before the Operations Master replied.

"Understood Spearhead. Unyielding Reverence will join our fleet. We will signal you before we venture into the portal."

"Understood Operations Master. Seventh Spearhead out."

At Fox Hole 2 Lipton was observing the Covenant ship. It hadn't fired upon anything, so he assumed it was friendly. When a message from Sergeant Hudson came through over the COM. Lipton accessed the frequency and replied.

"Sergeant, this is Major Lipton, 105th. Your IFF tags put you nowhere near Fox Hole 2. Pack it up and head to Fox Hole 2."

"Hmm?" Did the words Anthony say were true? Working himself through the craft he came down to Anthony, nothing but a smile on his lips. A silent Hurrah.

The Sangheili commander cocked his head at the human's inquiry. Their commanders not informed them of the danger the rings possessed. They had not told them of the Ark. Poor planning.

"Our destination is not another of the rings. We go to the Ark. Where all the rings may be lit remotely. But first, we shall return you to your encampment."

He walked over the side of the Phantom and gazed out the gun port. Scorched ground was beneath them. The aftermath of the Covenant invasion. The b*****d Truth had caused so much destruction through his lies. The San 'Shyuum were the ancient enemies of the Sangheili, the unfortunate and unequal treaty of union had only become a reality because of their manipulation of the Forerunner Dreadnought.

"By now the Arbiter and your Spartan meet with the Ship Master of Shadow of Intent and your Admiral Hood. Soon we shall follow the Prophet, regardless of your kind's decision."

Lipton returned the Sergeant's salute. He was waiting for them at the tarmac, or what was left of it. While Fox Hole 2 hadn't taken much of a beating during the fighting, there were plenty of damaged Pelicans that had been forced to make emergency landings. Lipton had taken active command of Fox Hole Two in CMDR Hammer's absence. Technically he was still on base, but he was far too involved with the inner workings of HIGHCOM and humanity's final stand to be bothered with the regular operations of a rather large base. Fortunately, the military always had a surplus of lower ranking officers, so Lipton got to play baby-sitter to the two hundred or so surviving Marines at the Fox Hole.

"Welcome to Fox Hole Two gentlemen. Sergeant, have your men go on stand-by and be ready to leave at a moments notice. Aside from that, enjoy yourselves. We're having a slight problem with the mess hall right now, so no booze, but there's plenty of reheated pasta and lemonade. Dismissed."

He watched them disperse and returned to the Ops center. There was some commotion about the Air Traffic Control station which he quickly attended to. It seemed there were a pair of Phantoms headed towards the base. Yet for the moment they didn't show any hostile actions. Of course, the Covenant were intelligent and showing hostilities before attacking a base isn't always the best option if you're trying to get things done right.

There was an interesting problem with the computer though, it was reading an error message when attempting to classify the vehicles. They were clearly phantoms, but they were different. Perimeter surveillance cameras showed that they were green rather than purple.

[Humans, we have a small scouting party of humans aboard and are requesting permission to land. We offer no hostilities.]

The voice, as modulated as it was by the translation program, sounded like an Elite, not a Brute. If what he said was true, then there was something to this after all.

"Let them land." he said after a minute of thought.

The two Phantoms glided smoothly through the air before coming to a complete stop above the tarmac. They lowered gently to the ground and hovered just above the surface. The low thrum of their engines kept the Sangheili aboard them alert and focused. This could become a hostile problem very quickly. The side doors of the drop ships opened and the warriors climbed out and established a perimeter around the vessels. They couldn't trust the humans just yet.

In the background streams of plasma fell from the Sangheili warships over Voi. They were glassing the city and the surrounding area. The infection could not be allowed to spread.

Lipton walked to the general COM station and sent a priority message to CMDR Hammer about the Elites.

(Bud, your going to need to edit your post. Only Mon and I are on the ship)

Anthony nodded to the commander.

"I understand. Commander, might I suggest an audience with MY commander? Though we may have our differences, we are still in this fight together. Myself, being the tactician, see that our forces combined might hold some help to this fight."

Anthony's voice trailed off as the ship began to lower down to the ground. The hiss of the doors and a new hum filled his ears as the door began to open.

"Commander, if you do not mind, I think we will go first, it will cause them to stay at rest."

The door stopped, and Anthony climbed out of the Phantom's holding bay. Before him, Marines lay in battle ready positions, rifles pointing at the doors as the Sniper team moved out.

"Marines, stand down. Thats an order." Anthony barked, and raised the Camo hood from his head. The Marines saw it was their XO and lowered their rifles.

"Staff Sergeant Mullen." Anthony said to the open air, hoping it would fall onto the Sergeant's ears.

"Sir?" He raised, saluting.

"Find me a CO."

"Yessir." And the Sergeant moved off.

Anthony looked back at the Commander. "I would be honored if you joined me, Commander."

The new arrival startled Anso slightly. He had not been expecting another human to wave his hand about looking for it to be shaken. Such a gesture was so... odd, pointless even. He didn't let his bewilderment show however and eyed the human precariously. His voice was almost a growl as he spoke.

"Do all humans insist on shaking hands?" He asked Karr.

The elites tensed up as the other man approached. The situation would be something akin to a PFC walking up to a Brigadier general and asking for a high five. Awkward and not in following proper etiquette. He turned to Sub-Commander 'Bruad and spoke without using the translation software. To the humans, his words would sound like a collection of guttural growls and barks.

"I will attend to the human commander. Notify the Ship Master of this turn of events. Keep the warriors at the ready. Prepare for treachery. Even if these humans are as honorable as the Arbiter would have us believe, I do not want to loose any to carelessness."

The Sub-Commander responded by nodding his head. Anso re-engaged the translation software and stepped forward. He stood at his full height and towered above the Marines about him. He was at least two feet taller than all of the humans in the base. His armor glinted in the sunlight and the film over his eyes receded into his helmet, allowing him to observe the scene with his own eyesight at the cost of loosing his HUD.

Winter was having trouble keeping his mouth shut, for some reason he thought the Sergeant a poor b*****d. For humans this would be a laugh later on but were the elites forgiving? Now he hadn't done anything wrong.. At least.

"Forgive me sir," he stood beside Anthony, "if I may interrupt sir. Handshakes are a way of meeting you could say. Two comrades or more shaking hands to show each other respect. Showing the honor of being around them in the form of a handshake. Many do." There was no fear in his voice, no worry. It was to late to worry. Hopefully this would be calm.

"Hmmm.. I made on word." Sarah answered into his COM, "treachery, they are worried. Well.. Hopefully nothing." Winter's reply was silent but he understood. How would he look if he started talking to the air? Strange, very strange.

The soldier starred up at the towering figure, in armored boots and helm he was only 6'3. Elites were tall, towering in their armor.