Meetra held on tightly to the harness of her Pelican's crash seat, looking over the platoon of Marines, Six and Richard, all of whom had tagged along with her on this drop by her own request. Ossus was going to be, for all intents and purposes, one of the more dangerous unexplored planets to preen through for information. And whatever the Reliquary of the Shadow of Intent and that of the Infinity had found, it was probably important enough.
Still, she knew Ossus. She had visited it once before during the latter days of the Galactic Cold War, so she knew the situation here. Having an infantry platoon in support would've done them a world of wonder in deterring the locals from attacking them. Then again, by the word of Rtas, the local population had, in fact, engaged the Sangheili warriors that came down with the Arbiter.
As the Pelican touched down, the woman watched the Marine platoon fan out in a half-circle around the bird, 12 infantrymen aiming their various bullpup assault weapons around in a 180-degree perimeter. She dismounted with Six and Richard guarding her flanks, then took off her robe and hood and tossed them onto the ship, letting her Jedi Armor, ancient as it was, see the light of the sun once more.
She balled her fist as Six had taught her, then showed the pilot to take off and orbit around them in case they needed evacuation, then brandished her lightsaber. Night had fallen on this side of the planet, meaning they needed lights, or at least the in-built night vision capabilities of the UNSC's armors. She hummed, looked around and then turned to Richard, asking, "Do you mind acting as our forward recon? You've got the stealth armor."
Richard nodded, "I'll be your EWS, ma'am," before looking to Six. The two bumped fists, then the boy activated his stealth armor coating and moved forward into the shrubs, rifle at the ready. Meetra nodded, smiling at that, then rallied the squad and ordered a staggered column formation through hand motions. Six and her would be in the lead, while the rearmost unit would be the Marines with battle rifles and snipers.
The millennia-old woman activated her com device and spoke, "Admiral, Shipmaster, this is Meetra. We're planetside and heading to the last known location of the Arbiter and his troops now," before starting the advance through the thicket. Six, weapon at the ready, looked around via his VISR, keeping visual track of Richard's position through his IFF System. First time operating alone with the General, Six thought, this was gonna be interesting.
They kept moving, however, through the shrubs, past bullet holes left by the locals' weapons and the marks of plasma rifle fire. She paused when she saw the Phantom Dropship overhead, with the pilot radioing them and saying, "I will join you and provide air support as well, General. Fight well," to which Meetra simply clicked her com in acknowledgement. She hoped they really wouldn't have to do any fighting against folks with Force-based Slugthrower rifles.
She hummed as she listened to the quiet thrum of the antigravity engines intermixing with the drone of the Pelican's own Hydrogen-powered engines, the two gunships providing them cover from above against anything hostile, or at least an early warning much like Richard, who was farther ahead than the rest of the fireteam. Of course, a Scout's job was to be farther ahead, she thought as they pushed deeper.
It didn't take long for them to reach the cliff face, but they still had to move parallel to it to reach whatever entry point was between them and the Arbiter's force. She hummed, then balled her fist as she saw Richard do the same. It took her a hot second to ready her Lightsaber again, only to pause as she heard the crack of gunshots and the deep thrum of energy weapons replying to the heavy fire.
The group crept forward to the edge of the treeline and saw humanoids in tribal clothes and armed with slugthrowers engaging a flurry of Sentinel Drones. Six and the others immediately tensed, while Meetra ordered, "Both gunships, wave off for now. To the Sangheili, head back to the Shadow. We'll handle the situation down here..." before she looked over toward the nearest enemy drone.
"You thinking of engaging? Saving these folks?" Six asked as he peered through the scope of his DMR. Meetra shook her head, watching one of the beams hit the pointman of the unit. An electric current seemed to pass through him, causing his muscles to lock up. Another volley struck the lines, followed by another and another, the strange locals being knocked out by the hits, rather than killed.
"Stun beams," Richard whispered as he appeared beside them, causing Meetra to let out a yelp of surprise. He snorted and lowered his rifle, then said, "Think the Sentinels are gonna be pissed, though? At us, I mean. If we advance..." to which the entire squad shrugged. Meetra rolled her eyes and pushed forward. No, they wouldn't be mad at them. Six had wanted to counter her by dragging her back to the line, but he watched her calmly stride toward the Sentinels, one of which soon noticed heri.
It dipped down and gently floated over to the Jedi Exile, then scanned her, only to let out a chirp. It also noticed the others, causing them to tense. What caused them to tense more was the word 'RECLAIMER' appearing on their HUDs, written in blue font. It gently hovered up to them, then extended one of its strange boon arms toward Six and Richard, before showing them to follow.
The confusion on the troops' faces and in their movements was tell enough that they didn't expect it to be this easy. As they moved forward, they were led by the Drones toward one of the few entry points into what seemed to be a massive structure that was buried within the cliff face. Meetra, who had stowed her lightsaber by shutting it off and clipping it to her belt, smirked at Six and Richard while the two Spartans simply stared.
"I feel extremely useless now..." Murmured Dick as they stepped through into the opening, powering on their flashlights. Meetra stopped four Marines and showed them to set up by the entrance, keep the door open in a sense, before following the Drones into the place. The group was a little surprised to see that the building within the cliff was still relatively intact, cobwebs, caked layers of dust and other crap notwithstanding.
She smiled, stating, "Ah, the Great Jedi Library of Ossus... Legendary and lost all the same," as she walked over to one of the shelves and retrieved a tome. Blowing onto the book's hard cover and wiping the muck and dust away, she opened it and looked through the stored information with a smile. Noting the confusion in Six, Richard and the Marines' movements, she raised the book and said, "Old novels. Fancied reading them back in the Temple on Coruscant. C'mon, I got my reading materiel to check out and we have an artifact to find..." before closing the book and sliding it under her arm.
The jaunt in Meetra's step was awe-inspiring for the troops of the UNSC. She waded through the place, whose many facades and eerily-intact glass windows glowed a deep blue now that the UNSC approached them. Sentinel presence must've meant that they were nearing some sort of Forerunner artifact. Six spoke, "Remind me to write this in the report for Doctor Halsey when we get back to the Infinity. I think she'll ask the Admiral to deploy a research team here ASAP."
"Roger that," Richard replied as he scanned the novels lining the many bookshelves and some of the abandoned wooden desks with his weapon-mounted flashlight, the gun on safe. Their footsteps almost seemed to echo endlessly in the great halls of this ancient repository of knowledge. The Sentinels that now hovered around them seemed almost excited to see the Earthborn humans marching through the place.
Which... Brought into question how they would feel about the Sangheili. Part of Richard really didn't give a damn about the hinge-jaws, but he knew that, if the Arbiter died under their watch, Shipmaster 'Vadum would be a problematic individual to appease. Xenopolitics, so damn tiresome, he thought to himself as they strode forward now. The Marines behind them kept their eyes on the Sentinels, as did they.
Entering deeper into one of the Sanctuaries of the Library, the group were stunned to find that the Sangheili were, in fact, fine. Better than that, the Arbiter had the artifact they were looking for clipped to his belt while he was browsing books. They could still see the marks of the Force-propelled slugs from the local tribesmen. Meetra smiled and said, "Arbiter 'Vadam. I hope the Ysanna haven't been too much of a problem for you."
"General Surik," The Arbiter bowed his head, "If you are referring to the local feral humanoids, they were more or less just a nuisance. Our shields and weapons kept them at bay, thankfully."
"That's good, I guess..." The girl sighed, then walked over to him. She didn't really need to say anything, the Elite pulling the Forerunner-looking artifact off his belt and handing it to her. She saw it glow at her presence, then smiled a bit melancholically and approached the banners in the room, running her fingers over the emblem and blue colors, then looking over to the Statues. She noticed the one in the middle and chuckled, before approaching it. It was that of a young woman with a double-bladed Lightsaber and familiar features. She spoke softly, "Hello, Satele, my old friend... Been a while," as she ran her hand gently over the stone, "Galaxy's a right mess again..."
"You alright?" Six asked as he approached. She looked over to him as he stared up at the statues, noting that there was even a man with a rebreather and heavy armor, another pair of warriors to the left with armors, one of them a female with short hair and a smile and the other, a young man. All of them seemed to be Force Wielders, but the emblems at the base of each statue told they weren't exactly the normal Jedi.
"Yeah," she nodded, then whispered as she stared at the young man and woman's statue, whispered "The Wanderer and Kira... Heh... " only to cough and add, "... I know every single statue here, meaning my suspicions about this place were right..." before lifting up the device. At its base, she saw a symbol, an azure, glowing circle with a Hexagon in the middle. Said Hexagon also had two prongs poking out of the ten o'clock and two o'clock lines and had thicker lines. She chuckled and caressed the symbol, then stated, "And who made this, of course. C'mon, we oughta get aboard the Infinity, turn this on."
"You gonna give us context, ma'am?" Richard asked as he approached.
She chuckled, "Aboard the ships. Let's move it out and let Doc Halsey take a peek at the place... Some of the novels in here might actually be a fun read for her if she likes history," and she clipped the strange somewhat Forerunner device to her belt. It wasn't long before the entire group exited the place under the watchful gaze of the Sentinels and called in for their evacuation ships. Six and Richard both wondered just what the hell kind of device and place they'd found. Doctor Halsey had even spoken over com with the General and immediately deployed a Research team with Lasky's approval.
Aboard the Infinity
Research Labs
Halsey gazed upon the device with a hint of muted awe. Yes, she recognized the symbol from John's reports, murmuring, "The Librarian came as far as this place... Incredible..." before she adjusted the Device's position and stared at it through the lens of specialized tools. Sergeant-Major Johnson, Chief, the Arbiter and Lasky were present, side-by-side with Six, Richard and Meetra, who smiled as she explained everything...
"... And the Eternal Alliance was formed. The one time in our History where both Jedi and Sith, Republic and Empire, cooperated to combat greater threats," She explained, then said, "I aided them as a shadow of a sort. Concealed through the Force, much like when we met on Coruscant. I hid myself well from them and acted only as another Jedi. The few people who've learned of me were those with statues within the Sanctuary containing this device... And the woman who designed it. An alien."
"We know of her," Lasky nodded, "We encountered the Librarian on a Shield World named Requiem after we've managed to secure the Chief and Cortana," The Admiral then offered. Meetra looked at the group, then at the Chief specifically, and smiled, then crossed her arms to her chest. She figured they'd know her, since the Librarian did speak of the Reclaimers.
It made sense that it was them, now that she thought about it, too. There was never a coincidence with that woman, never a simple moment of things not occurring as they were meant to. The Librarian had always planned a few steps ahead, even if those steps were millennia apart, so she wouldn't be surprised if the UNSC was sent here through her intervention.
She watched Halsey loom over the device as Johnson spoke, "Feels like we're pokin' a WMD, for some reason..." as he took a puff from his cigar. Lasky and the others seemed to agree in their different ways, while the Arbiter simply watched the unfolding procedure ahead. Doctor Halsey's fingers gently pressed against the device's silvery form, only for her to move them over the Librarian's symbol.
The symbol itself seemed to glow for a moment, the central part of the device opening to reveal a hologram projector of some kind. A short burst of energy caused the inner sanctum of the laboratory to lose power for a second, the lights flashing brightly, going dark, then activating normally again with a flicker. The entire group tensed almost immediately, a seemingly familiar event to them.
It wasn't long, however, before a swarm of pixels danced into form ahead of Doctor Halsey. Clad in a silver dress with a strange headdress, looking humanoid if lacking the same form of nose as a human and violet eyes, the ancient alien woman stared at Doctor Halsey with a smile. Halsey, however, didn't need long to realzie that this was another Personality Imprint like that on Requiem.
The Forerunner-grade AI/Memory opened her arms, revealing the items floating above her wrists, with calm, then spoke, "I thought this day would never come... Welcome to this most strange Galaxy..." before she floated over to Doctor Halsey. The Doctor stared up at the figure, while Meetra simply decided to forego calm and stepped inside of the Laboratory, arms crossed to her chest. The Librarian AI saw her and smiled, "And the Exile..."
"Hello, First-Light-Weaves-Living-Song... Certainly been a few millennia, heh," She chuckled, then stepped forward, "Hope you don't mind us asking some stuff."
"Not at all," The Librarian offered, floating through the table to the other side, opposite Meetra and the stunned Doctor. She motioned to the Device on the table and said, "I hope you enjoyed the sight of the Ossus Sanctum. It was the sole of its kind I could build for these devices. Speaking of them... I know that you will ask, but they are chunks of a specific map."
"I had a feeling..." Halsey spoke as she leaned forward, "Much like the Janus Key."
"I hope you've found it of use," The Librarian offered. She then told them, her words feeling more like a warning than anything, "But this does not lead to mere technological caches, I'm afraid. The Exile, in her infinite age and wisdom, should be able to speculate what it is," then looking upon Meetra. The woman scratched her chin as her mind began to race...
"... A map to Iokath," She quipped, arms now lowered beside herself. She leaned forward and said, "A map to the Eternal Alliance itself, if they're still alive and whole. Or to the remnants of their technology, if not," only to look to Doctor Halsey. She said, "The Librarian herself helped us decode stuff from Iokath, but the Alliance's main goal forever remained containing threats to the Galaxy, not stopping whatever events unfold naturally. Say, you have the Clone Wars now, it was never under their Prerogative to intervene..." Only to murmur, "Though damned I be if I wish it was..." as memories of her failures in the High Republic came to her.
"So, like organizations of old," Halsey sighed deeply, "Observe, but let natural evolution take its course."
"Indeed," The Librarian bowed her head, "It was at the request of the Hero of Tython and his wife that I left breadcrumbs, should the galaxy ever truly need help... And going by the presence of the Immortal Exile herself aboard your vessel and your arrival here? That certainly seems to be the case..." before she sighed, "My engram will provide assistance with reading this map. Start the search if the War you are currently fighting does not impede it..."
"We will, as soon as possible..." Halsey spoke calmly, then said, "It is a pleasure to see you again, Librarian."
"All mine, Doctor... Likewise, a pleasure to see the Reclaimer himself," The woman motioned to Chief. She paused, listened for something, then said, "I do assume you have visitors, however... I'm afraid we're going to have to cut this meeting short. We shall speak when you acquire the other fragments of the map," before she bid a quick goodbye and disappeared into the device, it in itself revealing the map of the Galaxy, divided into sectors that included Ossus and a line drawn from it to their next possible target.
Lasky hummed and checked his wristwatch, then said, "Ah, right... Chief, get Blue Team and head for the Hangar. The Chancellor mentioned in a communique he wants you all to work with one of their own Special Forces units, so I figure it'd be good for you to meet them first... Everyone else, on me. We're heading back to the Bridge and preparing to plot a course. Doctor Halsey, get us those coordinates.
"Understood, Admiral," She nodded, then got to work.
... Within one of the Infinity's hangars, Blue Team had gathered all five of its members, watching as a ship hanged out in the distance, past the Shadow of Intent and the UNSC Battle Group. A sole shuttle flew in from said ship, a transport vessel, before it folded its wings up and began its landing sequence within the Hangar. It touched down as Fred commented, "Republic Special Forces and a request from the Chancellor himself... Odd."
"Agreed," Kelly quipped. Chief swiped with his hand to the right to show the group to quiet down. They watched the ramp of the Republic shuttle, which bore the Greek letter 'Delta' on its side, drop down slowly. The cargo hold of the ship was dark, the only light visible from the inside being four blue, glowing visors. Quiet settled between the group as the four figures descended.
They all wore the same armors, though they were personalized, heavily modified to some degree for each member of the team. They were a bit taller than your average Clone, too, from the looks of things and their armors glowed a little, showing signs of an in-built energy shield. Cortana commented, "... Katarn-pattern armor. Clone Commando special..." from John's helmet, "This is gonna be interesting."
The leading man's armor was personalized with orange marks. A single stripe ran down the center of his helmet, while his shoulders were painted and half of his chest plate was split in orange and grey, the left side bearing three orange dots that marked him as a Clone officer. Behind him was a clone clad in a gold, grey and dark-grey armor with a bit more of a jaunt to his step and two massive storage tubes poking out of his backpack. Next, came a clone with more heavy green detailing and what looked to be communication attachments to his backpack. Finally, the one clad in red and grey looked the part of a hunter, his shoulders bearing extra magazines for his weapon of choice.
The lead stopped in front of the Chief and gave the man a once-over, then snapped a salute. Chief saluted the Clone officer back, with the Clone stating, "Clone Commando RC-1138, reporting with Delta Squad. Good to finally meet the allies we've heard so much about through back channels. These are my men," he pointed to the one in yellow and grey, "RC-1262," the green one, "RC-1140," and the sniper in Red, "And RC-1207."
"Call us Boss, Scorch, Fixer and Sev to make it easier," The yellow one quipped, probably grinning behind his helmet.
Chief nodded, "Welcome aboard the UNSC Infinity, Deltas. I'm Master Chief Petty Officer 117, TL for Blue Team. Behind me are CPO-087, CPO-058, Warrant Officer Gamma-295 and Lieutenant 104."
"Didn't know Basics used numbers for their names nowadays," The more gruff-sounding Sev quipped, looking the squad of Five up and down. "You Clones these folks employed, or just a very specific brand of their Basic soldiers?" though he seemed a little confrontational. Probably didn't help the fact some Clones didn't really see 'Basics' as anything worth their salt in combat.
"The latter," Linda replied, looking the Sniper in the eye, matching him beat for beat. The two officers looked back at their respective Snipers, showing them to stow it for now, before looking to each-other again. Both sides immediately noticed the similarities between the two no-nonsense officers and Scorch gave a nod of approval. Richard, however, felt out of place.
"Sir," Richard started. Chief looked back, with the boy continuing, "Permission to remain aboard the Infinity for the upcoming mission you have with Delta, sir..." And upon seeing the slightest hint of confusion in Chief's movements, he explained himself, "I think I'm gonna be third-wheeling it if I don't hang back. I'll go with CRIMSON on their next mission if need be, but this feels like an original Blues and Deltas only mission."
"Granted, Richard," Chief replied after a moment's hesitation, "Are you okay?"
"Sir," He nodded, "I'll be alright."
"... Understood," The Spartan said a bit warily. Linda gave Richard a pat on the shoulder as if asking him to come with, but the boy nodded in thanks, then shook his head. He didn't wanna feel like he was a burden to the team, especially when they were trying to make a good first impression on a foreign Special Ops unit. He was Gamma. The more Brutish Spartan-III unit.
'Boss', as his nickname was, looked to the young man and said, "Any extra hand is welcome, Warrant Officer. Though it's your choice."
"I know, sir," Richard replied with a nod, "Thanks. Best I go where the main frontline is. Better off."
"Understood. You're welcome to rejoin the team any time, though," Boss replied with a hint of kindness behind an otherwise stern voice. He then looked to Chief and said, "Our Adviser will be providing us intelligence on the operation ahead. Preliminary data we got on our way to RV with your fleet mentions a friendly ship that went missing some time ago reappearing in another Sector, so we should move fast if we don't want to lose her."
"Lead the way," Chief nodded. Delta all boarded the transport first, followed by the Blues. Chief stopped and looked back at Richard, however, who nodded and saluted them all as they departed. With a heavy sigh, the Spartan climbed aboard and sat down, watching the hatch close and feeling the shuttle take off, the lights inside turning on almost immediately.
Part of Chief wondered what was going through Richard's mind. The kid was a good soldier.
... He'd ask when they returned home.