>>6378205

A electric tingle went down your spine, as Vice Admiral Stanforth, personally, removed your Lieutenant bars from your collar and replaced them with the three bars and oak leave cluster. Shortly after, one of his aids did the same for the insignia on your shoulders. There was a brief & brisk round of applause, lasting longer in the officers you'd commanded during Hvitserk. They didn't say anything out loud, but you could tell they were astonished to witness the youngest Lieutenant Commander to ever receive that rank. A honor that continued from your promotion to Lieutenant, and one you'd had probably since you'd made Ensign right out of Basic.

"And in recognition for the excellence in leadership you displayed in the campaign to dismantle the terrorist organization and extremist insurrectionist front known as the Einherjar, along with the Outer Colony Counter Terrorism Award, have been selected to receive a second Military Star" He said, as a polish, gun metal black box was presented to you, and he took and pinned the star beside your first. It wasn't the only Military star prepared, three in total. One for James, and Kurt & Fred, when the latter two reached the station to receive their next orders.

It was soon joined by an additional purple heart, before the last of the medals you'd earned in bringing the Einherjar to heel is presented. A silver star. You lifted up your chest as it was pinned, just below the higher decorations of the Colonial Cross and Legion of Honor, beside your purple hearts and Military stars.

"I argued in favor of a higher commendation, in consideration the level of threat they represented to the on-going war effort" Stanforth explains "But it was decide by committee that your personal actions across Operation: Irminsul met the criteria only for the Silver Star. Wear it proudly, Lieutenant Commander'

Every medal was one worn proudly, when it was pinned to a Spartan's chest.

"Thank you, Vice Admiral" You say, bowing your head as you replace your cap and adjust it, feeling the weight of the attention of the gathered officers and commanders "I hope that my subordinates receive similar or higher honors then myself"

"They'll receive their new ranks as a unit" He explained "along with their individual decorations, I've only singled you out because I believed that the officers in attendance needed to see what a Spartan Commander looked like"

"Only a Lieutenant Commander, Sir. Lets not get ahead of yourselves' You say, and got a few chuckles from the crowd

"And" He says, ignoring your joke "I wished to inform you of your next deployment personally, and hear your opinions concerning proposed Spartan-II field operations"

"Of course, Vice Admiral" You say, as you follow two steps behind the Vice Admiral as he leads you past the other officers in attendance, who slowly stop applauding your Silver Star recognition.
Cont

>>6378206

Captain Mahmoud tips his hat to you as you walk by, and you have to stop yourself from saluting him on reflex and instinct.

"Now, the next mission that has been selected for the UNSC Skidbladnir and her compliment of Spartan-II super soldiers" Stanforth began, as a AI that styled its avatar like a musketeer appeared and swept off their feathered cap "Is a series of diversionary actions in close proximity to Battle Groups X-ray's advance and the planned battleline to retake harvest. You and your crew are to divert Covenant Attention from Cole's approach and perform acts of sabotage and harassment behind what is now Covenant lines. Porthos will show you our projections of the outer colonies and worlds the Covenant have occupied after harvest"

Your attention was immediately taken by one of the colonies listed and shown in red on the holographic star chart that Porthos projected with a theatric whip of their cape.

Alpha Corvi II

"I thought the Covenant glassed Alpha Corvi" You say, surprised. Anyone else would've been breathless, in disbelief maybe.

"We believed so initially as well. But...we've received concerning reports from refugee ships escaping from the colony after it was abandoned" Stanforth explained, in a tone that made your veins fill with ice, he didn't need to go into detail to get what sort of reports he'd received to get the point across "That the Covenant have occupied it, which goes against their usual MO. As for the other worlds, the Prowler Corps have recorded increased alien activity in the vicinity of these habitual worlds, and colonies that have gone completely radio silent"

"I see. We'll be behind enemy lines. But we've been trained to fight and survive in circumstances like that, with minimal support and none back up" You say and Stanforth straightens his back, hands clasped behind your back

"I will allow you to organize these planned strikes via their perceived tactical performance, by your discretion" he says "Then, we will discuss the planned deployments of the Spartans outside of your direct command. Porthos, present the locations and details of the strikes the UNSC Skidbladnir is now authorized and commanded to carry out"

"At once, Vice Admiral" The AI said as they did a sweeping bow and your eyes flicked across the fast moving scroll of a number of planned operations, behind the theorized Covenant frontline. Without your augments or training, you wouldn't have been able to read the initial reports and planning, or gather any details. If the Vice Admiral was allowing you to pick and choose which took priority, it'd have to be...
Cont

>>6378208

>Returning to Alpha Corvi II and disrupting the Covenant activities on the world

>Hitting a non colonized world believed to be a mustering ground or staging point for the Covenant advance

>Going to Colony Ambition, and performing a covert denial op before the Covenant come back to the world with a fleet

>Assassinating a Covenant Fleet Commander, whose heading and location have been determined to be heading towards Harvest

Remember, Brutes are coming.

>>6378210
Ack. Just noticed I forgot to update Sven's Officer Quality from [Lieutenant] to [Lieutenant Commander] in the OP. Please ignore that

>>6378210
>>Assassinating a Covenant Fleet Commander, whose heading and location have been determined to be heading towards Harvest

Im so unsure of the best choice to give us the best impact to the war effort

>>6378210
>Returning to Alpha Corvi II and disrupting the Covenant activities on the world

More forerunner ruins, which Sven has shown some skill

>Assassinating a Covenant Fleet Commander, whose heading and location have been determined to be heading towards Harvest

Taking out a king is always viable if we want to take harvest and we ha a ninja and infiltrator to make it work

>>6378210
>Returning to Alpha Corvi II and disrupting the Covenant activities on the world
Honestly just being a thorn in their side seems suitable and it will give us experiance fighting the aliens before we try to knock off one of their big wigs whom would no doubt be surrounded by their most skilled guards.

We need experiance before we try going big game hunting.

>>6378210
>Assassinating a Covenant Fleet Commander, whose heading and location have been determined to be heading towards Harvest
This or disrupting the Covenant's Forerunner treasure hunt on Alpha Corvi would definitely do the job. Though I would also really like to take Shika to Ambition.

>>6378220
Oh yeh the rest our crew still don't have xp against covenant

>>6378222
Shikanis definately bound for ambition yeh probably daisy too. Hopefully we save the rest of her family. If we can maybe bring Oscar with us there.

>>6378210
>>Returning to Alpha Corvi II and disrupting the Covenant activities on the world
A lightning strike maneuver to cause them big issues. Fast and hard. And then get out of that hornet's nest.

Since we can shuffle around the various Spartans we can send Shika back to ambition with whomever. I trust her enough to get her closure AND play her part in the mission itself.

>>6378210

>Returning to Alpha Corvi II and disrupting the Covenant activities on the world

>>6378228

Yeah, Shika should probably get some closure on Ambition.

>>6378216
>Im so unsure of the best choice to give us the best impact to the war effort
here bud, consider.

Alpha Corvi II
Alpha Corvi II cities were destroyed, and we spartans have personally killed one of their worms prophets here. We detonated a cave system that would have lead to some forerunner ruins. What that says ? The Covenant might have done a special thing here because one of their worms died. There is probably fully built military bases with garrisons and work crews near ruins. At least we know the place, and can access to human structures with ease but any force we deploy needs to be done with care and stealth. We deny the Covenant again ruins, we kill more of their own. Its a distraction, good help for the war.

Mustering Ground
The planet wilderness will help us approach the covenant military bases and support depots no doubt built here hopefully. But that's it. We are going to see their numbers and whats there, then we decide what to do and what to deploy. We make a lot of shit explode, war supplies gone. Temporarily slow fleets and armies. Very helpful for the war.

Ambition
We have home advantage. Plus CMA and locals. The Covenant shouldn't be in high numbers at the start. Covenant spec ops have been here though, so we can expect a squad of them at least. We have to dismantle anything of importance and make sure the population also gets away. We deny all Ambition has. Helpful for the war.

Assassination
Extremely difficult. Covenant troops numbers will be very high. We need to somehow get in an admiral ship, likely at the head of a covenant full war fleet. There might be a ridiculous number of covenant special military units on board (blademasters, etc..). And this might be the same head honcho we denied a intrigue victory more than once, the elite in charge of the fleet of Sublime Deception. So a crafty guy. Its death would be a blow to the early strategic Covenant plan about this war (helping tremendously Cole plan for Harvest), a temporary minor morale loss for the aliens and more importantly the very rare opportunity to jump at the data and information at the fingertips of an alien admiral. I have heavy doubts we can do it. I am impressed High Command considered to even do this 99% suicide mission, because it means they are starting to see Sven and Spartans in general has exceptional. Extremely helpful for the war effort.

In all of them we can expect brutes to be present in some capacity. Looting Covenant war gear/tools/equipment and capturing Covenant aliens might be difficult in some of this missions. Mostly for keep stealth. If stealth is broken then we can take has much as we can before hitting the road really. And i intend to loot and capture.

>>6378210
>Going to Colony Ambition, and performing a covert denial op before the Covenant come back to the world with a fleet

Lets save some humans. I am genuinely considering to tell Stanforth that 4 op might be a tad too much and to cut it for something else. I like the trust and wanting to give us another new rank, but that shit is guaranteed spartans death if we err.

>>6378210
>Assassinating a Covenant Fleet Commander, whose heading and location have been determined to be heading towards Harvest

Time to kick off thread 7 with a bang!

File: G6I4elAXUAArLme.jpg (193.4 KB)

193.4 KB JPG

>>6378231
Ah forgot to add a few things for Assassination : there is likely no guarantee for infiltrate that war fleet, no guarantee for reach the admiral ship and no guarantee we board it safely. It will be all careful planning and rolling. And the only way we get away, is by putting Vali in the admiral ship command deck. Otherwise is pretty bleak for gtfo.

The cherry on top of this cake of alien zealotry legendary difficulty is that, if this is the fleet of Sublime Deception, this guys are specialized in stealth and intrigue. No pressure. And I don't think we can afford to use a small team here. We might need all spartans on board the Skidbladnir. I wouldn't even be against using all marines and ONI field agents on board. The risk of total failure is very high.

>>6378210
>Returning to Alpha Corvi II and disrupting the Covenant activities on the world
What's that? You thought you'd won here?

I'd love to assassinate a Covenant fleet bigwig but, alas, I don't think we can do it without an unacceptable risk of catastrophic failure.

>>6378210
>Returning to Alpha Corvi II and disrupting the Covenant activities on the world
I'd prefer to do Ambition but we already know Alpha Corvi and could be disrupting some big ritual or getting into more Forerunner ruins, resulting giving the UNSC a heads up on world's that the Covenant will occupy instead of glass. Trying to off a fleet commander without any more intel on hand is genuinely a bad decision.

>>6378210
>Returning to Alpha Corvi II and disrupting the Covenant activities on the world
Getting more forerunner tech for RND would have the greatest effects since it isn’t black boxed like covie tech.

>>6378210
>Assassinating a Covenant Fleet Commander, whose heading and location have been determined to be heading towards Harvest
Seems like this would have the highest strategic impact and immediately help out Cole and Battle Group X-Ray the most. I imagine it would be a big propaganda victory and provide a sorely needed morale boost as well.
As for difficulty... Spartans do like challenges.

>>6378210
>>Assassinating a Covenant Fleet Commander, whose heading and location have been determined to be heading towards Harvest

>>6378210
please ignore my previous vote>>6378216
and i apologize for the inconvenience

>Returning to Alpha Corvi II and disrupting the Covenant activities on the world

File: images (3).jpg (26.3 KB)

26.3 KB JPG

>>6378231
What I expect on the military forces and objectives there :

Alpha Corvi-II
We can expect garrisons and workers quarters placed near forerunners ruins. Or for practicality in ex human cities. Lots of grunts infantry, and workers. Maybe a few jackals cohorts. Not that many Sangheili, beside the ones in charge. A few packs of Brutes, has rapid response force. Might have a few spaceships in the solar system flying above for keep guard of the world.
Objectives : leave some portable nukes and C12 has a gift, detonate the forerunner ruins if the Covenant have already made an accessible path to them without drowning, detonate tomb/monument made for the dead alien worm (funnier if Nesta clicks the button), get away with loot and prisoners.


Mustering Ground
I could see either grunts or yanme having been used for establish logistics here. We can expect a lot of soldiers and more vehicles. Banshees and Ghosts. Some brutes will be waiting here for the campaign they have to join. There will be a few convoys of transport spaceships i recon alongside some warships in orbit.
Objectives : leave some portable nukes and C12 has a gift, compromize most if not all supplies and ammunitions, get away with some samples of it. Some prisoners too if feasible.


Ambition
Likely the largest amount of brutes. I feel like the Covenant will throw them a lot here, the Sangheili will just be present with spec ops maybe an high rank for keep the monkeys in check. The army deployed here will be fully supported by a fleet.
Objectives: Ensure all comms and digital infrastracture is gone, ensure that evacuation of colonial government, CMA force and population is mostly successfull, get away with loot and prisoners.


Assassination
Might include most of the aliens. This is a war fleet. There is genuine no lack of troops present, and an admiral ship will be exceptionally big. The brutes here.... i kinda feel their presence will be political even if they will have troops. I just don't see a Sangheili admiral keeping them on board on his own ship, out of his own desire.
Objectives : find a way to get on the admiral ship without being found, find and kill the admiral, believe in Vali, survive

>>6378210
>Assassinating a Covenant Fleet Commander, whose heading and location have been determined to be heading towards Harvest

Load me into a Prowler and launch me at the Prophets

>Returning to Alpha Corvi II
8
>Assassinating a Covenant Fleet Commander
5
>Going to Colony Ambition
1

Quick vote recap for help 404. An anon is voting both Returning to Alpha Corvi II and Assassinating a Covenant Fleet Commander, so that would count has 9 and 6. Unless this vote is one vote only? Either way 14 players is a good number. Sorry for the theory posting probably made counting votes harder.

[ Rebooting...Monitor 404TormentedCache, back online ]

>>6378633
Lines up with my count, mostly.

Assassinating has 6 votes in total, and there is no way for Returning to Alpha Corvi II to have 9, it has eight. You must've double counted one of them during your count. But those minor errors don't change the result of...

Sven deciding that the Alpha Corvi II mission takes priority (Meaning it will be the first diversion mission Purple team/ The Skidbladnir crew undertakes)

[ Decision made ]
[ Proceeding.... ]

>>6378231
>>6378246
>>6378503
Good tactical analysis anons.

>>6378633
lmao

>>6378655
i should stick to theory...

Alpha Corvi II. Whatever the Covenant are doing to the former colony, the last thing they'll expect is to get sucker punched now that they're settled in and have let their guards down. Perfect circumstances to surprise them with a Spartan hello. Assassinating a fleet commander behind their own lines, that would be a bigger distraction. It'd also be suicide, even if it could be pulled off. Too much risk even for the tactical gains chopping one of the hydra's heads off would have. High Command might think Spartans are immortal, if that's the case they've been overlooking how often you limp back to base after a mission, considering how big and tempting of a target you are in or out of MJOLNIR. Circumstances might change things, but as it stands, you aren't wasting Spartans; your brothers and sisters lives on a gamble you'd lose more than ninety nine percent of the time.

But Alpha Corvi II. Grace turned one of the Covenant's worm priests into so much fine mist and bone particles there, kicked a hornet's nest and put their invasion into overdrive. And that reaction could explain why the Covenant hadn't just melted Alpha Corvi like they did Harvest. A martyr was made on that world, and whatever importance that rock slash artifact they'd wanted so badly to enter the battlefield personally held. They very well could've seen the colony as a holy site now, or were just desperate to return any kind of positive results to report back to their version of High Command besides 'Oops, we let one of our ruling caste meander into a active war zone and get blown to gristle and gibs, please don't crucify us or whatever barbaric punishment we squidfaces do to our failures and fuck ups'

"Returning to Alpha Corvi II" You say, as you notice Stanforth expression minutely shift, as you spend a little too long thinking and mulling over your decision. But as fast as you can think, only a few seconds had past as you considered the Whys of why the Covenant hadn't glassed Alpha Corvi yet "That's the highest priority, and the first strike we'll make. Its behind what the enemy considers their lines, sir, they've likely lowered their guard after how easily they conquered the world and destroyed others. We don't know what they're doing there, or why they remain, but I believe...I know that that the last thing they'll expect is a Spartan Strike Team"

"I accept your reasoning, Lieutenant Commander. Its sound. An army cannot rest if they have to be constantly Vigilant. If the mission is a success, I imagine the Covenant will grow warier of advancing and focus security on the ground territory they've gained" The Vice Admiral says, relief washing over you as he, as promised, accepts and backs your decision of which mission took priority "We'll put the other suggested operations on the back burner for now"

"You also wanted to talk about the other Spartan ops that had entered the planning stage?" You asked, and he nodded his expression stone hard and set.
Cont

>>6378666

"High Command has seen the results the Spartans have already achieved this early in the war, and as you are well aware there are number of individuals and factions that believe they alone know how best to make use of them" He explains "With forty six active Spartan two super soldiers, Twelve currently deployed on Operation: Dreamcatcher, en route to their target, and twelve currently posted on your ship, you're seen as something of a commodity at this point. Which means there has been..."

You straightened your back, and thought, 'Backroom deals, cloak and dagger 'persuasion', and shouting matches between the brass'

"Some debate on where the remaining twenty two active spartans should be deployed and sent out", is what Stanforth actually says "And now that Operation: Irminsul is complete, there will be calls to reduce the Spartan presence aboard your vessel so they may be posted elsewhere"

"They don't realize we're just as killable as anyone is" You say heavily "If assassinating a fleet commander, was on the table, while they're planning to..."

Take away

"Deploy members of my current team, elsewhere" Is what you actually say, since you know that, despite your personal feelings, Command is right. Twelve Spartans is overkill, for most things. But you still wondered why they were so confident you could jump in the middle of a fleet and...

The pieces fit together. Two Variables. Two Reasons.

Hvitserk.
Vali.

It'd be a longshot, but not as much of a suicide mission as you first thought. Still was one and you didn't have a death wish or want to send Spartans to all but certain death. But maybe circumstances would change.

"I would like to say your perspective is skewed, but you aren't incorrect, Askeland" Stanforth said, shoulders dropping slightly "You Spartans have excelled, far beyond initial expectations, and detractors and sceptics of the program have changed their opinion. Suddenly, drastically"

And all that meant was they considered you effective weapons. Not people.

"I won't be the one to teach them their lesson, with all due respect sir. I won't send my people on a suicide mission" You tell him, and his eyes light up, ever so slightly as he gives another, respectful nod in your direction

"And I've endeavored to ensure no missions that would be pointlessly risk Spartan lives, has gotten past the proposition stage" He says "And have succeeded for the most part, thus far"

"Thank you, Vice Admiral" You say "Where do they need us"

"Porthos?" He asked the AI, who lifted up their chest and drew a rapier from under their swishing cape and tapped it in the air, display a number of potential operations and requests for Spartan Support. And then, the holographic avatar keeps tapping the air. It is, immediately clear that there aren't enough Spartans active to satisfy the demand for them. Couldn't blame them for it, considering WHAT the UNSC was fighting and how outmatched it was.
cont

>>6378667

Only way to decide was to organize the proposed missions by types, terms and goals. Not only to reduce the workload of denying the majority of them, but so your Spartans could act as an effective force multiplier as well as boots on the ground. Purple Team was going to be running diversion for Battle Group X-Ray and Vice Admiral Cole. John's team was currently attempting to get Command a second intact Covenant Vessel.

Considering you'd probably be commanded or forced to redeploy some of your squad elsewhere, the best gameplan at this stage of the war would be to focus Spartan Efforts...

>On asset denial ops, like Home Alone. Wasn't where glory was won, but it could prevent an early Covenant blitzkrieg and if nothing else, save lives that Command would otherwise write off.

>On Diversionary actions, putting them on similar missions as Purple team was. The only action underway, was Cole's advance to Harvest, supporting it was highest priority

>On Capture ops, sending them to try and secure more live Covenant specimens and intact equipment. The war was still in its earliest stages, and any officer worth the salt knows wars are won by knowing the enemy.

>On Support, sending them to assist other UNSC soldiers. Bloodaxe and Danelaw after it, had proven that friction seemed inevitable between Spartans and Conventional troops. This war was going to be a long haul, and you'd prefer to keep future "incidents" to a bare minimum

>Write in option

This choice will determine what the next few Spartan ops will be, the last vote determined Sven and Co's next mission

>>6378661
Its no biggie, I just appreciate the help

>>6378669

>On asset denial ops, like Home Alone. Wasn't where glory was won, but it could prevent an early Covenant blitzkrieg and if nothing else, save lives that Command would otherwise write off.

These might be a slog, but they have to be done and Home Alone went well enough.

>>6378669
>On asset denial ops, like Home Alone. Wasn't where glory was won, but it could prevent an early Covenant blitzkrieg and if nothing else, save lives that Command would otherwise write off.

Were outnumbered so we need to preserve our forces until things go online and this also makes sure covenant gets as little info about other planters as possible.

>>6378669
>On asset denial ops, like Home Alone. Wasn't where glory was won, but it could prevent an early Covenant blitzkrieg and if nothing else, save lives that Command would otherwise write off.

>>6378669
>On Diversionary actions, putting them on similar missions as Purple team was. The only action underway, was Cole's advance to Harvest, supporting it was highest priority
Every ship the Covenant reassigns to patrol, escort or guard duty is one not glassing a planet or reinforcing a battle group.

>>6378669
>>On asset denial ops, like Home Alone. Wasn't where glory was won, but it could prevent an early Covenant blitzkrieg and if nothing else, save lives that Command would otherwise write off.

>>6378669
>On asset denial ops, like Home Alone. Wasn't where glory was won, but it could prevent an early Covenant blitzkrieg and if nothing else, save lives that Command would otherwise write off.

i hate that we have to do assets denial even tho tactically it is a sound choice; hopefully we can do on support next time

>>6378669
>>On asset denial ops, like Home Alone. Wasn't where glory was won, but it could prevent an early Covenant blitzkrieg and if nothing else, save lives that Command would otherwise write off.
Currently there are too many projects and exceptional people in frontier worlds and threatened zones to ignore. The more we can ensure we don't lose data or materiel from these places the better it will be for humanity. You never know when some egghead's pet project about making nuclear powered trees or investigating slipspace musical harmonic theory might pay off in some unforeseen way. To say nothing of actual blacksites and engineering projects.

Once we get our eggs in safe baskets we can focus on kicking the Covenant in their dicks. Maybe some agri-science-nerd on a farming world is inventing a new dewormer formula we can use as torture for one of those covie priest fuckheads.

>>6378669
>On Capture ops, sending them to try and secure more live Covenant specimens and intact equipment. The war was still in its earliest stages, and any officer worth the salt knows wars are won by knowing the enemy.

>>6378669
>On asset denial ops, like Home Alone. Wasn't where glory was won, but it could prevent an early Covenant blitzkrieg and if nothing else, save lives that Command would otherwise write off.
Asset Denial and Diversionary operations will give us the most breathing room to figure out a long term solution. I'm partial to assets because we'll get to see 404's OC stuff more often and maybe get something nice out of it that might give us a leg up.

>>6378669
>>On Diversionary actions, putting them on similar missions as Purple team was. The only action underway, was Cole's advance to Harvest, supporting it was highest priority

>>6378669
>>On Diversionary actions, putting them on similar missions as Purple team was. The only action underway, was Cole's advance to Harvest, supporting it was highest priority

>>6378669
>
>>On Diversionary actions, putting them on similar missions as Purple team was. The only action underway, was Cole's advance to Harvest, supporting it was highest priority

[ Rebooting...Monitor 404TormentedCache, Back online

Managed to find just enough time to fit in an update before I got that Cyberpunk game

7 Votes for Asset Denial ops

4 Votes for Diversionary Acitons

1 Vote for capture ops

So Sven will send the other Spartans out on asset denial ops

[ Decision made ]
[ Proceeding.... ]

On Asset Denial Operations. There wasn't any glory to be won in that sort of actions, but that was among the lowest concerns any Spartan had and it could prevent an early Covenant Blitzkrieg, and if nothing else save lives that High Command would otherwise write off.

And once those simple parameters were set, it became much easier to sort through the mass of proposed operations and Spartan Deployments. The final call for which ones went forward, was Stanforth's, but you'd cut back the possible operations to a manageable number. Stanforth, eyes darted through the files you'd pointed out and selected for Porthos to keep projected in the air. He studied and scrutinized them as you stood, silent and at attention. The other Spartans serving on the Skidbladnir, should be arriving to receive their medals and new ranks, soon. The Vice Admiral read through the OPLANs and OPORDs, rapidly, eyes moving as he occassionally gestured to the attending AI, who removed one or two files from the scroll projected in front of Stanforth, pruning it as he decide which deployments had merit and which would be a waste of resources, manpower and time.

In short order, he'd reduced the number to just three and nodded once.

"Forward these through a secure channel to the UNSC Skidbladnir" Stanforth said, though it was unnecessary as you'd already read through and memorized the contents of all three of the missions "We'll want to keep some of the Spartans in reserve, the be prepared for the unexpected"

"I understand, Sir" You say, giving a nod of agreement, as you lift up your chest and clasp your hands behind your back "Will I be needed for anything else?"

"You're dismissed, Lieutenant Commander, and may observe the proceedings or return to your post at your leisure", you snapped a salute and marched away from your commanding officer as he, from a distance, observed the first Spartan to arrive to recieve their commendations.

It was James. He'd arrived in MJOLNIR, now repainted back to its original color, the refractive coating giving off a ghostly green gold shimmer beneath the powerful lights of the station, as one of Stanforth's aids listed off the reasons for his decoration. All of which would otherwise be hidden beneath black ink. And you smiled to yourself, as you saw, even from as far away as you stood that one of the medals James got was a Military Star, just like the two you had. A sense of pride swelled in within you, but before you could congratulate him, you had some decisions to make.

Vice Admiral Stanforth didn't want to deploy all available Spartans immediately. Keep a reserve would allow for rapid reaction to any unexpected invasions or pushes from the Covenant, or sudden Insurrectionist activity. The Einherjar weren't the only extremist front by far, and the number of rebels who'd agreed to the cease fire, while steadily increasing, did not account for every insurrectionist group in the outer colonies.
Cont

>>6379218

Three Missions, three fire teams of four. You could figure out the team comp for each in the time it took you to clear the distance between yourself and James.

[ John-117, Sam-034, , Kelly-087, Linda-058, Vinh-030, Isaac-039, Dimas-012, Joshua-029. Kai-125. Vannak-134, Rix-028, and Li-008 unavailable/ currently deployed on Operation:DREAMCATCHER ]

>OPERATION: KNIFE-IN-THE-BACK. Priority level 0. Stealth infiltration/ Sabotage/ Asset Denial Operation. Team Size: Four. Goal: Delete NAV Data, capture or destroy military resources, prevent intel leaks by any means necessary . Location: Delta Indi System, Colony Gravity Free, Mission Difficulty: EASY. ONI has determined that an illegal outpost/ proto colony of the Spacenoid Revolutionary Front, poses a threat to the security of earth due to its proximity to Harvest and the Epsilon Indi System, and that preventive measures must be taken immediately before the Covenant discover its location

>OPERATION: SINKING-SHIP. Priority level 1. Escort/ Evacuation/ Asset Denial Operation. Team Size: Four. Goal: Retrieve Vital Personal from war zone/ prevent their capture by the enemy. Location: Asteroid Field Sigma Epsilon 138, Rebel Station, "Come and take it". Mission Difficulty: NORMAL or HEROIC. A covert operation to capture Insurrectionist Leader, Gung Kwan, that was underway/ given the green light just prior to contact harvest, has been listed as a possible risk of intel leak, due to the knowledge of the commander of the Operation and the ODST deployed. Possibility of Covenant interference low, but not null due to the stations proximity to projections of Covenant frontline

>OPERATION:BRUSHFIRE. Priority level 0. Stealth infiltration/ Sabotage/ Asset Denial Operation. Team Size: Four. Goal: Delete NAV Data, Shut down agricultural complexes and colonial AI, Prevent intel leaks by any means necessary. Location: Colony Ambition. Mission Difficulty: EASY to NORMAL. It has been determined that Colony Ambition remains at risk and that preemptive measures must be taken to prepare for its possible invasion/ subjugation by Covenant forces. As a rural colony, with high agricultural production the possibility of it being used as a breadbasket by the enemy is too great to risk.

You didn't have to like the missions you were sending your Spartans on. They were necessary for the War Effort, even if they were dirty jobs. Dirty was what Spartans were meant for, anyways. Even if it left a bad taste in your mouth.

But you also had to consider your own team for your deployment behind enemy lines, especially now that the Brass was going to be encouraging you to reduce the size of that team. You could probably get away with keeping it at twelve for a mission or two, and just act like you were unaware of they had a problem with it until they voiced it...
Cont

>>6379220

>OPERATION: CROWS-NEST. Priority Level 0. Stealth infiltration/ Sabotage/ Assassination/ Combat Mission. Team Size: Four to Eight: [ Maverick Quality bonus] Max team size increased to Twelve. Goal: Disrupt Covenant activities on the Conquered Colony of Alpha Corvi II. Location: System Alpha Corvi, Colony Alpha Corvi II. Previously believed to be lost, recent intel shows the Covenant remain on Alpha Corvi II and have yet to destroy the world, like Harvest. Spartan team lead by Sven-033 is to disrupt their activities on the planet, in anyway possible.

>>6379222
...I fuckin cut off the difficulty for Crows Nest while I was formating it.

Anyways. OPERATION: CROWS-NEST difficulty is: HEROIC to LEGENDARY

>>6379220
We need to send shika and Oscar to ambition. Hopefully to give her some closer like Sven did for us. Probably means bot having her for awhile but we should be able to handle it.

>>6379220
We really need an updated Spartan roster. It's becoming a pain to keep the mixed up teams sorted when half our list don't even have names to them. I'm assuming most active Spartan teams have a full four members at minimum, and if not, or more, I'd leave it up to their TL's discretion on who else to take.

>OPERATION: KNIFE-IN-THE-BACK.
Naomi with her Orange Team. Naomi has the intrigue and mind for stealing anyone and anything not nailed down if it looks important enough.
>OPERATION: SINKING-SHIP.
Fred and his Red Team, a good enough jack of all trades team with the third best leader.
>OPERATION:BRUSHFIRE.
Shika with Augusta with her Omega Team. Shika is probably tied in first place with Daisy for infiltration while full blown torch and burns, and liquidations, are Omega's bread and butter. Should give Shika a 'special secondary objective' or something so she has an excuse to vanish during down time. IIRC Omega has only 3 core members so sending Shika should be fine.
>OPERATION: CROWS-NEST.
Sven, obviously, with Purple Team minus Shika but with Gray Team puts us at a neat eight man force to handle a higher difficulty mission. And if we can swing it we should probably also bring along some of our Spartans who haven't had a chance to do combat against the Covenant yet, like Carris, Aurthur, William, etc but not bump it over 10. Enough to keep on standby just in case or swing to help out with situations as they pop up.

Also lmao at the 'Spacenoid Revolutionary Front.' Is their supreme leader's name Gihren and are they a bunch of extremist eco-terrorist who hate Earthlings specifically?

>>6379263
I forgot to mention, this also leaves Kurt and his Green Team on standby for emergencies. Though they'd be a good swap out for Frederick and Red Team or Naomi and Orange. Along with however many other unidentified Spartans we sitting on their thumbs.

>>6379263
Supporting these. I'd also support trying to bring Carris and Arthur along. More bodies to help us steal more shiny alien loot and kill more alien scum if nothing else.

>>6379263
Yeah the roster desperately needs to be updated, but the anon who made it is MIA, and I don't know how to make one myself

>>6379265
There are 46 active Spartans.

Sven-033,John-117,Adriana-111,Anton-044, Arthur-079,August-099,Cal-141,Carris-137,Daisy-023, Dimas-012, Edgar-150, Frederic-104, Grace- 093, Illya-077, Isaac-039, Jai-006, James-005, Jorge-052, Joseph-122, Joshua-029, Kai-125, Keiichi-047, Kelly-087, Kurt-051, Leon-011, Li-008, Linda-058, Malcom-059, Maria-062, Micheal-120, Naomi-010, Nadja-078 Nesta-097, Nicole-017, Oscar-129, Ralph-103, Randal-037, Riz-028, Robert-025, Samuel-034, Sheila-065, Shika-108, Solomon-069, Vannak -134, Vihn-030, William-043

Nineteen Inactive/ Washouts. Alice-130, Cassandra-075, Douglas-042, Fhajad-084, Jerome-092, Jori-149, Kirk-018, Margaret-053, Musa-096, Otto-031, Rene-081, Roma-143, Soren-066, Victor-101, Igwe-149, Kang-Dae-115, Sal-009, Alia-086, Yasmine-148

1 "missing" in Serin-019.

And 34 Spartans Candidates who did not survive the Aster procedure, who make up the entirety of the Spartan-???/ unidentified and Spartan-073 on the roster

Which is all 100 Spartans accounted for

Since, the "for want for a nail" of this quest, was Halsey getting additional funding for the program, which let her nab 25 more kids than she did in canon. Including our boy Sven.

We really need an updated spreadsheet... kek

>>6379220
>>6379222
>OPERATION: KNIFE-IN-THE-BACK.
Team: August-099, Robert-024, Leon-011, Grace-093
Leader: August-099
Omega Team + explosives expert Grace... Big explosions are good for emergency asset denial.

>OPERATION: SINKING-SHIP.
Team: Frederic-104, William-043, Nicole-017, Carris-137
Leader: Frederic-104
Fred is a great strategist and has that experience with TALON (Watts). Will has a close friendship with Fred (at least in canon). Nicole's CQC might help with wrangling the innie leader. Carris for a similar reason, I guess. Not too sure about the expertise of Carris and Will, but hopefully they can help round out the team.

>OPERATION:BRUSHFIRE.
Team: Shika-108, Daisy-023, Oscar-129, Naomi-010
Leader: Shika-108
We managed to give Shika a bit of leadership experience, so we can build on that here. Daisy is always another good stealth option and knows what's going on with the clone stuff. She can also provide Shika and Oscar with some support if necessary, since she's close to them. Naomi seems like a solid addition with her intelligence and adaptability, hopefully dealing with any snags with the AI/NAV data and any new developments with the clone stuff.

>OPERATION: CROWS-NEST.
Team: Sven-033, Nesta-097, Jorge-052, James-005, Kurt-051, Cal-141, Malcolm-059, Anton-044, Illya-077, Jai-006, Adriana-111, Michael-120
Leader: Sven-033
Potentially legendary mission, so we can add Kurt and keep the whole of Green Team with us, which would be a plus. We wouldn't really have to make many adjustments either. Dimas and Joshua (tech experts) are out of the picture, so Michael is one of the few tech experts we have at our disposal unless I'm forgetting someone, nice to have one if we encounter any relics. Wouldn't want to break up Gray just to take him, plus they're pretty versatile together, which is always nice.

I'd probably be more inclined to assign some of the others that we haven't really had a chance to work with or put on a mission if I knew what their strengths were.

>>6379274
Naomi is a squad leader tho so why not have her leading

>>6379274
>>6379279
I do think Shika would be better NOT as the team lead for that OP, specifically because she might have some distractions to deal with which would not play nice with having to stay in the loop and giving orders.

>>6379220
>OPERATION: KNIFE-IN-THE-BACK.
Team: August-099, Robert-024, Leon-011, Grace-093
Leader: August-099

>OPERATION: SINKING-SHIP.
Team: Frederic-104, William-043, Nicole-017, Carris-137
Leader: Frederic-104

>OPERATION:BRUSHFIRE.
Team: Shika-108, Daisy-023, Oscar-129, Naomi-010
Leader: Naomi-010

>OPERATION: CROWS-NEST.
Team: Sven-033, Nesta-097, Jorge-052, James-005, Kurt-051, Cal-141, Malcolm-059, Anton-044, Illya-077, Jai-006, Adriana-111, Michael-120
Leader: Sven-033


the only difference to this plan that the other plan did is that Naomi is squad leader not Shikia

>>6379272
I'll make a copy of the spreadsheet and figure something out when I've got the time. For the active Spartans without confirmed teams do you want me to arbitrarily assign them to evenly fill out compositions or do you have teams in mind?

Finally, and most importantly, Soren IS a Dragon yeah? He is in my heart but I'd like it to match up with your intentions.

>>6379263
>Also lmao at the 'Spacenoid Revolutionary Front.' Is their supreme leader's name Gihren and are they a bunch of extremist eco-terrorist who hate Earthlings specifically?
They are exactly that.
They fully hate the UNSC; in that capacity, they are another extremist terrorist organization that, like the Einherjar, needs to be cracked down on. In fact, Anton shut down with a sniper round one of their demagogues in the SNAKE EYES operation (the one that was done for the capture of Fino & Firmino Costa), while he was saying some insanity, surrounded by other innies leaders. Including Bomb Mom (Ingrid Askeland, aka Fenrir). This was before we captured her on Black Sands and ended her plot to kill a ton of people and attempt to end the public peace talk with Innies Movements.

Honestly, we might have to just sign as extremists that need to be found and destroyed, all the terrorist groups that were in that fucking villa in Bethlehem Star. The fuckers there were all fucking nutjobs or diehard haters of UNSC/UEG/ONI/CMA.

To answer your other question, there are additional rebel movements added by 404. You can read about the operation I mentioned in the After Action Report. Spartan field Operation no: 3. Operation: SNAKE-EYES. It's in the second thread.

>>6379220
>Operation:DREAMCATCHER
>Already Deployed
John-117, Sam-034, , Kelly-087, Linda-058, Vinh-030, Isaac-039, Dimas-012, Joshua-029. Kai-125. Vannak-134, Rix-028, and Li-008

>OPERATION: KNIFE-IN-THE-BACK.
Team: August-099, Robert-024, Leon-011, Grace-093
Leader: August-099

>OPERATION: SINKING-SHIP.
Team: Frederic-104, William-043, Nicole-017, Carris-137
Leader: Frederic-104

>OPERATION:BRUSHFIRE.
Team: Shika-108, Daisy-023, Oscar-129, Naomi-010
Leader: Naomi-010

>OPERATION: CROWS-NEST.
Team: Sven-033, Nesta-097, Jorge-052, James-005, Kurt-051, Cal-141, Malcolm-059, Anton-044, Illya-077, Jai-006, Adriana-111, Michael-120
Leader: Sven-033

>"RESERVE" TEAMS
Arthur-079, Edgar-150, Joseph-122, Keiichi-047, Maria-062, Nadja-078, Ralph-103, Randal-037, Riz-028, Samuel-034, Sheila-065
Solomon-069 and Cal-141 are also out of the Skidbladnir with this assignment for now. I suggest making both of them team leaders in case of emergency ops.


>>6379292
Soren still counts has washout.
He remains a Spartan brother, one Sven took with him. The dragons are about fighting. He can't go into the field with us to kill our enemies, but he can look in to informations we gain in a mission and provide us a better approach. The point, though, remains: he can't show more of his worth. He would be like a dragon without fire and wings. For now, at least. Let him gain new abilities in the matter of strategy and info reviewing, and if all goes well, maybe we will get an interesting tech missive in the future about Rhodes-Mjolnir collab. Then he might have an opportunity to be a new dragon. A real one.

>>6379304
Actually just Solomon, Cal is with us my bad.

>>6379304
>SNAKE EYES operation
Lmao, forgot about that. I think I mentioned Gundam then too. And agree to disagree on Soren, I'll await 404's decision.

>>6379220
>Operation:DREAMCATCHER
>Already Deployed
John-117, Sam-034, , Kelly-087, Linda-058, Vinh-030, Isaac-039, Dimas-012, Joshua-029. Kai-125. Vannak-134, Rix-028, and Li-008

>OPERATION: KNIFE-IN-THE-BACK.
Team: August-099, Robert-024, Leon-011, Grace-093
Leader: August-099

>OPERATION: SINKING-SHIP.
Team: Frederic-104, William-043, Nicole-017, Carris-137
Leader: Frederic-104

>OPERATION:BRUSHFIRE.
Team: Shika-108, Daisy-023, Oscar-129, Naomi-010
Leader: Naomi-010

>OPERATION: CROWS-NEST.
Team: Sven-033, Nesta-097, Jorge-052, James-005, Kurt-051, Cal-141, Malcolm-059, Anton-044, Illya-077, Jai-006, Adriana-111, Michael-120
Leader: Sven-033

>After this we should probably do Assasination with a full team of 12. Which the brass atleast cant complain about.

>>6379274

Backing this. Shame Samuel-034 is occupied so he can't be in a big man crew with Sven, Jorge and Kurt to put the fear of god into the Brutes.

>>6379436
hopefully we can get an update on John and his team when we complete our own mission cause then we might be able to do the big guy crew eventualy

>>6379274
+1

>>6379220
>>6379263
Switching my vote to

>OPERATION: KNIFE-IN-THE-BACK.
Team: August-099, Robert-024, Leon-011, Grace-093
Leader: August-099

>OPERATION: SINKING-SHIP.
Team: Frederic-104, William-043, Nicole-017, Carris-137
Leader: Frederic-104

>OPERATION:BRUSHFIRE.
Team: Shika-108, Daisy-023, Oscar-129, Naomi-010
Leader: Naomi-010

>OPERATION: CROWS-NEST.
Team: Sven-033, Nesta-097, Jorge-052, James-005, Kurt-051, Cal-141, Malcolm-059, Anton-044, Illya-077, Jai-006, Adriana-111, Michael-120
Leader: Sven-033

I'm sure Shika would be a fine TL, especially for intrusion missions but not this one. Giving Naomi a heads up that Shika will have a secondary investigation or something, though no mentioning anything specific, should give a pretty good excuse for her to disappear either during down time or low intensity situations without causing any major disruptions to the mission overall.

[ Rebooting...Monitor 404TormentedCache, back online ]

1 vote for T/Wdsloy's team comps

7 Votes for BTE2aMlc's team comps
L
+ 4 votes to switch Shika for Naomi on Brushfire

So on Operation Crow's Nest
Team: Sven-033, Nesta-097, Jorge-052, James-005, Kurt-051, Cal-141, Malcolm-059, Anton-044, Illya-077, Jai-006, Adriana-111, Michael-120
Leader: Sven-033

And Knife in the back
Team: August-099, Robert-024, Leon-011, Grace-093
Leader: August-099

Sinking Ship
Team: Frederic-104, William-043, Nicole-017, Carris-137
Leader: Frederic-104

And last but not least, Brushfire
Team: Shika-108, Daisy-023, Oscar-129, Naomi-010
Leader: Naomi-010
Since one more vote on this arrangement wanted Naomi as team leader

[ Decisions made ]
[ Proceeding.... ]


>>6379292
Thanks! Really appreciate it.

And the Spartans' team comps tend to be pretty mutable/ change constantly+ depending on the mission, across the war, but I can list their base/ original teams. (Note how Sven tends to divide Spartans under his command into teams based on hues of purple)


Yellow team
TL: Dimas
Team Comp: Grace, Isaac, Vinh, Solomon,
Washouts: Jori, Musa

White
TL: Nicole
Team Comp: Li, Ralph, Carris, Arthur
Washouts: Igwe, Kang-Dae

Orange team
TL: Naomi
Teamcomp: William, Edgar, Joseph, Sheila
Washouts: Yasmine, Rene

Gold Team
TL: Joshua
Team Comp: Randall, Keiichi, Maria, Oscar
Washouts: Cassandra, Kirk,

Silver team
TL: Kai
Teamcomp: Riz, Vannak,

And Soren is a washout and isn't considered/ listed as an active Spartan, so he isn't part of Purple team/ a dragon officially

For Knife in the back, it has to be Omega team. Their specialty is just what that mission is asking for, and if you give them Grace, one of the Spartan's resident explosive experts you can't imagine the operation being anything but an extreme success. All four of them will be in their element and August will know exactly what to do. Probably the easiest decision to make, barely even need to put any thought into making.

Sinking Ship...You pause, mid step and weigh your options and quickly end decide that Fred will be the best team lead for that mission. He has experience from similar missions, like Operation:TALON and has proven himself an able strategist and talented leader. Give him Carris and Nicole to command, William to. He'll know how best to use them, All three of them have exceptional hand to hand skills, Nicole has the best, Carris' is surprisingly strong, and William, well he's probably the least adept of the three of them in CQC but he's a steady hand with explosives, not to your, James or Grace's level but you think he's the best shot with a rocket launcher with or without aim assistance.

You take another step, Brushfire. You need to give Shika a chance for closure, Oscar to. Daisy, well she's the spartans infiltration specialist, knows about the...clone thing, and can and will keep a close eye on Shika. You consider, for a moment, making Shika the team leader. She does have some experience, but the risk of her getting distracted while deployed on what might be her home colony is too high to risk. But Naomi has more experience and won't be at risk of having her ability to command compromised. She smart, adaptable and curious. If anything is found out about the possible flash clones of the Spartans, she'd have figured it out on her own anyways. Low risk. So Naomi is team leader

As for your operation, it is best to be overprepared than under prepared, and you doubt any of the higher ups will complain that you took more Spartans on your smash and burn run behind enemy lines, if you get results and it prevents your team from suffering any causalities.

With Shika and Daisy gone, that leaves some holes in Purple Team. Keep Cal and Anton, one of the best snipers and scouts amongst the Spartants. Keep Malcom and Illya, transfer over Kurt, reunite Green team and benefit from their cohesion. Kurt, he's a the best choice for secondary team lead, being an ideal leader and while he isn't Nesta levels of sixth sense, he still has a sense for danger and you need that gut instinct when you're going deep behind enemy lines. And with that thought, get Grey Team on board before ONI can deploy them somewhere else. Jai, Adriana, Micheal. All three of them are perfect for this mission and Grey and Purple team work together well. Grey, Green, Purple. Would make for an odd flag color, but a damn fine squad in your opinion.
Cont

>>6379731

"Congratulations on the Military Star, James" You say, offering your hand. James takes it, firmly, and shakes it once

"Thank you, Sir" He said, professionally before easing into the more casual tone the two of you usually spoke to eachother with "Wasn't the only medal I received today, I think I'm on the fast track to making Chief, Sven"

"You're not the only one, brother, Naomi and Cal are going to share your rank after today" need to keep operating as well as you have or those girls might leave you in the dust" You chuckle, patting him on the shoulder, before offering to polish the medals magnetized to his armor with the cuff of your uniform. He nods, giving you permission to shine up his new medals

"Silver Star" You admire

"Fallen Valkyrie and Hvitserk" he answers as you make that star shine just as much as the Military Star next to it

"What you did in Hvitserk deserved a Legion of honor or Colonial cross" You gruffly mutter, before thinking outload "Wonder if the stars they'll name after us will be neighbors?"

"I hope they will be, if they ever get around to it" He says, admiring the newly polished medals on his chest "isn't a sure thing they ever will"

"War has a way of delaying pageantry like that" You say with a shrug "I don't much care if they ever do"

"I don't either, we're soldiers. Not heroes" He says and he gives you a quick Spartan Smile with a swipe of his fingers "And naming stars after classified soldiers, seems a bit..."

"Pointless?" You ask

"I was going to say defeats the purpose". He's quiet for a moment before asking "Really think I'll make Chief petty officer"

"You're the one who said it first, James, and I believe so" You tell him, as you step to his side and stand shoulder to shoulder with him "You're one of the best"

"You say that about every Spartan, Sven"

"Isn't it true?"

"Can't argue that it isn't" He says, staring straight ahead "Cal is next, isn't she?"

"Should be her, then Naomi. Don't know which of us will come after Naomi" You say with a nod "Naomi, Shika, and Daisy are going to be depart the Skidbladnir, be deployed elsewhere

"Nesta is going to be lonely without her favorite rival around" James said coolly "Imagine you will be to without your Shadow"

"We won't know when we'll next see them, but its our duty. Can't expect to stay together throughout the whole of the war. And of course I will be, I know for sure Purple Team will miss its medic and Infiltrator" You tell him

"Must be a reason you're sending them off" He says, straightening his back "So I won't pry, much. Are they being replaced or are we downsizing"

"Kurt and Grey team are coming aboard, temporarily. Got told Command wants less of a Spartan presence aboard my ship" You say

"And you'll be holding out as long as you can against that demand, won't you?"

"Of course" You chuckle "They won't know I know, I can feign ignorance"
Cont

>>6379732

"They should've read all the incident reports written about you in Basic, before expecting you to roll over so easily" James chuckles

"Exactly" You say with a twitch of a smirk, 'Especially considering how dangerous of a mission they're sending us on'. And as you think that, you realize that you could probably ask for additional support for these diversionary actions your undertaking...

>Don't test your luck. Your crew and Spartans will be enough

>Request a compliment of soldiers to be put under your command. ODST hopefully, but you won't be picky

>Request additional firepower, a tank would be nice, but any armor or additional vehicles would be appreciated.

>Ask for an escort, a Prowler might be sneaky but in a fight its pretty much helpless. You'd rather die on the ground than the void

>Write in option

>>6379733
>Request additional firepower, a tank would be nice, but any armor or additional vehicles would be appreciated.

Hmm we do need something to give more mobility apart from walking.

>>6379723
>but I can list their base/ original teams.
Super, that's all I really needed for the moment to do some basic clean up. I'll have the new spreadsheet up tonight or tomorrow depending, with comments enabled for when I miss shit.
>And the Spartans' team comps tend to be pretty mutable/ change constantly+ depending
Certainly, just plugging the holes on the doc. I think I came off as new to the quest when I'm just frustratingly forgetful about things. I've been participating since you first started posting ideas in the QTG.

>>6379733
>Request additional firepower, a tank would be nice, but any armor or additional vehicles would be appreciated.
A Cobra would be great for setting up extreme range hits while being mobile enough to scoot off quickly after shooting unlike a Scorpion. Even a Gausshog or two would be a good mobile long range option to give one of the other teams for support while we dick around doing whatever. Getting anything ground side might be a pain with as non-stealthy as Pelicans are.

>>6379733
>Request a compliment of soldiers to be put under your command. ODST hopefully, but you won't be picky

Got a gut feeling some extra hands will come in handy. 12 Spartans cant be everywhere after all.

>>6379733
>Request a compliment of soldiers to be put under your command. ODST hopefully, but you won't be picky

>>6379733
>Request additional firepower, a tank would be nice, but any armor or additional vehicles would be appreciated.
Even a couple extra mongooses and a smattering of rocket launchers would be sorely appreciated. We need to be quick on the ground, and any vehicle is gonna help in that regard.

>>6379733
>"They should've read all the incident reports written about you in Basic, before expecting you to roll over so easily"
"sir about that Spartan you ordered to spread his troops around?"
"what about him?"
"well we found some reports from his time at Reach and..."
"this can't be right. he beat several armed guards who had stun batons to help one of the other trainees escape during his first day? he was six!"

all the spartans III will hear legends of Sven's antics and doubt how much of a absolute beast he is and was
>Request a compliment of soldiers to be put under your command. ODST hopefully, but you won't be picky
this hopefully will be quick recon, disruption, and putting the fear of the "demons" into the covenant but it never hurts to have extra guns if we can help it

>>6379733

>Request additional firepower, a tank would be nice, but any armor or additional vehicles would be appreciated.

Extra soldiers would be nice to man any mobile assets we get, but lets not push our luck too far.

Although, for the sake of theory crafting...

Say each Spartan team got a vehicle, we could have any additional personnel we got act as support from the vehicles while the Spartans act as the infantry element, while the vehicle acts as a firebase and cover for say, weapon crews to operate from, allowing the Teams to have an effectiveness well out of proportion of the assets deployed.

It's just a shame we're not going to be seeing Mantis for a long-ass while. Mech support would be awesome.

>>6379733
>Request additional firepower, a tank would be nice, but any armor or additional vehicles would be appreciated.
This is probably going to be a mission where the goal is hit and fade since out of canon going by Operations PROMETHEUS and TORPEDO, since numbers won’t help if the Spartans get stuck in a serious firefight especially if they have more than 1 ship in the area

>>6379733
>Request additional firepower, a tank would be nice, but any armor or additional vehicles would be appreciated.

>>6379733
>Request a compliment of soldiers to be put under your command. ODST hopefully, but you won't be picky

so odds on whether we have to enter another Forerunner facility if so we might need more hands to carry it out

>>6379820
You know what else helps in transporting stolen artifacts? Vehicles.

>>6379733 #
>Request additional firepower, a tank would be nice, but any armor or additional vehicles would be appreciated.

>>6379733 #
>Request a compliment of soldiers to be put under your command. ODST hopefully, but you won't be picky

>>6379733
>Request additional firepower, a tank would be nice, but any armor or additional vehicles would be appreciated.

Since we will be on our own on Alpha Corvi II, it means the only forces deployed on the world are entirely of the Skidbladnir. And we don't have that many forces. At the same vehicles do help moving around, and provide additional firepower which would be of great use against for example : rapid strike forces of brutes. The weaponry, speed and mobility of an human vehicle counters the brutes shock troopers the Covenant would have around here. And providing a somewhat equal ground with Covenant vehicles present.

There is wilderness in Alpha Corvi II, but it was still settled and the oceans here are prevalent. We can't expect large amounts of it. The Covenant should give us a very clear idea of where the forerunner ruins are, because there will be work camps and military bases there. That just leaves how we want to go about reaching said places. Deploying in ex human settlements i would suggest not to, if anyone is practical in the Covenant garrison, they would naturally use the ex settlements because of structures already being here. Be for housing or even just storage. So the choice we have in my opinion is wilderness, or the destroyed ONI lab of the multiple research projects (EVIL EYE, TYPHON, BERSERKER, MJOLNIR aquatic team) that was a shameful site of defeat for the Covenant (if they are superstitious no one would want to hang around there).

Firepower would be of great use for break through the work camps and covenant bases, and get in the ruins. If the Covenant did their work we have a direct path in, but its a lot of fighting. But then we have to decide who gets inside and who waits out, and our vehicles would be sitting outside. Last but not least, there is the consideration of any Covenant ship in orbit. And when we need to go out of the ruins, having more vehicles certainly helps, especially if we are loaded in loot/prisoners and have also our not spartan forces with us on ground. The Covenant would attempt to stop us from going away.

There is also the matter of bombing the monument/tomb of the dead worm that will be likely present and visible. If we want. But that shit would be likely well guarded. If not a goddamn pilgrim site already, meaning more aliens.


As a reminder for everyone currently this is what we can deploy on our own (if i am not mistaken) :
- Our Spartans + Vali
- At least a squad of ONI elements that had combat experience or where field agents, lead by Bernetta Coste if we approve of her coming on ground. Their weapons are all silenced, and they would have those ONI suits some of the Spartans used in the starting missions.
- At least a squad of ship security.


>>6379794
>It's just a shame we're not going to be seeing Mantis for a long-ass while. Mech support would be awesome.
never say never

Funnily enough i am thinking more of amphibian or aquatic vehicles, than a standard land UNSC/CMA vehicle. Maybe because it was here that we used the Leviathan submarine/ship of project TYPHON. And also because of the biomes of Alpha Corvi II.

>>6379888
okay you convinced me +1
im >>6379791 btw

Alright, for some reason making a copy of the original broke some shit. Hopefully it's all cleaned up. Comments are on if you guys feel like skimming previous threads for notes. I'll work on updating old stuff and add new things as they come up when I've got the time.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1eO7rkImgBlWVU-gdeY4-e5qp3pC8IiGApewbHqlnRq8/edit?usp=sharing

>>6379989
Good work it will mainly need operations updates and ranks updates i feel.

>>6380019
For sure, I'll have to dig back through the last few threads to see everyone's most current rank and figure out an operation's list. Not sure how long that's going to last considering how long this wars going to be. Might end up compiling an operations master list on another page and giving details about them there, along with who participated in them. Otherwise the individual roster boxes are gonna get bigly.

>>6379733
>Request a compliment of soldiers to be put under your command. ODST hopefully, but you won't be picky
Hope I'm not too late

>>6379889

If we get given access to TYPHON kit, we'll be doing well. Especially if they've crash-built a Leviathan we can use as an undersea base.

>>6379733
>>Request additional firepower, a tank would be nice, but any armor or additional vehicles would be appreciated.

[ Rebooting...Monitor 404TormentedCache, Back online ]

Sorry to make you wait this long. Passed out after going out for Sushi, meant to write after a quick nap, nap lasted longer than I expected and right as I was counting up the vote/ reading your replies, 4chan went down! Fun!

Anyways, ready to write, so I'ma do it before anything else can get in my way,

10 Votes to request additional firepower/ vehicles

6 Votes to request additional Troops

So Sven is going to request additional firepower/ vehicles for the Skidbladnir's operation behind enemy lines

gotcha
[ Decision made ]
[ Proceeding.... ]

>>6379743
Hey! I appreciate it, all the advise and support I got in QTG is why I even tried to run this quest to begin with

>>6379791
lol

>>6379989
Thanks a billion! also, Serin is probably one of the few Spartans who actually is MIA lol

>>6380036
Operation master list would be cool

More soldiers, ODST if they could be spared, would be helpful. But the benefits of having a larger force also came with risks, considering this would be a stealth operation, a guerilla action behind enemy lines. The more soldiers you had, the greater the chance you'd be detected before being able to do any real damage. Sometimes it was better to have fewer troops than the enemy, since a smaller force could be quicker and more maneuverable, and most importantly, less noticeable. And on that thought, increasing your squads maneuverability and boosting their firepower would shore up the weakness inherit in deploying with a smaller fighting force. Sure, you'd be outnumbered even if you brought a whole platoon of ODST along for the ride, but bringing heavier weapons and armor for the trip would make it more...survivable.

And it was a "Safer" request to make. Someone up the chain of command might take offense if you asked for more soldiers under your command, but that wasn't true for asking for more and bigger weapons. Or a tank. A tank would be nice, last operation on Alpha Corvi II, your team ran into Covenant Armor. And you'd want every advantage you could get if the Covenant kept their garrisons heavily armed. Maybe you could request some of the vehicles from project Typhon, make use of environment during your sabotage. Coming up the shore then vanishing back in the waves. As far as anyone was aware, the Covenant had no aquatic species or vehicles, so the oceans of Alpha Corvi would be the perfect fall back slash retreat zone after hitting the squidfaces were it hurt. Something to consider, and you'd put those considerations into your request, see if that would convince Command to give you the yet to reach the production line Typhon Vehicles. Being able to launch an amphibious assault would give your squad one hell of an advantage. Maybe, just maybe, they'd give you the ARGONAUT model of MJOLNIR they were testing or one of the early prototypes of the EOD Variant. And Halsey had mentioned other forks she'd fast tracked after reading your initial MJOLNIR Performance report.

Might be time to test out some new armor. But, there was also the chance they'd make you field test other prototypes. You'd heard that the Einherjar Berserkergang had been reverse engineered and made "safe" after all of the samples of it you'd sent ONI. Halsey and Stanforth would probably want its testbed to be...anyone but Spartans, but you had a feeling ONI would ignore their complaints or issues they raised.

"You look like you're thinking about something" James spoke up, bringing you out of your deep thoughts and stopping you from planning how to best use a combat stim like those "Rumble Drugs"

"Just our next deployment, James" You tell him "Going to request additional vehicles and firepower, before we're proceed to target location. We'll need to wait for Kurt and Grey team to arrive, before we can start the operation. So there shouldn't be any issues or delays"

Cont

>>6380256

He nodded once, as Cal received her decorations. The highest being the Bronze Star, now fastened beside the same Irminsul Campaign ribbon you and James were given and that every Spartan on the Skidbladnir was sure to receive. She'd been promoted to Petty Officer First Class, like Naomi would be. Wouldn't be long before the other Spartans under your direct command received similar recognition, you were sure of that. Daisy and Jorge were probably going to the next two to receive those honors.

Cal saluted the Vice Admiral and marched to your side, taking the shoulder not occupied by James as the three of you waited for Naomi to arrive and receive her medals and promotion to petty officer first class. Once every Spartan and member of your crew had received their deserved decorations, there was a lot on your plate. Planning an operation behind enemy lines was always challenging, but when that enemy was the Covenant? Well that multiplied the difficulty of it, in a number of ways.

>Specifically request Project: TYPHON vehicles and Prototype MJOLNIR variants for the deployment. You aren't leaving this up to chance or the whims of some uninformed quartermaster

>Touch base with Kurt and Jai when they arrive and bounce ideas/ strategies off of eachother

>Wish Daisy, Shika and Naomi good luck before they depart for Brushfire and remind them you haven't given them permission to die, yet.

>Send another MJOLNIR Performance report to Section 3 and Halsey, including HUD footage from your most recent deployments

>Write in option

>>6380257
You know, I am torn between wondering if we should just use our Boogeyman trait to terrorize any prisoners we might make, or get something else too. Like asking Rita about making some injectable sedative/paralyzer vials specifically thought for the big aliens. Though Rita can't exactly do anything too special with a standard medbay of a Razor class......

>>6380257

>Send another MJOLNIR Performance report to Section 3 and Halsey, including HUD footage from your most recent deployments
>Specifically request Project: TYPHON vehicles and Prototype MJOLNIR variants for the deployment. You aren't leaving this up to chance or the whims of some uninformed quartermaster

>>6380257
>Touch base with Kurt and Jai when they arrive and bounce ideas/ strategies off of each other
>Send another MJOLNIR Performance report to Section 3 and Halsey, including HUD footage from your most recent deployments
I'm reasonably certain Command will be able to put two and two together and issue the TYPHON prototypes to our fleet. They do need testing before they go into production after all.
Anyways, a report for Halsey and her minions should be easy enough to bang out before we bring Kurt and Jai into the war room.

>>6380257
>>Send another MJOLNIR Performance report to Section 3 and Halsey, including HUD footage from your most recent deployments
>>Specifically request Project: TYPHON vehicles and Prototype MJOLNIR variants for the deployment. You aren't leaving this up to chance or the whims of some uninformed quartermaster

>>6380257
>Specifically request Project: TYPHON vehicles and Prototype MJOLNIR variants for the deployment. You aren't leaving this up to chance or the whims of some uninformed quartermaster
>Send another MJOLNIR Performance report to Section 3 and Halsey, including HUD footage from your most recent deployments
These two work well together and can be done in the same scene. I wouldn't mind getting our heads together with Kurt and Jai but I'm sure they'll generally agree with a submarine on a mostly water world. I'll be curious on how we're gonna transport a TYPHON project vehicle, weren't the subs pretty damn big? Also need to get James his EOD armor.

>>6380243
>>6380253
>all the advise and support I got in QTG is why I even tried to run this quest to begin with
When you posted interest in running it prompted me to reread just about every Halo book I had. Genuinely one of the only reasons I stuck around in the QTG after Thunderhead flaked the second time was you bouncing ideas around.
>Thanks a billion! also, Serin is probably one of the few Spartans who actually is MIA lol
No problem. And yeah, glad we took the option to figure that out IC. Makes me wonder who ONI took from the morgue this time around considering Black Team didn't 'die.'
>Operation master list would be cool
Be easier to keep track of and assign the Spartans activities there. Notes balloon in size pretty quick. I think I'll include accolades too, just for fun.

>>6380257
>Specifically request Project: TYPHON vehicles and Prototype MJOLNIR variants for the deployment. You aren't leaving this up to chance or the whims of some uninformed quartermaster

>Send another MJOLNIR Performance report to Section 3 and Halsey, including HUD footage from your most recent deployments

lets talk strategy after we have equipment since depending on what we get might be a game changer

>>6380257

>Send another MJOLNIR Performance report to Section 3 and Halsey, including HUD footage from your most recent deployments.
>Wish Daisy, Shika and Naomi good luck before they depart for Brushfire and remind them you haven't given them permission to die, yet.


>>6380268

That and we have the quirk that gets us access to prototypes faster.

>>6380257
>Specifically request Project: TYPHON vehicles and Prototype MJOLNIR variants for the deployment. You aren't leaving this up to chance or the whims of some uninformed quartermaster

>Send another MJOLNIR Performance report to Section 3 and Halsey, including HUD footage from your most recent deployments

>>6380257
>>Specifically request Project: TYPHON vehicles and Prototype MJOLNIR variants for the deployment. You aren't leaving this up to chance or the whims of some uninformed quartermaster
Lets make sure we get what we need, instead of risking stupidity fuckin us over.

>Wish Daisy, Shika and Naomi good luck before they depart for Brushfire and remind them you haven't given them permission to die, yet.

Were big bro sven cant forget that.

>>6380257
>Specifically request Project: TYPHON vehicles and Prototype MJOLNIR variants for the deployment. You aren't leaving this up to chance or the whims of some uninformed quartermaster

>Wish Daisy, Shika and Naomi good luck before they depart for Brushfire and remind them you haven't given them permission to die, yet.

>>6380257
>Send another MJOLNIR Performance report to Section 3 and Halsey, including HUD footage from your most recent deployments
>Touch base with Kurt and Jai when they arrive and bounce ideas/ strategies off of eachother

>>6380446
+1
you know that kind of makes me aware that if Sven was canon to the games he be the kind of character to die to signify to 117 how hard the war has become
-we are the big brother to most of the spartans
-we aim to keep everyone alive no matter what
-we were second pick for both Halsey and Mendez if 117 or 051 washed out
-we're both the largest (and id argue strongest since we can go into a controlled fury when pissed) spartan II
-we have operational command against the covenant for the time being and have had several successful missions that dealt serious blows
speaking hypothetically if Sven was in the game how do you think he go out? we already killed a prophet so my guess would be it either be engaging the flood for the first time and holding the line so everyone else can escape similar to the warrior at Stanford Bridge, or it be like noble six where he leaves himself behind and fights off wave after wave of covenant alone for some major strategic victory
or arguing if we make the only cool thing about modern halo canon, maybe during first contact with the banished and Atriox

>>6380551
>speaking hypothetically if Sven was in the game how do you think he go out?

Blowing up a Nova bomb solo to destroy a covenant superweapon or a covenant fleet to keep the war going

it would be a great call back to his terrorist family roots by being a suiced bomber

[ Rebooting...Monitor 404TormentedCache, back online ]

8 Votes to Specifically request project Typhon vehicles and MJOLNIR prototypes

8 Votes to send another MJOLNIR performance report to Halsey

2 Votes to touch base with Kurt and Jai

4 Votes to wish Shika, Daisy and Naomi good luck

So Sven is going to specifically request project Typhon vehicles and early MJOLNIR variant prototypes. And send another MJOLNIR performance report to Halsey/ section 3

[ Decisions made ]
[ Proceeding....]

>>6380304
Awesome. can't wait to see it

>>6380551
I've thought about this often, actually

Which meant you needed every advantage you could get. Leaving anything up to chance wasn't an option. The request for additional vehicles and heavier weapons would specify that a number of vehicles from Project Typhon. If you worded it as a trial run in the field, then the office of naval intelligence shouldn't see any issues in giving you what you wanted and needed for this operation. As for the initial prototypes of the first forks of the MJOLNIR mark IV system, you could ask Halsey to fast track the first field test of them. The Powered Armor is expensive, but the first useable models of its initial variants should be ready for combat, if only because it is easier and quicker to build off a proven system than it is to fabricate one wholesale. MJOLNIR had gotten results, proven itself in the field and in combat, just like the Spartans who wore it.

And Halsey would probably be curious about the data that could be gathered, comparing the variants to the base Mark IV platform. It might've been a safer bet than receiving a portion of Typhon. You watched, quietly gathering your thoughts as Naomi entered the sectioned off deck of the station, and was presented the decorations she'd won in Operation: IRIMINSUL. They were the same Medals Cal had been given, except she'd been given a ribbon for leadership, far from the military stars you and James had received, instead of the marksmanship badge Cal had been given. You nodded once, a quiet show of respect to the Other Spartan as the medals were secured to her MJOLNIR's breastplate by one of Stanforth's aids.

Once you all were dismissed, you'd work on a performance report for MJOLNIR, which you'd include when you sent Halsey the request for the prototype variants. You'd need to collect data from and interview the Other Spartans, and have Rita include the medical files concerning the interactions of the ASTER augments and the MJOLNIR System. And some unedited combat footage taken from the helmets of every Spartan available presently, would be a good way to round out and complete the report.

It'd take time, but it'd also take time to transfer over Kurt and Gray team and for the request for addition gear to be received and for that gear to be brought over, including the Typhon Vehicles and any early MJOLNIR prototypes the Program and Halsey can spare. You'd probably be docked at Stanford Station for awhile, waiting for equipment. You didn't like waiting around, and the report would take time but not that long. And you weren't the only Spartan that would be stuck, sitting around for the additional firepower and new gear.

Time waiting could be time spent preparing. But the question was how you'd devout that time and what sort of prep you'd use it for. Operation: CROW'S NEST could be one of the most challenging and dangerous missions Spartans had been sent on yet. You simply couldn't leave anything up to chance.
Cont

>>6380629

>Run your team and the Skidbladnir's crew through Anti Covenant Drills and review prior engagements against the aliens

>Wait until either the Typhon or Mjolnir supplies arrive and familiarize yourself and your squad with them

>Work on the Frankenhog M12, and try to get it to at least be semi functional

>Focus hard on the MJOLNIR Performance report, since every bit of data could lead to a new variant or attachment for the strongest tool in a Spartan's arsenal

>Write in option

Sorry for shortish update

>>6380630
>Focus hard on the MJOLNIR Performance report, since every bit of data could lead to a new variant or attachment for the strongest tool in a Spartan's arsenal

The NEXT STEP in human evolution requires the greatest gear.

>>6380630
>Focus hard on the MJOLNIR Performance report, since every bit of data could lead to a new variant or attachment for the strongest tool in a Spartan's arsenal
While it would be fun to work on the frankenhog, the performance report or anti covenant drills will give us the most mileage.

>>6380630
>Focus hard on the MJOLNIR Performance report, since every bit of data could lead to a new variant or attachment for the strongest tool in a Spartan's arsenal

the Frankenhog can be a group project

heres hoping we can get some kind of "REAL" update about dreamcatcher when we finish this op

>>6380551
real

> if Sven was in the game how do you think he go out?
Probably dying while doing an unorthodox strategic move against a very important thing/place/member of the Covenant Empire that, in the end, doesn't go well, as he expected, because an unknown MAJOR factor suddenly presents itself. Like, say, a full Prelate San'Shyuum squad is deployed against Sven Dragon Task Force (or what remains of it). But even so, he would probably still make it a horrible Pyrrhic victory for the Covenant.

>>6380630
>Focus hard on the MJOLNIR Performance report, since every bit of data could lead to a new variant or attachment for the strongest tool in a Spartan's arsenal
I am not sure we will be able to do the Frakenhog at all. We don't really have time for it. We are already occupied and split across time between being an Officer, a Spartan leader, and an AI tech specialist. I would suggest another Spartan to go and try a crack at the Frankenhog M12.

It's somewhat hard to fit in socials too with all these things... anyway, realistically, we do this "Focus hard," and then either we need to wait a bit more at Stanford Station, or there will be only space for another thing (considering there will probably be travel time to Alpha Corvi II). And I am thinking we either try and do an improvement of Vali, or we familiarize with the Typhon vehicles/Mjolnir variants, or do Anti Covenant Drills.

I was thinking about having Rita do something with a write-in, but it's a tad too foolish and half-cooked, perhaps.

File: anticovenanttraining.png (2.9 MB)

2.9 MB PNG

>>6380630
>Run your team and the Skidbladnir's crew through Anti Covenant Drills and review prior engagements against the aliens
You sink to the level of your training.

>>6380630

>Run your team and the Skidbladnir's crew through Anti Covenant Drills and review prior engagements against the aliens

Our crew need to be prepared for this dangerous mission

>>6380630

>Run your team and the Skidbladnir's crew through Anti Covenant Drills and review prior engagements against the aliens

Might as well bring them up to speed.

>>6380630
>Focus hard on the MJOLNIR Performance report, since every bit of data could lead to a new variant or attachment for the strongest tool in a Spartan's arsenal

>>6380630
>Run your team and the Skidbladnir's crew through Anti Covenant Drills and review prior engagements against the aliens

>>6380630
>Run your team and the Skidbladnir's crew through Anti Covenant Drills and review prior engagements against the aliens
As something Sven does in his free time:
>Work on the Frankenhog M12, and try to get it to at least be semi functional

>>6380700

Backing >>6380776

>>6380630
>Run your team and the Skidbladnir's crew through Anti Covenant Drills and review prior engagements against the aliens

>>6380630
>>Focus hard on the MJOLNIR Performance report, since every bit of data could lead to a new variant or attachment for the strongest tool in a Spartan's arsenal

>>6380682
lol i love that our cat is there

>>6380682
Blurssed. Who do we force into the padded Elite gimp suit? Jorge?

[ Rebooting...Monitor 404TormentedCache, Back online

6 Votes for Focusing of the Progress Report

6 Votes for running anti Covenant Drills/ review past engagements

2 Votes to work on the Frankenhog

we have a tie! But, right before I decided it with a coinflip, I realized that the two votes could be combined, since Sven could focus on the report, while the other Spartans+ the crew run the drills and do their homework, since reasonably there is no reason they couldn't

So Ima do that, seems fair to me. If you think it isn't, feel free to throw bricks at my house

[ Decisions made ]
[ Proceeding... ]

Also! Considering what we know about Project Typhon. What vehicles are you expecting to get from it

>>6380682
The longer I look, the more it makes me laugh.

>>6380872
Try shooing away the Captain's cat, when said Captain can bench press a tank.

>>6380951
Maybe it's Sven. Who has made a career of being the best Spartan at taking a beating.

>>6381059
>So Ima do that, seems fair to me. If you think it isn't, feel free to throw bricks at my house

no its fair and it makes sense to teach this

[ Excerpts taken from Project: MJOLNIR performance report, partially recovered from the personal files of Officer of Naval Intelligence's Chief Scientist, Civilian Consultant 409871, Doctor Catherine Elizabeth Halsey. A report written by Spartan Sven-033 (See, classified Spartan Service file) (See Unclassified Military record, LCDR Askeland), concerning the performance and potential avenues of improvement concerning the Mark IV powered armor system ]

"...Visor materials could use strengthening, sustained smalls arms fire has proven capable of damaging or breaking it, stronger ammunitions could punch through it. HUD still functions even if most of the internal screen of the Visor is rendered inoperable. Perhaps auxiliary armor or a layer of shielding, like a bascinet or sallet style helmet, could provide a stop gap before material sciences catch up"

"...Plasma weaponry tracks. It is as scary as it sounds. Their grenades can fuse to metal, and skin and bone. Nothing we can do to prevent this from happening, as far as I know. Not sure about the physics behind this magnetism, learned a potential method of shaking off, haven't tested it. Maybe a thicker coat of the refractive layering or some sort of magnetic field could provide some protection, but unless we create our own energy shields or similar, Plasma is going to punch through MJOLNIR..."

"...Smaller Silhouette, more compressed frame. Could help with stealth, at the cost of some protection, reduced load might increase speed and reaction time further. Yes, Shika was the one who asked. She also asked if the tracking system in the back of her skull could be removed. I've made a note for Rita to watch her around the surgery tools..."

"...enough space and room in the helmet to include scouting, tracking, or stronger aim/ marksman assistance, I've read the files, looked over the blueprints. Me and other team leaders have noted how our suits and augments improve cohesion/ Command abilities, could be another area that could be advanced through allowing a one way connection between a Team Leader and their team's HUD/ their armors' other sensors..."

"Awkward to fit captured Tengu Shields on our arms, accounting for our muscle mass and the outer layer. I think, a specialized gauntlet to slot in the devices, could be worth the RND and Materials cost, considering how common Kig Yar appear to be in the Covenant Armies..."

"The prototype docs for the "CQC" Variant, look very promising. Can't wait to stress test it, and the EOD variant. Happy to hear the Up armored attachments are entering general production, hope the data of my "In field stress testing" proves useful. And that the data of the new "Mods" you're sending will get them on the line faster..."

"...Heavier pattern of MJOLNIR? I'll be the first to field test it, if it gets through the development phase"

"...Bit on the nose to call the Spartan/Rhodes collab "Colossus", isn't it, Catherine?"
Cont

>>6381089

[ Excerpts taken from private personal datapad of Colonel James Ackerson, Concerning unpermitted observations of the Spartans attached to the UNSC Skidbladnir running experimental combat drills with the conventional crew, including the medical specialists on loan from the Spartan 2 Program ]

"...It is an incredible thing to watch, glad they picked out one of Halsey's lab rats with common sense to get a commission, Askeland doesn't overlook the ordinary men and women serving under his command. Nor does he waste time with red tape. Shame that Halsey got her claws in him, and was kept on as the head of the project. The Spartans are wasted potential, they could accomplish so much more if they weren't so restricted and valuable..."

"...Don't want to meet whatever the kids in green suits are calling "Sasquatch", got a copy of the combat footage from "HOME ALONE". Need more Spartans if their exists a species that can toss one around like a rag doll, without any enhancements. But, I think "Odin One" is on to something, they're animalistic and prone to primal rages, if you can keep a clear head, human intelligence should win out, though I do wonder how he expects an ordinary human to engage in hand to hand combat with one of those monsters..."

"The things he and I could accomplish together, don't know how he kept his hands on one of the alien's energy shield gauntlets, but he burned through three to demonstrate to his crew how much kinetic force they could sustain before shutting off. That shows he realizes that resources are meant to be spent if it'll get results. Might be able to use his skimming of enemy technology as black mail material"

"...Feeling watched, probably just my imagine. Note, drink less coffee"

"...Was unaware Covenant Grunts were that big. Spartan Combat Footage left the impression they were much more diminutive. Need to see about collecting combat data concerning the composition of their methane tanks, figure out the caliber needed to punch through them, if -052 was not exaggerating when he claimed they could rip a human apart with their barehands"

"Phenomenal. The crew under Odin One are showing incredible early results in the training exercises against simulated Covenant Hostiles. They can't keep up with Halsey's Uruk Hai, but their performance goes above and beyond what conventional soldiers and marines have achieved in actual combat. Curious if the results will be the same when they see real combat against the Alien Menace. Find myself transfixed, watching the footage of Odin One using one of the Kig Yar as a living bludgeon..."

"-051 arrived, and joined the exercises, If I can't get Odin One on board with the plan, I might be able to get -051 as a trainer/ squad leader. Between him and -033, I wonder who is the more effective frontline leader"
Cont

>>6381090

"Intel unknown to ONI displayed, keeping it in my pocket. Not sure how the Spartan Runt figured out the vitals of every species, when the data gathered from our enhanced interrogations and autopsies are still highly classified. And, from the reports I've been able to read, she's found at least a dozen lethal points to stab their split jawed Elites..."

"Skidbladnir's crew should be considered for enhanced training, once their posting changes. If they were given ODST level training, they'd be a good alternate for the Spartans until I get my funding and the go ahead to proceed with my project"

"...Need to run a security scan of my devices. All of them had their language switched to Japanese while I was holding a conference over waypoint. Might've been a glitch or bad joke, but can't be too cautious..."

[ Adjusting perspective, Returning to Preferred Candidate, Sven-033

"They'd be able to hold their own in a fight against the Covenant now" Jorge says "knowledge and training, too very different things. Can't win a fight on theory"

"Can't keep up with Spartans either" You say proudly, nodding along as you observe your first in person Anti Covenant Drill "But Man, are they trying their best to"

"Enjoying the show, Captain?" Kurt asks, pausing mid jog as he was running through one of the areas of the station you'd been given to run these "Experimental Combat Exercises"

"Would enjoy it more if the targets were living, breathing aliens, Kurt" You answer, as he casually draws his side arm and puts a few holes in a barrel covered in tarp, meant to stand in for on the Unggoy's breathing tanks "That run was point oh five seconds faster than your last attempt, trying to break your own top score?"

"Need to stay sharp, Sir" He laughs, saluting before running his sixth run through the course he'd been practicing on. The drill was part training and part game to the Spartans, and you'd do a few exercises with them, once you were done with the written report concerning the MJOLNIR systems resistance to intense heat, tapping your finger next to a note you'd written about ablative armor, which was pinned on the screen of your data pad next to the one you'd written about an idea Dimas had told you about a system of an additional layer of sheddable armor that could safely be shorn or blown off without harming the suit's system or its user.

You frowned, noticing only now that Shika had vanished from the training room. But you weren't worried. She was a big girl and could take care of herself. If you had to guess, she'd snuck off with Nesta or Naomi to inspect and gush over the new toys brought over for CROW'S NEST, since she knew she wasn't going to get a chance to drive them. Even if she was kept on for the mission.

Because she can barely drive the conventional vehicles in the UNSC arsenal, on her best days.
Cont

>>6381091

Dr Okar had pulled some strings, gotten you more materials from Typhon than you could've hoped for. You'd expected only to get small combat craft, like the Mudskipper amphibious assault vehicle or Fingerling aquatic recon vehicle. Maybe a Grouper troop carrier if you were lucky. But, Okar had been generous and using the pull he had as project head, got a number of vehicles approved for transfer. Including some you hadn't seen in the storage wing, that must've gotten through RND with Halsey's help.

Bullshark Ocean to Air Strike Fighter.
Anglerfish Deep sea recon craft
Pufferfish Anti Air Artillery Platform
and the Kraken Amphibious Weapons platform. And after double checking that they could all fit in your prowlers vehicle bay, you read their their specs and schematics, to know how best to use them.

There was a loud pop as one of the prop grenades went off

"Cook just simulated a suicide attack on one of the Sasquatch dummies" Jorge told you as your head shot up from the screen in front of you

"That's the spirit!" You shout as you watch one of your two pilots shake off the confetti simulating shrapnel covering his body "Don't think it was a confirmed kill though Cook, died for nothing. Press the grenade under the chin next time, should get better results"

Looking away from the room now filled with laughing soldiers and navy personnel, you frowned as you looked over the most recent Message that had piggy backed its way from Halsey's location to the Station's local network

"Unfortunately, I am only able to arrange the transport of two prototype MJOLNIR suits, in the timeframe between me writing this message and your next deployment. Fortunately, the Argonaut pattern is no longer considered a prototype, and enough of the variant have been made to outfit every spartan in your crew. A number of experimental attachments, can also be sent for fieldtesting. Good luck, Sven. Know you need it more than John does"

You smirk, and look over the available Mjolnir Variant Prototypes, noting that the Argonaut version of MJOLNIR may have its official, production name changed to Mako or Aquatic by time you receive the suits

[ Select two from this list, you can double down on one of them

>EOD

>CQC

>PYRO

>SCOUT

And then through the experimental mods Halsey was so kind to give your team the chance to test and play with out in the field

[ Select three attachments, can double/ triple down]

>Command Network Module

>Tactical enhancements

>Target acquisition system

>Up Armored [ HEAVY ]

>Rebreather/ AQUATIC Operation Kit

>"MARS" (Safe Rumble Drug)

>Improved Wrist Mounted EMP

>Surveillance Drone (Amphibious)

>Experimental Optic Camo, phase 2

>Strengthened Carbon Fiber Blade

>>6381092
>EOD
>CQC

>Command Network Module

>Tactical enhancements

>Rebreather/ AQUATIC Operation Kit

gonna love seeing what armor choices the others make when we can

id love to pick the up armor but something tells me we are going to need the rebreather

>>6381093
+1 Good enough for me.

And yeh we've got marine ships plus argonaut In water world with Cove not prep for it. Goin all in on Sea tactics works.

Maybe if another Prophet is in the Planet we can get a kill or capture. That would be another effective distraction.

Also as expected having friends in Typhon got us the good stuff.

>>6381092
>EOD
>SCOUT

>Command Network Module
>Tactical enhancements
>Rebreather/ AQUATIC Operation Kit

And fuck Ackerson, shit ass just sitting around watching us train and eye molesting Kurt rather than doing anything important with his time. I appreciate Shika fucking with him though, that's great.

>>6381092
lmao, Shika my girl. Truly goated behavior. And we can teach her how to drive later.

>>EOD

>>SCOUT
Probably get the most mileage out of these two at the moment.

>Command Network Module

>Rebreather/ AQUATIC Operation Kit

>Surveillance Drone (Amphibious)

>>6381092
>EOD
>CQC
Beyond their use to us, I think they'd be the most beneficial to the Spartans as a whole once they get out of the prototype phases. Anyways...
>Command Network Module
>Up Armored [ HEAVY ]
>Rebreather/ AQUATIC Operation Kit
I want to be able to launch coordinated strikes from the angle our enemy can't prevent or chase us back down.

>>6381092
Shika fucking with Ackerson lmao

>PYRO
I assume PYRO would have higher defense against plasma weaponry.
>SCOUT

>Command Network Module
>Rebreather/ AQUATIC Operation Kit
>Surveillance Drone (Amphibious)

>>6381092
>EOD
>SCOUT


>Up Armored [ HEAVY ]
>Experimental Optic Camo, phase 2
>Command Network Module

>>6381092
>EOD
>SCOUT

>Command Network Module
>Tactical enhancements
>Rebreather/ AQUATIC Operation Kit

What are the benefits of the Pyro since that seems to be an original armor?

What are the tactical enhancements?

Is there a limit to the number of attachments that can be fitted to MJOLNIR in the future because ideally everything from Command Network to Up Armored [ HEAVY ] would be taken for most missions.

>>6381145
>>6381092
Actually yeah what is PYRO? Can't really find anything on the wikis that matches that name, so I'm curious.

>>6381145
>>6381165

>What is Pyro.
A 404 Original Variant like Argonaut/Aquatic/ Mako

Halsey's attempt to combine MJOLNIR Armor's Refractive coating with the ODST Heat resistant materials, as well as improving on their composition/ ability + Improving Mjolnir's gel layers ability to regulate/ withstand higher temps, at some cost to its ability to withstand the opposite end of the spectrum/ impacts

The armor also comes equipped with internal fire suppressants and accelerants, its internals have been treated to also be able to withstand more heat, And it has additional back attachment point/ mount for a flamethrowers fuel tank

Basically think of it like a Spartan version of ODST Hellbringers/ a bastard child of Mjolnir and ODST BDU

>What are tactical enhancements

A smattering/ variety pack of TAC attachments

>Is there a limit to the number of Attachments

Think of it like armor customization in the games, there is only so much that can fit on the armor/ helmet, but it isn't restricted to 1 mod per piece. So long as it fits/ is compatible, it can go on the suit

>>6381092
>CQC
>EOD

>Rebreather/ AQUATIC Operation Kit
>Command Network Module
>Tactical enhancements

>>6381092
>EOD
>SCOUT
>Command Network Module
>Rebreather/ AQUATIC Operation Kit
>Surveillance Drone (Amphibious)

>>6381092


>EOD

>CQC

>Command Network Module
>Rebreather/ AQUATIC Operation Kit
>Surveillance Drone (Amphibious)

>>6381092
>CQC
>PYRO
The heat resistance should help with covie plasma.


>Command Network Module
>Tactical enhancements
>Rebreather/ AQUATIC Operation Kit

>>6381089
>heavier pattern of MJOLNIR
This thing will have a lot of weight, but we, Jorge and a few of the other big boys will be the only ones that can use it.
>"Colossus"
True mom must be happy of this collab if she is this hopeful already (─ ‿ ─). Lets keep it a big surprise for Soren.

>>6381091
>switched to Japanese
Shika is funny

>>6381092
>Okar has given us access to more TYPHON vehicles
It's good to save lives and make friends. Best policy. I don't even know if we can even fit half of these vehicles in the Skidbladnir but we can give it a try. Its certainly great to have access to them possibly even in the future.

Now on variants and armor mods. Lots of stuff here, Section 3 put the work. Difficult choices to make.
>PYRO
Nesta. This might have well been her birthday gift from Mom Halsey. Nesta is already heavily dangerous on her own with fire, this variant enhances it. Brutes have a lot of hair too.
>SCOUT
Jai should use it. With Shika and Daisy away, he is the best stealth specialist on the squad for this mission.

>Command Network Module
Something I have wanted for a while. Major use out of this is to give orders around, and keep more in touch with all our forces and allies.
>Up Armored [ HEAVY ]
I have trouble choosing this, the tactical or the drone. The MARS drug and the carbon blade also speak to me. Could have a great use out of those with Sven going in melee plenty of times, or going Spartan time. The new camo uff, infiltrator and boogeyman can get a use out of that armor mod. Still if there is a Brute Chieftain and some Hunters, i don't expect them to be outside, but inside the ruins nagging and bitching to his superior in charge of Alpha Corvi. Some additional armor plating will be of use in fighting stuff like that.
>Rebreather/ AQUATIC Operation Kit
I want to go out and in from TYPHON vehicles with ease even under water. Besides, Alpha Corvi II has a lot of water in general.

>>6381170
404, did TYPHON think of aquatic combat kits mods even for standard humans war gear ? They already did a lot of work despite the hasty relocation and previous fund cuts, so this might be something they did not work upon yet i imagine.

>>6381318
Isn’t the reason Anton was picked is because he’s one of the best scouts among the Spartans?

>>6381318
>Shika is funny
hopefully Shikia will tell us what she read

[ Rebooting...Monitor 404TormentedCache, back online ]

10 Votes for requisitioning a suit of MJOLNIR/ EOD

6 Votes for Requestioning a suit of MJOLNIR/ CQC

7 Votes for requestioning a suit of MJOLNIR/ SCOUT

3 Votes for requestioning a suit of MJOLNIR/ PYRO
_____

13 Votes for CNM

6 Votes for TAC

12 Votes for Rebreather

3 Votes for UA/HEAVY

4 Votes for Drones

1 Vote for Optic Camo

So a suit of MJOLNIR/ EOD and MJOLNIR/SCOUT will be sent overalong with the ARGONAUT/ OCEANIC / MAKO MJOLNIR Variant Suits, as well as a MJOLNIR Command Network Module, Tactical enhancements/ attachments and rebreathers/ Aquatic operation kits

gotcha

[ Decision made ]
[ Proceeding.... ]

>>6381335
That's fair. Yeah Anton could be a better choice. I only remembered Jai past achievements.

>>6381376
She will definetly. Not sure if she can do it now since missions are Imminent

The EOD and Scout Variant Prototypes, would probably be the most useful for an operation behind enemy lines. You'll need to decide which of your team gets the honor of being the first Spartan to give them a test run, but you already have a list of candidates in mind for each of the suits. Anton or Jai for Scout, EOD would either be yourself or James, if you only took into consideration who on the squad would have the best affinity with each branch of the Mark IV. But that wasn't the only variable to weigh. Didn't need to decide who got to wear what suit until they arrived and your squad got ready to mobilize and head behind enemy lines.

And just like last time you were sent to Alpha Corvi II, you were told to field test some experimental prototypes. This time was different, because you weren't informed you were playing guinea pig until right before the op began, and you got pick and choose which prototypes your team would receive for field testing. Which was much more comfortable than being told you had get data for untested optic camouflage and strap an EMP to the arm of your power armor that turned the first poor fuck to wear it into swiss cheese. Sure, you figured out how to weaponize the later, and it all worked out in the end but you don't enjoy being treated like a crash test dummy or for your Spartans to be strapped with gear that isn't proven to work yet. Just pisses you off.

But, this time. This time you could plan around the experimental war gear and pick and choose the ones that'd be useful for the mission and could work your strategy around and include them instead of getting ordered to do so with Section 3's Wonder Weapons.

A Command Network Module. Assuming the Covenant didn't knock out the Local Battlenet, and even if they did the Skidbladnir could deploy a smaller, more secure tactical channel, either way it'd let you expand your squads effective area of operations and keep in touch with them even if you get scattered and separated. It was an easy pick for that, and its ability to allow you to maintain tighter cohesion, stay in contact with Rita and the Skidbladnir, and overall just improve your ability to command and employ strategic maneuvers in an extremely hostile territory.

Halsey was also nice, and include a list of "tactical enhancements" as a single care package. It include everything from armored and hardened Tacpads & UGPS devices that were integrated into the gauntlets of the MJOLNIR suits, to combat harnesses and rigs that improved on the standard issue tactical pouches and hardened cases, external targeting assistance, enhanced sensor suites, the cutting edge of camouflage materials and additional holsters, sheathes and ammunition storage all adapted and fitted into the MJOLNIR System. On their own, they were nothing fancy or game changing, but all together? They could be the difference between a failed operation and a successful one. Only an idiot would forget the small details like these.
Cont

>>6381512

The MJOLNIR Sapper Rig, Trauma Kit and the "Starlight Project" were of particular interest. Demolitions on demand, additional med supplies and a live feed directly from the helmets of Any Spartans who wore it directly to your HUD.

And the last pick for the additional equipment slash armor attachments your squad would field test would have to be the Mjolnir system rebreathers and Aquatic Operations package. Most of what they did, the currently between names Variant of Mjolnir already accomplished on its own. But not every Spartan would be going into field in that model and if they got damaged, they might be forced to switch back to the basic Mark IV. You were planning on heavily relying on Alpha Corvi II's seas and oceans to disguise your activities and to serve as a readily available fall back point. The Oceanic variant of MJOLNIR or Mako...whatever the white coats were going to call it, might've had bigger oxygen tanks, a redundant buoyancy system and air jets for under maneuverability; but when fighting on the sea in armor that weighed half a ton, it was best to er on the side of caution to avoid losing a Spartan to something as avoidable and mundane as drowning.

And, if you read the specs right, the rebreathers would also protect against gas attacks and air born or chemical poisons. If nothing else, slotting one onto the prototype Mark IV/ EOD Helmet would make it safer for whoever wore it carry out demolitions work.

And the techs, grease monkeys and RND groups would love to see the data long term use of them this operation would provide. Though they'd have probably have also been drooling to see what a Spartan hopped up on the Einherjar's favorite cocktail of go juice and combat stims could due to an alien before they dropped dead. And you're sure whoever came up with humanity's attempt to ape the Covenants Active Camo, was on their hands and knees begging whoever would listen to saddle a Spartan with the faulty system so they could work out the kinks, even if it it'd come back to bite whoever drew the short stick and had to use it in combat in the ass.

>Discuss with Kurt and Jai who should be given the EOD and Scout Suits, so whoever is chosen can get accustomed to the new suit. And run a few tests with the A/O/M Mjolnir armors, for the same purpose.

>Review the available intel for what happened on Alpha Corvi II after it was abandoned to try and get an idea of what you're dropping into.

>Select the members of your crew with the best results in the Anti Covenant Simulations and create a "Helot" squad out of them, to get a bit extra fire power in the field for Crow's Nest

>Trust Naomi with a fork of Vali for Operation: BRUSHFIRE

>Write in option

>>6381318
Hmm. I think that the Aquatic Operation kit would include mods for standard issue firearms as well, but it'd be a recent pivot that Okar and the Scientists under him did under Halsey's supervision. So yes?

>>6381513

>Trust Naomi with a fork of Vali for Operation: BRUSHFIRE

This is a great help to ensuring they do great and should be quick.

>Select the members of your crew with the best results in the Anti Covenant Simulations and create a "Helot" squad out of them, to get a bit extra fire power in the field for Crow's Nest
Let's take advantage of training and the fact our crew gets better after each fight with covy.

>Delegate to Kurt and Jai who should be given the EOD and Scout Suits, so whoever is chosen can get accustomed to the new suit. And run a few tests with the A/O/M Mjolnir armors, for the same purpose.

I think we can trust our squad leaders to handle this without Sven input so do that. While we create the helot squad.

>>6381513
>Review the available intel for what happened on Alpha Corvi II after it was abandoned to try and get an idea of what you're dropping into.

>Select the members of your crew with the best results in the Anti Covenant Simulations and create a "Helot" squad out of them, to get a bit extra fire power in the field for Crow's Nest
Our pezhetairoi.

>Trust Naomi with a fork of Vali for Operation: BRUSHFIRE
I'm sure she'll put him to good use.

>>6381513
>Review the available intel for what happened on Alpha Corvi II after it was abandoned to try and get an idea of what you're dropping into.
>Trust Naomi with a fork of Vali for Operation: BRUSHFIRE

>>6381513
>Discuss with Kurt and Jai who should be given the EOD and Scout Suits, so whoever is chosen can get accustomed to the new suit. And run a few tests with the A/O/M Mjolnir armors, for the same purpose.

>Trust Naomi with a fork of Vali for Operation: BRUSHFIRE

>>6381513

>Delegate to Kurt and Jai who should be given the EOD and Scout Suits, so whoever is chosen can get accustomed to the new suit. And run a few tests with the A/O/M Mjolnir armors, for the same purpose.

>Trust Naomi with a fork of Vali for Operation: BRUSHFIRE.

>Select the members of your crew with the best results in the Anti Covenant Simulations and create a "Helot" squad out of them, to get a bit extra fire power in the field for Crow's Nest.

>>6381513
>Delegate to Kurt and Jai who should be given the EOD and Scout Suits, so whoever is chosen can get accustomed to the new suit. And run a few tests with the A/O/M Mjolnir armors, for the same purpose.
>Trust Naomi with a fork of Vali for Operation: BRUSHFIRE.
>Review the available intel for what happened on Alpha Corvi II after it was abandoned to try and get an idea of what you're dropping into.

I don’t see a reason why these 3 can’t all happen if the decision of who gets the prototypes is being delegated.

Should be easier to make plans for the operation if Sven gets to review the intel on Alpha Corvi II.

Also why is the crew being voted to go ground side unless it’s specifically to operate the Typhon vehicles? There’s the first paragraph after the vehicles or troops going over benefits and negatives of having more troops.>>6380257
>>6380256
Here’s that exact post.

>>6381621
Ah, I should explain.

The "select the best of the crew to support the Spartans" choice would result in far less additional troops than the "Request a compliment of soldiers" would've given you (Since only so many can be spared from the ship's operation and the crew of a razor class numbers a bit over twenty (The Skidbladnir has a few more, due to the Spartan Program medical staff, and Ostrum + Chen, Soren..etc), while the complement you would've received would've been roughly platoon sized (so 40 dudes) as Razor class can quite comfortably fit 40 ODST)

So it wouldn't be a drastic game changer either way, for this mission at least.

>>6381513
>>Discuss with Kurt and Jai who should be given the EOD and Scout Suits, so whoever is chosen can get accustomed to the new suit. And run a few tests with the A/O/M Mjolnir armors, for the same purpose.

>Review the available intel for what happened on Alpha Corvi II after it was abandoned to try and get an idea of what you're dropping into.

>Trust Naomi with a fork of Vali for Operation: BRUSHFIRE

>>6381513
>Delegate to Kurt and Jai who should be given the EOD and Scout Suits, so whoever is chosen can get accustomed to the new suit. And run a few tests with the A/O/M Mjolnir armors, for the same purpose.
Very good.

>Select the members of your crew with the best results in the Anti Covenant Simulations and create a "Helot" squad out of them, to get a bit extra fire power in the field for Crow's Nest
An Helot Squad. A testbed for Sven to see what can be made with his combat experience (fighting Innies, Einherjar and Covenant). I think this will satisfy the previous threads discussion about potentially putting to use our combat experience for create a different kind of trained soldier. We had some interest in this since in the past i expressed the thought about copying and adapting Einherjar units (alongside some of their qualities), for create new UNSC units. But other good ideas where also thrown around back then. This Helot Squad could go somewhere in ... one of those directions we talked about guys. If its successful maybe we could even attempt making Helots squads a standard for Spartans teams. A bit far ahead, we need to decide what they are and how they fight first. This will need refining and combat experience.

>Trust Naomi with a fork of Vali for Operation: BRUSHFIRE
Vali might need more experience, and Naomi should be able to keep the fork safe after use. Vali should be of great help for destroy the digital colonial network of Ambition, and the brute warband that will be sent there.... well i sincerely doubt they are specialized in digital warfare. Maybe Vali update can wait a bit, even if the digital combat data against the Einherjar AI on New Noregr and its control and take over of the Rhodes Draugrs was very much excellent. A very promising update ahead for our little monster.


I don't think we can rely on the old Alpha Corvi intelmuch. Once we are in the star system, we can see with our prowler what the Covenant did (construction, digging, mourning). Then Soren can do a review of the info and give us a threats evaluation and corrections for the plans we make.

I had also a thought and i would like to hear everyone opinion on this. Could it be a good idea to suggest to Rita and Shika to work on a medical initiative ? I was thinking it could be something either beneficial in healing (say looking in to other solutions for plasma burns) or beneficial against Covenant (designed effective alien race specific sedatives, or poisons for example). Shika has already demonstrated interest toward alien biology while also being a great medic, so i consider this more a nudge toward one path or the other. And with Rita being an AI specialized in medicine and healing they can synergize well i feel.

>>6381715

If by "medical" you mean "staggeringly virulent and exceedingly ugly genetically engineered hemorrhagic fever targeted at Elites, Brutes and Prophets" then I agree.

>>6381750
That can also fall in the category of medical. I didn't think of it. It would fit.

Though whatever we suggest, this remains a choice up to Shika and Rita if they want do it. It would probably end up has dangerous research, we could need to have a more enclosed medical wing of the Skidbladnir. Still i think we could try to give them the idea. We desperatly need more weapons for this war. Vali is one we made for example. Another Spartan made weapon could be devastating.

i made a thing, hope the info is correct ;^)
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1jR1N--hxRrd9QZ0l6UmrcOkFfKNrXvHGRvVemdNE3y4

>>6381940

Top notch, anon.

>>6381940
Hell yeah, that's nice. Giving me some ideas on how to improve the spreadsheet too.

Too tired after running cyberpunk to do an update today, but

>>6381940
This is really, really fucking awesome & rad as hell. Can tell you put a lot of work into it, looks damn near official with all the little details. And seeing the pic you used for Narfi got a chuckle out of me

You seriously went above and beyond making this. Made my day, honestly

File: BAsed Department 2.jpg (23.6 KB)

23.6 KB JPG

>>6381940
You sir, are Based!

>>6381940
Extremely kino, very well done

[ Reboooting...Monitor 404TormentedCache, Back online ]

Sorry to make you all wait, decided to catch up on my reading and stayed up really late, so I only woke up a bit ago.

8 Votes to hand a fork of Vali to Naomi

4 Votes to form a small "Helot" Squad

6 Votes to discuss with Kurt and Jai who should receive the EOD and scout suits
L
+ 4 votes to delegate the decision to them instead

4 Votes to review available intel

So Sven is going to trust Naomi with a copy of Vali, delegate the choice of who gets the prototype MJOLNIR suits to Kurt and Jai, and run a few training drills with those armors and the more readily available Argonaut/ Oceanic/ Mako models so the Spartans can get used to the differences of them.

And with what time is left will be split between reviewing what intel is available for the Covie held Alpha Corvi II and establishing the framework for a "Helot" squad

[ Decisions made ]
[ Proceeding... ]

"I'll leave the final call to you two, who gets to wear the prototypes" You tell Kurt and Jai during the middle of a sparring match, having wanted to see how both of them had improved since the last time the three of you met in the ring, they were struggling to keep up with the pace you were setting even while it was two vs one, but it wasn't a completely one sided match. You'd gotten your fair share of bruises & bumps and lost a few rounds outright. They were making you work for every match win. And you expected nothing less than that.

Kurt nodded, wiping sweat from his brow as Jai wrapped boxing tape around his knuckles

"Otherwise we'd end up drawing straws" You half joke as you do a few pre fight warm ups and stretches "Though I think we all know who'd they'd be best with"

"EOD would be best if it was in your hands, James', or Jorges'" Kurt says, glancing over his shoulder to Jai "And Scout, Jai, Anton, Maybe Cal?"

"Nesta could use either of them as well, not as efficiently as the other choices, but she'd be in the running" Jai adds as he finishes wrapping his knuckles "Though, honestly I doubt we'll need to debate or put our heads together for long to decide who gets stuck test running the new gear. Might not even need a break or another round to figure it out, if Kurt is on the same wavelength as I am"

"Who knows, you do tend to prefer the lone, well, three lone wolves act" Kurt says "But I don't think there will be much of an argument"

"The choice is kind of obvious, but a good officer knows how to delegate tasks effectively" You admit, knowing that the two of them were trying to get you to lower your guard. Neither of them wanted to play fair, and knew that playing fair and honorably in a bare knuckle brawl with big brother Sven, usually ended up with a trip to the infirmary and a few days of aching after.

"You read that off of Mendez's boot when you shined it?" Jai teased, dropping into a low, traditional boxing stance while Kurt kept smiling, but you could tell by his stance and posture he was waiting to spring a flying knee directly to your throat. Both of them were incredibly dangerous

"It is a good rule to follow" Kurt says and his eyes flick over to Jai "Think I figured out the best picks, how bout you?"

"Same", the tension in the air could be sawed through with a knife, you dropped your shoulders and shifted your legs, seperating them into a wide stance as you waited to see which of them would strike first. They both made their move as they, casual as could be, announce their decision. And it seems that despite their difference in personality and leadership styles, Kurt and Jai had somehow gotten on the same wave Length

"James for EOD. Anton on Scout" They said, only with a momentary delay between their answers, and the brief shock of answering word for word as the other, gave you your open. You caught Kurts leg by the ankle and twisted, spinning him around mid leap and then dropped down and swept out Jai's legs.
Cont

>>6382452

That just delayed them for a moment, and they flanked around you, forcing you back on the defensive before you could take advantage of the opening you made by putting both of them on the ground and on their asses. Just like the earlier matches, they weren't going easy on you. But to be fair, you were doing the opposite of going easy on them and giving a hundred and ten percent even if it was a friendly sparring match.

There was nothing more to be said about which Spartans got which suits, since there was nothing to argue against. James and Anton really were the best picks and discussing why they were, when all three of you knew, would just be wasting your breath and time. Once you'd finished sparring, having exhausted eachother and worked up a good sweat and burn, you hit the showers for a quick rinse. Before tracking down Naomi. She was reading up and researching everything she could about the Colony of ambition.

"Heard you gave Kurt a black eye" She said, sensing your approach from behind "And loosened a few of Jai's teeth"

"They gave as good as they got, see you're doing your homework, Naomi" You tell her as you sit on the bunk across from her

"Best to be prepared, even if it isn't a dangerous mission on paper. I like to know as much as I can about where I'm being sent" She replies, eyes focused on the datapad in front of her, a silver blue light casting deep shadows across her face

"You're just curious, like always" You say "Not concerned about..."

"That our objectives are civilian targets and infostructure? Not at all" She answered with a shrug "are you worried I would be? Or that Daisy or Shika would ? Or..."

"That Oscar would try to do another runner mid mission? No. I trust all of you to do the job you're given, even if its dirty" You explain and you see a faint smile "But, I thought I'd give you something to make a dirty job easier"

"The highly volatile, dangerous hybrid AI you and Dimas bashed together? That doesn't officially exist, and that you've brought on more than one mission despite not getting permission from higher up?" She asked, amused, only then lifting her eyes from the screen

"A copy of him, at least. He's useful as he is destructive. And I know you won't misuse him" You explain as you toss her the chip containing the fork of Vali

"I'm not the one you should be worried about, this program is a psychopathic as a dumb AI can be, if it gets out into the planetary waypoint system....Well, you made the little bastard, you know what will happen" She lays out as she turns the chip around in her hand

"And I know you won't use Vali if you think there's a risk of him breaking his leash. So I'm not worried he'll cause too much collateral damage" You, knowing Vali as well as she thinks you do, brush aside "Just don't deploy him carelessly"
Cont

>>6382453

"And he won't send the Colony we're shutting the lights off of back to the literal stone age" Naomi smirked "I understand, Sir. Just reminding you to be careful with your own devil in a box"

"Appreciate the concern, Naomi" You say "I'll leave you to your studying, got some of my own to catch up on"

"Or are you going ahead with that "Helot" plan of yours?" She asks and you chuckle

"You know I'm know you and Shika spy on me"

"You'd be disappointed if we didn't pry, wouldn't you, Sven?" She shoots back "Because, I've got a few ideas and I'm sure the others would as well"

"Always enjoying bouncing ideas off of you, if you have enough time to share your thoughts" You tell her

"Do you have the time? if you're going to do your own "Homework", you might end up with a failing grade" She monotonously answers "Unless you refine the intel you're reading up on"

"You've certainly have a lot of ideas today, Naomi, not that I don't appreciate the advice but I thought Soren was supposed to be my tactical advisor" You tease her and she shakes her head

"Just wanting to help, Sven. Wanna play ball or not? Going to need to pack up and ship out soon"

>Take Naomi up on her offer and hear what she and the other Spartans think of your idea to select and train a "Helot" squad

>Hear what areas Naomi thinks you should focus on in with the scarce intel from the Covie held Alpha Corvi II

>Decide to put off the Helot idea for now, and use what you learn from Crow's Nest to refine it in the future

>Review the intel, to search for the best place to land your squad when Crow's nest starts and the best place to establish a forward operating base on the conquered world

>Write in option

>>6382454
>Take Naomi up on her offer and hear what she and the other Spartans think of your idea to select and train a "Helot" squad
Alright Spartans, what's on your minds?

>>6382454
>Take Naomi up on her offer and hear what she and the other Spartans think of your idea to select and train a "Helot" squad

>>6382454
>Take Naomi up on her offer and hear what she and the other Spartans think of your idea to select and train a "Helot" squad

>>6382454
>Take Naomi up on her offer and hear what she and the other Spartans think of your idea to select and train a "Helot" squad

>>6382454
>>Take Naomi up on her offer and hear what she and the other Spartans think of your idea to select and train a "Helot" squad

ah yes how Sven as always worked letting the skills of other that outshine him work for him

>>6382454
>Take Naomi up on her offer and hear what she and the other Spartans think of your idea to select and train a "Helot" squad
Might as well

>>6382454

>Take Naomi up on her offer and hear what she and the other Spartans think of your idea to select and train a "Helot" squad.

>>6382454
>Take Naomi up on her offer and hear what she and the other Spartans think of your idea to select and train a "Helot" squad
tell Naomi

[ Rebooting...Monitor 404TormentedCache, Back online ]

8 votes to get feed back on the "Helot" squad idea from your fellow Spartans

Complete agreement to go around asking for critique. Should be getting to Crow's Nest soon.

>>6382768
[Decision made ]
[ Proceeding...]

"Lay it out for me" You tell her, and she sets down her datapad.

"Obviously, any attached force would need to take a support role" Naomi says, steepling her hands as she leans forward, you nod along. That was pretty much a given, considering the gap in abilities between Spartans and Conventional soldiers, even before the augments and fancy suits.

"Of course, We move too quick and with too much precision for them to be an effective force multiplier, even discounting the other, obvious reasons that wouldn't work" You lean back and wait a moment to see if she has anything else to say before continuing "Though, they would still be expected to fight if they join us in the field, at least enough to defend themselves"

"You were eyeing the highest scorers on your anti covenant drills, that to me, makes it seem like you want to specialize this theoretical unit in anti alien tactics, Sven" Naomi says, lifting up her shoulders and correcting her posture as she bends and unbends her fingers as she thinks "Could be a test bed for your more...experimental tactics"

"Very well could be, but against any enemy like the Covies, we'll need more ground support than we would the Innies" you tell her "And I know you've got a few ideas"

"You're giving me Shika, you'll want a few medics, one plus a few spares" She says "And knowing you, you didn't just bring those doctors from the program on board to help with our hiccups"

That got a chuckle out of you.

"You'd be correct. Though hadn't thought about getting them to train some of the crew in treating Spartan injuries yet" You admit and she nods

"Setting bones set with carbide ceramic isn't something an ordinary field surgeon would know how to do" She says as you shudder involuntarily as you remember how close Nesta came to needing her bones recoated after that run in with one of the Einherjar's knock off Rhodes, "Wouldn't hurt to have someone who knows how to patch together our armor"

She saw you were about to open your mouth and added "Properly, not with spit, duct tape and however you keep your suits running after tanking an Anti Armor Round directly to the chest"

"Point taken" You tell her "There's a lot they could be taught to do, but first I'd need to get them combat ready, ready for the Covenant"

"Of course, that's just common sense. Don't need them panicking because they saw what one of those Plasma grenades does to a human body" Naomi agrees, pulling her hands away from them "but, if I was building this unit, I'd put them in medical or technical roles, free up our hands so we can focus on fighting when in the field"

"Some Survival training would be good then. Our level of it, I mean" You think outload and Naomiu nods "Glad I asked, probably should ask the others for their thoughts as well"

"You should, Sir" She says, reaching back for her Datapad "if I had more time, I'd go into details, but I could write up a quick synopsis, before I head off"
Cont

>>6382787

"I'd appreciate it Naomi" you say as you get off the bunk and walk out of the room, and decide to touch base with your Dragons before anyone else

"And that catches you up" You tell Jorge, James, Nesta, Daisy and Shika, the last of whom was wearing her armor sans her helmet
"Any thoughts"

"Suicide bombers" Nesta answers without hesitation, and dodges a slap Daisy aims at the back of her head "What? Haven't seen the aliens use that trick yet, and the Einherjar proved its still at least a little viable"

"Besides advising you to ignore that sociopathic suggestion, if we're talking about how to make them useful outside of having a few extra guns on our side in a field op" Daisy says as Nesta sticks her tongue out at her "I'd agree with Naomi, give them support roles, establishing camp, patrolling, treat them like specialized but conventional soldiers"

"I think giving them a grenade and a pat on the back is more merciful than having them do all the grunt work"

"We might be strong, but even we have our weight limits" Jorge suggests "if they're in the field with us, they'd need to carry their weight, literally. If we consider the upcoming mission, that'd be ammo and munition cases"

"Could be sappers, they wouldn't be as sneaky as we are but demolitions only needs stealth to get to the target" James throws his hat into the ring "If they're a small unit, they could run diversions"

"Doppelgangers" Shika interrupts James train of thought, every eye in the room turns to her as she stares at her reflection in the armor "We don't exactly leave much of a trace. Details about us would be vague. Dress them up in fake MJOLNIR..."

"That might be worse than Nesta's suggestion" Daisy bluntly tells her, Shika just shrugs as Nesta rubs her chin in thought

"Those plasma grenades of theirs would be perfect for a suicide bombing" She mutters to herself "Wonder why they haven't done it, they seem the type"

"Religious Fanatics?" Jorge ask

"No, facking idiots"

And those are the suggestions you get from the rest of Purple team

"Expect nothing else from Nesta" Illya says, after you finished explaining "But if you didn't waste time and manpower on training"

"We..Sven isn't seriously considering that one, I hope" Kurt cuts her off "If we could get them better gear, a well trained squad could be a decent supplementary unit. Wouldn't want to waste any specialized training they got, but they would be more...expendable, just not to that degree"

"Could use them as a cover" Malcom suggests "Unless things have changed behind the scenes, I'm pretty sure we're still highly classified and not supposed to officially exist, and that we're not supposed to interact with the rest of the Military, officially. They could"

"Sven doesn't give a shit" Illya, crassly, speaks up before Cal, who was doing pushups when you'd entered the training room and had only just finished her set
Cont

>>6382788

"Snipers. Won't be as good as any of us, but if they're given a few marksman ship courses, they can pick off one or two enemy combatants during an engagement" She suggests "And it would, like Shika's idea, obscure our exact numbers and position"

"Thinking like a sniper, as always, Cal" You compliment, and she salutes, before she occupies herself mixing a protein drink before continue her exercises "Thanks for your time, guys, I'll take your suggestions into consideration"

"Honestly" Jai says, after you finished repeating every point everyone else on the Skidbladnir had raised "Don't see a reason we shouldn't use Suicide Bombers, if we can. Besides wasting your time and the UNSC's manpower that is, Sven"

"I think its a stupid idea, Sir" Adriana, bluntly, tells you as she maintains one of the many pistols on the ship "You try too hard to think out of the box sometime. They'd be dead wait, even if they are trained into Covenant killers. Leave it up to Command to make their own, less special force"

"Appreciate the honesty, Adriana" You say

"Can't disagree, we wouldn't use them. We don't like additional complications" Jai adds "You're free to try, but we probably won't use these "Helots" even if it does work out"

"If they're home base support, I wouldn't mind a few assistants, don't have enough hands to hold all my tools" Michael speaks up, as he was examining one of the pieces of tech that Vali had burned out during Danelaw, fiddling and pulling at its wires for reasons you could only guess at "But beyond that, I stand with the Gray Team party line, it'd be a waste of time and energy"

"Don't exactly need support, we're spartans, that's the end of it" Adriana agreed, nodding along

"Well, I do think Shika and Cal had the best idea overall" Jai says with a shrug "But, that would only work for so long. Innies tells ghost stories about us already, an unless they mistake the fakes for Shika, a hundred percent of the time, the height difference would be a dead giveaway"

"You all bring up good points, I have a lot to think about" You tell them, and not just about the "Helot" unit idea, but also the mission. The only orders you had were to disrupt Covenant Activities on Alpha Corvi II. Which gave you a lot of wiggle room and leeway to decide on what that meant and the overall goals of the mission. And what secondary objectives that could be fit into the scope of Operation: Crow's Nest....

>Decide to prioritize destabilizing the enemy's local chain of command.

>Focus the goals on sabotage and making the Covenants occupation hell

>Make Crow's Nest an opportunity to gather intel and see how the Covenant operated outside of combat

>Intel doesn't confirm the colony's population has been entirely killed off. If any of them are alive down there, getting them out of there is a priority

>Write in option

>>6382790
>Make Crow's Nest an opportunity to gather intel and see how the Covenant operated outside of combat

File: Reach-Concept-Nightfall-LZ.jpg (943.6 KB)

943.6 KB JPG

>>6382790
>Make Crow's Nest an opportunity to gather intel and see how the Covenant operated outside of combat
I want to go for an evac operation, but I'm just not sure we have the resources to pull something like that off. Better that we prioritize a goal that's not only feasible, but would do the most good for the war effort.

>>6382790
>Make Crow's Nest an opportunity to gather intel and see how the Covenant operated outside of combat
Lacking information on how the Covenant operates, in practically any capacity, was a critical failure on the UNSC's part originally. They just couldn't jump that hurdle for most of the war.

>>6382790
>Make Crow's Nest an opportunity to gather intel and see how the Covenant operated outside of combat
Or
>Make Crow's Nest an opportunity to gather intel and see what the Covenant are still doing on this planet

Probably a better idea to figure out what’s going on before causing chaos.

>>6382790

>Decide to prioritize destabilizing the enemy's local chain of command.

This flows nicely into sabotage.

>Intel doesn't confirm the colony's population has been entirely killed off.

Minimum, we should try and ascertain if there's local resistance still. If there are survivors who are non-combatants, we should try and get them out, but I feel it's slightly more secondary to giving the Covenant the full Xcom treatment.

>>6382790
>>Decide to prioritize destabilizing the enemy's local chain of command.
Helps with the distraction.


>Intel doesn't confirm the colony's population has been entirely killed off. If any of them are alive down there, getting them out of there is a priority

Its the right thing to do.

>>6382790
>Decide to prioritize destabilizing the enemy's local chain of command.

>Intel doesn't confirm the colony's population has been entirely killed off. If any of them are alive down there, getting them out of there is a priority

>>6382790
>Decide to prioritize destabilizing the enemy's local chain of command.

>Intel doesn't confirm the colony's population has been entirely killed off. If any of them are alive down there, getting them out of there is a priority

>>6382790
>"Sven doesn't give a shit".
Very correct Illya! We will make the Helots regardless of what HC says. If we give them results, they will approve.

Well thats a lot of useful suggestions for the Helots idea. Mixed opinions : some like them, some not so much, some want them to be more specialized types. And of course lets not forget that Ackerson was very very interested in them.

Not too bad honestly. We can think on this opinions. For now though our first Helot squad is to be battle tested.

>>6382790
>Decide to prioritize destabilizing the enemy's local chain of command.

We can consider religious figures part of said command, even if they are not military, they direct the digging operation here and give general orders to he military.

If we have the opportunity we will capture and loot what we can from this leadership figures. Afterall leaders are often the ones which have the largest amount of intel and knowledge, be in their brains or material/digital possessions. And once that is done we can leave behind some explosives for good measure. In addition if that... worm monument/tomb exists it would be good to blow it up. Would impact Covenant morale and unity a bit.

>Intel doesn't confirm the colony's population has been entirely killed off.

The chances that any of them are alive with the presence of an active alien workforce, a full garrison and brutes shocktroopers packs are very slim. But standard humans has seen already in this quest (and in halo has a whole), can manage to stay alive and even get some payback.

The most likely location for any human alive is the wilderness. Allows them to move, can attempt to mask their presence by all senses, gives them natural cover if combat emerges. Unless they have been imprisoned by the Covenant, and are kept alive. Regardless there is the possibility they have learn a few things about the Covenant, and toughen up against them. Which makes saving them not just right, but helpful to humanity.

For humans its either :
- civilians (fishermens and their families using certain rocky coasts/reefs and the like with small boats, while armed with simple colonial guns. High chance of being alive if they know nature paths. Neither would be sedentary or too nomadic in regard to using safe places. They avoid combat if possible, just trying to stay alive)
- innie militia survivors (Black Reef separatists, if they are alive they would have kept fighting like hell probably in guerilla actions. Despite being just an innie militia, they didn't want to give up their home. Expect very few, likely they must be moving a lot, if they are doing guerilla war)
- CMA/UNSC/Colonial Police remnants (least likely to be alive, either they evac or died fighting. If they are alive, they are the most badly mauled. With all bases and settlements lost where the few of them would even go ? My bet is holed up somewhere safe, planning on what to do)

>>6382928
>If we give them results, they will approve.
They'd have to given the nature of the Spartans as a unit. They NEED support to work the miracles Command is gonna want from them, so it's better that we lay the groundwork for that NOW with small-scale initiatives like the Helots.
Anyways, I'm of the opinion that we should consider this a test run before the Spartans are (mostly) declassified and the lessons learned from our Helots are spread across the UNSC as a whole. Much as we might try, we're not gonna get things 100% right on the first try, so better that we try hard and fail hard so everybody else can hit the ground running.

File: halo-2-classic-brute-design-is-superior-v0-izgohg1ud0y51.jpg (348.3 KB)

348.3 KB JPG

>>6382941
>small-scale initiatives like the Helots.
Indeed. They are in our hands, so we can refine them how we want it and are under us in the Skidbladnir. It limit us from a certain point but its not too bad.

>test run
I agree. A test run for work out any possible problem and see what we did well. Something that we can keep improving and correct. For now early results of Sven training and anti-covenant lessons on the Helots are promising.

I think Kurt/Ackerson hit the right spot, better gear and advance training would make them quite fearsome.

>>6382944
>I think Kurt/Ackerson hit the right spot, better gear and advance training would make them quite fearsome.
Oh they'd absolutely be fearsome, but would they be effective enough to justify further resources that could be spent on ODSTs or Spartans? There exists a distinction between your run-of-the-mill enlisted personnel and special forces units (and in this case super soldier units) for a reason. I'm not opposed to putting our people through further training and getting them better gear, but I don't think we should endeavor for that with the expectation that they're going to turn into baby Spartans or something to that effect.
Ideally, they would be more than capable of actively participating in Spartan Operations and subsequent engagements, but I have to agree with Naomi in that they're better off in support roles, provided they had the right training and a proper logistics pipeline established. Spartans are expected to do the impossible, and that means getting hurt and damaging equipment. If we want to stay at peak operational efficiency, we're gonna need people who know how to treat injured Spartans and maintain Spartan equipment. I think we'd get more out of that than having a few extra guns on our side in most circumstances.

>>6382979
The thing is you can 100 percent train people up to unaugmented spartan levels, and remember unaugmented spartans were kicking the shit out of top tier units at the tend age of 10-12.

>>6382991
Oh you absolutely can, but those exceptional individuals are few and far between. There's a reason Halsey had to go hunting for her preferred candidates, and even they had to be trained out the ass since their most formative years. It's important to be realistic when considering the potential of baseline personnel that, by and large, are NOT going to meet the lofty standards of Spartans.
Mind you, a few of them just might, so perhaps it might be worth it simply because even a handful of Pseudo-Spartans can get a lot done. Not to mention the changes they would bring to other special forces units and branches of the service once they're no longer with us.
I'm just saying we shouldn't get our hopes up, even if we do rightfully expect a lot out of our people.

>>6382790
>Make Crow's Nest an opportunity to gather intel and see how the Covenant operated outside of combat
Decide to prioritize destabilizing the enemy's local chain of command.
Knowledge is power.

>>6383004
I can only hope we don't grind the crew into paste aiming for that.

>>6382979
>effective
Probably no. I have high hopes, but I dont know if Sven is capable for this task. Creating another type of soldier is a different task than going on a mission. He needs to build something that stand the test of war. A marine is made in a way. A ODST in another. An Helot ? At the moment they are a theoretical, but they are meant to be a direct unit under us. Specifically made to work/under Spartans. Its a Sven experiment, instead of being digital is another type of soldier.

>baby Spartans
No thats not my intention. I dont think we could make that anyway. Too much effort. No I want to see if Sven is capable to make an unit of soldiers that are well trained, and that work well with Spartans. Ultimately no other military unit can be satisfingly cooperative with Spartans. There will be always some problems. Even if Sven/other Spartans can turn things around with charisma and assuming command of those soldiers. The Helots would not have that problem though, which i think is something Sven has taught about. Especially with how unprofessional certain allied units acted with Spartans. More than once.

>Support units
I think support units while a great idea, would need an extensive education instead of the Helots training Sven made. They need to be taught those support roles for go behind spartan injuries or spartan equipment damage. Which is a whole different beast than normal injuries or battle damage. Not impossible to learn. But i am not sure Sven is the right person for make them, or if they would need the whole training we made for Helots.

>more
Fifty/fifty for me. A support unit will be squishy, but also a great help when needed. The thing about a support unit, is that they cant really be full soldiers because what they need to learn will be already extensive (specific medic or technicians for Spartans) to learn and master. Of course we would want them better than a bunch of jarheads, or CMA groundpounders in a fight at least (for increase their survivability), but they wouldn't be close to what we want to make with the Helots. Still the benefit they provide would be something great to count upon.

Won't be able to put out an update today. My mom just had a seizure and I'm not in a good way, mentally, at the moment. She's in the hospital, but I was the only one around her when it happened and I am just freaking out atm

>>6383152
Aw Christ man. Forget about us for a while, go be with your mother.

>>6383153
I am. She's lucid again but has no memory of anything that happened. Still an inch away from a full blown panic attack. She doesn't have a history of this sort of thing, its the first time it happened. So fucking scared

File: Pepe omnisiah.png (403.5 KB)

403.5 KB PNG

>>6383152
>>6383156
fuck man, take all the time you need.

>>6383156
I hope she gets a concrete diagnosis sooner rather than later. I know firsthand how much time a bunch of doctors can waste with referrals and diagnostics without actually figuring out what's wrong with you.

>>6383166
It's hardly wasted time, on their end as there is often limits on how much they can refer at a time as an effort to avoid duplicated or redundant testing to ease the workload on the system.

And rules and guidelines on how quickly they can rule out any particular potential cause of issues(is it an Acute, or Chronic issue), which then drives treatment options. and optimizing their ability to rule things out or otherwise not need more serious treatments if otherwise would have less severe side effects.

Personally I'm very much grateful Myself that I didn't get stuck with a Colostomy bag and qualified for cutting edge infusions every other month & a tablet regime to deal with my own issues, even if it took nearly a year to assert that I qualified for the latter and had to deal otherwise.

>>6383152
>>6383156
I hope everything goes well for her.

Small update. My mom was released, suffering some minor memory loss, but won't be able to see a specialist to diagnose what happened for a few days. So that's good. I'm still freaking out, but not as badly. She's alright at the moment.


>>6383163
>>6383166
>>6383293
Thanks for the concern and well wishes. Not sure I'll be in a state to write tomorrow/ later today or have time since I want to keep a close eye on my mother, but I figured I should keep all of you updated

>>6383327
Good luck my man and hope she stays strong. We are all here wishing you well and luck.

>>6383327

Take your time. Real life and family take priority.

>>6383327
I wish you and her well.

the curse is real

File: 1749973706262725.png (56.1 KB)

56.1 KB PNG

[ Rebooting...Monitor 404TormentedCache, back online ]

Have a bit of time, and I'm not too stressed atm to not write, so I'ma see what I can do

5 votes to set objectives to gather intel

5 Vote to prioritize attack the covie's chain of command

5 votes to try to save the colony's population, if any remains

3 way tie, but I think I can see a reasonable way to work them all into the objectives of Crow's Nest
so Ima do that

[ Decisions made ]
[ Proceeding.... ]

>>6383486
>>6383502
>>6383640
Thank you all, for being so understanding/ supportive. She seems to be doing okay, now, memory loss was temporary but she's been needing help

And on that front, you're of two...well three minds. It would be an excellent opportunity to gather some much needed intel about how the Covenant operate out of Covenant. It is one of the most glaring blind spots in the war effort, just one of many, but it might be one of the most important and while the average jarhead might not realize the importance of knowing what the enemy does on their homefront that doesn't make that sort of intel any less vital. These are aliens, we barely know how their bodies tick or if all the firepower they've been kicking our collective asses are their strongest weapons. And worse, besides them thinking humanity needs exterminating and believing true AI to be an abomination, nothing is known about their dogma or beliefs. It won't be easy to get even an idea of how they conduct themselves of the battlefield, what their civilian sector is like, what they actually believe in, but it will be important to.

However, the higher ups want results. Halsey might give you a gold star sticker for finding out about Bishop Squidface and how his writings just made the Covenant really, really hate monkeys, hairless apes especially, but Command? They want to hear how you strangled the good bishop and caused a religious schism that'll increase the likely hood of their advance by five percent. One thing that you do know, is that Covenant use their armor to denote the military hierarchy, which makes targeting their officers and field commanders easy. Hard to mistake them for their grunts and privates. And since Alpha Corvi II seems to have turned into a staging ground or been conquered as the newest world in their theocratic empire, destabilizing the chain of command, will certainly give the Brass the results they sent you out there to achieve. If even one ship leaves Harvest's orbit to come kick rocks and try to snuff out your team, Operation: Crow's Nest will be considered an extremely successful mission. But there's something besides Intel and Results that's important. Maybe not to the War effort or humanity at large. It won't support Battle Group X-Ray or Cole's offensive, and it won't broaden or deepen Humanity's understanding of this new threat.

But it will save lives. Intel isn't clear if the Covies scrubbed Alpha Corvi II clean of human life. They were certainly trying their damndest to wipe out every man, woman and child when the order to evacuate and abandon the system came down. It isn't likely but...you can't ignore that Intel hasn't confirmed they've all been killed out. There is a chance, however small, that there's still people alive down there. If there are, getting them off the colony would be a high priority. High Command is focusing on the war, but when...if it ends, people won't forget what had to be done to end it. And who was left behind to fend for themselves. The insurrection was the biggest threat humanity faced, before genocidal alien's popped up and started burning planets.
Cont

>>6383673

And it was a danger entirely of man's own creation. Whether it was the Inner colonies or the outer colonies who bore the brunt of the blame for causing it to spiral as far as it did, didn't matter. The outcome was the same either way, and what would've happened too crystal clear. And besides that, it'll be good for morale to save a few lives. It'll be good for the soul to. It is just the right thing to do. There might not be anyone left down there, but if there are, they need rescue. Its as simple as that. And if any arm chair general or pencil pusher pencil neck has a problem with it, well, they can file that complaint where the sun don't shine as far as you're concerned. Anyone who argues saving lives is a waste of time or effort, has less humanity than the Covenant.

And as you, angrily, thought about that, you remembered Whittaker and his outfit, and how close they got to being abandoned on that Colony because Yao only wanted to save Military Personnel. Her choice was cold, but calculated. And if there was even a single civilian left on that rock, it was her fault. It wasn't professional to hold grudges, especially in the Military but...Well, you wouldn't feel bad if her career ended up in shambles because of what she'd done. The Careers of better men and women had been torpedoed and ruined for far less.

Sure, you could be damn cold blooded when you needed to be. Keyword being, Need to be. Yao didn't. But thinking about that stain on Military Honor, wasn't accomplishing anything besides pissing you off. So you stopped and turned your thoughts to something more productive. Only the Spartans knew the wheres and whys of the UNSC Skidbladnir's next deployment. Your crew was still in the dark, outside of the Anti Covie Drills you've been having them run. And none of them would expect that this little ship would be sent behind enemy lines, ahead of Cole's Fleet to knock things over and start some fires to create a diversion. On any ship besides a Prowler, just the attempt to get into Orbit would be a suicide mission. You didn't know how effective Covenant Sensors and Radar were, or if it could get through a Prowlers Stealth Ablative Coating. Even if they couldn't, your crew wouldn't be safe in orbit. All it'd take is bad luck. And the Skidbladnir burns.
Cont

>>6383674

>[Inspiring] Frame Crow's Nest as a Mission of Mercy, when you inform the Skidbladnir's crew of its next deployment. Make them feel like heroes, even if they won't see any action.

>Just tell them what they need to know to stay on their toes and get them prepare for the possibility of dying in the line of duty

>[Jotun/ Wunderkind] Keep them in the dark. Need to know basis, and all they need to know is that it is a covert, stealth operation

>[Maverick] Try to encourage your crew by leaking some of the classified details of Collateral Damage and voicing your opinions on Commander Yao, nothing brings an outfit together more than hating the same person

>Write in option

Next vote should be the start of Crow's Nest. Not sure if I'll be able to get it later today/ Tomorrow, considering what's going on IRL.

>>6383675
>[Inspiring] Frame Crow's Nest as a Mission of Mercy, when you inform the Skidbladnir's crew of its next deployment. Make them feel like heroes, even if they won't see any action.

In the Dark won't work once the ship is in the planet its obvious. So Inspiring it is weve the Diplomat trait to boost it anyway. Hell Feeling like Heroes isnt bad, especially with several veterans from Alpha Corvi on our ship.

Maverick isn't worth the risk and while useful isn't more effective than inspiring.

>>6383675
>[Inspiring] Frame Crow's Nest as a Mission of Mercy, when you inform the Skidbladnir's crew of its next deployment. Make them feel like heroes, even if they won't see any action.

i mean killing the enemy commanders is a mercy since they wont have to be hinge heads no more

>>6383675
>>[Maverick] Try to encourage your crew by leaking some of the classified details of Collateral Damage and voicing your opinions on Commander Yao, nothing brings an outfit together more than hating the same person
heh fuck Yao

>>6383675

>[Inspiring] Frame Crow's Nest as a Mission of Mercy, when you inform the Skidbladnir's crew of its next deployment. Make them feel like heroes, even if they won't see any action.

Much as hating Yao would be cathartic, let's stay somewhat professional here.

Besides, death is a mercy. Let's go show the Covenant mercy. Lots and lots of mercy.

>>6383675
>[Maverick] Try to encourage your crew by leaking some of the classified details of Collateral Damage and voicing your opinions on Commander Yao, nothing brings an outfit together more than hating the same person
fuck Yao

https://youtube.com/shorts/Zikrxbf179s?si=OO9a_QH_oL00D_B5

Gentlemen.

>>6383675
>[Inspiring] Frame Crow's Nest as a Mission of Mercy, when you inform the Skidbladnir's crew of its next deployment. Make them feel like heroes, even if they won't see any action.
I don’t like Yao but not worth shitting on her yet.

>>6383675
>[Inspiring] Frame Crow's Nest as a Mission of Mercy, when you inform the Skidbladnir's crew of its next deployment. Make them feel like heroes, even if they won't see any action.

Best of luck with your IRL stuff, 404. Take all the time you need.

>>6383675
>[Jotun/ Wunderkind] Keep them in the dark. Need to know basis, and all they need to know is that it is a covert, stealth operation

>>6383675
>>[Inspiring] Frame Crow's Nest as a Mission of Mercy, when you inform the Skidbladnir's crew of its next deployment. Make them feel like heroes, even if they won't see any action.

>>6383675
404 since Michael is with us can we work with him to upgrade Vali since his a tech expert with different specialty from Dimas and Sven?

[ Rebooting...Monitor 404TormentedCache, Back online ]


6 Votes for [ Inspiring ]

2 Votes for [ Maverick ]

1 Vote for [ Jotun] / [ Wunderkind ]

So the crew of the UNSC Skidbladnir is going to get front row seats to one of Sven's inspiring speeches. Nice

[ Decision made ]
[ Proceeding...]

>>6383687
Its enough to make a grown man cry. Also kinda makes me wanna run a Armored Core inspired quest, sometime.

>>6384093
during down time you can try, sure.

"It would be better if you wrote out your speeches rather than improvise them on the spot, Sir" Soren, who looks much more comfortable in his uniform now tells you as he taps the fingers of his non deformed hand. Whatever painkiller regimen Rita had put him on had vastly improve his quality of life and dulled the pain of ASTER's unfortunate side effects.

"The best speeches come from the heart, not the pen. Blame our training, they wanted us to adapt and improvise, think on our feet. Can't trust a plan on paper, or a speech put on one" You explain your reasoning to the other Spartan as he nods along "And it isn't like I'm flying by the seat of my pants"

"Reading the key and focus points you want to hit, reminds me of boot camp" Soren says fondly, reminiscing as he checks a few logs "And, unless you go completely off the rails from the framework we came up with, there's nothing that's classified enough to get you more than an ear pulling from the higher ups"

And Stanforth would have your back, if any of the higher ups took offense to what you were going to say.

"Can't be worse than the beatings they handed out in basic" You shrug off the warning and pat the other Spartan on the shoulder "We clear to patch me into the intercom?"

"Rita asks that you wait until she finishes patching up Crewman Martinez's hand. Nearly chopped off one of his finger playing a knife game in the cargo bed", you nod and wait patiently "The sister has given the greenlight, Sven, I'll patch you in to the COMMs...now"

"Skidbladnir, this is your captain speaking. This concerns our next deployment, and I won't beat around the bush. If it were any other outfit given this job, it'd be a suicide mission" You begin, speaking into the datapad that Soren had handed to you, just before he took the weight off his legs and sat down "And I'm not just referring to my fellow Spartans. You've all done your homework, have the right clearance. You know a fleet is pushing towards Harvest as we speak. And we've been given the privilege and high honor of acting as a diversion and are being sent behind enemy lines. Spartans, we are returning to Alpha Corvi II as you already know. I'm not sure what the official cover up for the colony's fall was..."

You pause, glancing to Soren and waiting for confirmation that what you're going to say next won't get you in enough trouble that even you couldn't weasel your way out of it. He nodded once, so you kept talking

"Was the result of Covenant Aggression. I personally was amongst the Spartans sent to try and push them back. We were overcome, overwhelmed and forced into a shameful retreat, forced to abandon one of mankind's cradles to the wolves that crept out of that Dark Forest" You take in a sharp breath, knowing how to stoke the fighting spirit and fires in other soldiers hearts with the right words and tone "Along with its civilian population. Until recently, we were under the assumption Alpha Corvi went the way of Harvest, glassed from orbit"

>>6384182

You clench you fist, the white gloves squeaking audibly as you relish the moment as you say "But the world lives on. And hopefully, so to does its people. Last time we were forced to run with our tails tucked between our legs, we won't be able to retake the colony, we're only one ship. No matter how scrappy we are, a Razor Class Prowler can't go toe to toe with a Covenant Warship let alone an occupying force. But our goal isn't one of conquest, it is mercy. Mercy for the possible survivors, suffering beneath the hoofed and taloned heels of these alien shitbirds. Mercy, for all the brave Soldiers, Militia, and Civilians who took up arms to defend their homes against monsters from the stars and died doing it, Mercy for the Covies cause they won't have to live with being hingeheads, hunch backed freaks or the ugliest chickens to ever leave the coop"

"Pause for laughter" Soren reminded, smirking as you waited a few moments before getting back to your inspiring speech

"We won't be returning to Alpha Corvi II to just to play distraction and draw some guns off of Cole's Offensive, We'll be on a rescue mission, a mission of mercy. We'll be outmanned, outgunned, and deep in enemy territory. The Covenant has every advantage, and you know what? I think they'll need it? I like those odds. The put us on the run, chased us out like mongrel dogs and thought they could, at their leisure, terrorize and genocide the good people of Alpha Corvi II, just cause they ran the military out and had a bigger stick than we did. The arrogant gators will get what's coming to them. Last time we tango'd, they lost one of their godless priests digging around in the sand. This time, we'll pay them back for every human life they snuffed out and do what we should've done the first run around and evac whatever is left of the colony's civilian population. And if they are all gone, wiped out to satisfy the sadistic whims of some alien jackboot, well..."

You grinned, ferally, wolfishly, imagining for a moment that you were moon devouring fenrir as you nearly growled out the final part of your speech "We'll kill five Covies for every one of ours they murdered. It'll be Guerilla warfare, something I don't think the holier than thou Covenant is prepared for! So lets drag them down to the mud and muck and show them Humanity won't just lie down and take it! Show them what kinda hell is coming for them, what they started by kicking our hornet's nest! Hoorah!"

"You've got me wishing I could go into the field myself, Sven. And make a necklace of Covenant ears" Soren said, wiping a tear from his eye as he tapped on the datapad, cutting the blank screen to security cam footage of the mess hall, you smirked. That was a graduate of one of the finest officer's academy, standing on a table and howling like a ancient tribal warrior as the other crewmen on lunch break pounded their fists in the air, returning your shout to the speakers
Cont

>>6384183
"Sorry to burst your bubble, Brother, But I don't think the Covies have ears"
___
Mood Music: https://youtu.be/sGJRu6n6Ik4

Mission 7: Operation: Crow's Nest
DIFFICULTY: HEROIC / LEGENDARY
CAMPAIGN : Diversionary Actions

Primary Objective: Disrupt and Sabotage Covenant Activities on Former Colony Alpha Corvi II

Secondary Objective 1: Destabilize local Covenant Chain of Command / Neutralize Area Leaders & Commanders

Secondary Objective 2: Gather intelligence concerning the Covenant non-military aspects/ Operations

Optional Sub-Objective: Find out the fate of Alpha Corvi II's Civilian Population, and if possible, rescue any survivors

Secret Objective 1: [File Encrypted]

Secret Objective 2: [File Encrypted]

Secret Objective 3: [File Encrypted]
___
Warning! Warning! Sub Objective: Blade Breaker, has caused a dangerous adversary to enter the field. ???, Shamed Sword Master, is present in the enemy formations!
___

>Decide the landing/ staging site with Soren, picking out an LZ with good cover, somewhere you won't be noticed, away from projected Covenant Locations

>Practice amphibious warfare and ambushes, insisting that any Spartan not named Anton or James wears the Mjolnir/ Oceanic suits on this deployment

>Have that talk about faith with Sonar, and bring up the Covenant's own beliefs, and how they might be weaponized against them.

>Do some work on Vali, not to improve his programming or efficiency, but to make him especially bloodthirsty for the mission

>Write in option

Happy Saint Patrick's Day. Hope you're ready to fist fight some uplifted gorillas.

>>6384184
>Decide the landing/ staging site with Soren, picking out an LZ with good cover, somewhere you won't be noticed, away from projected Covenant Locations
>Practice amphibious warfare and ambushes, insisting that any Spartan not named Anton or James wears the Mjolnir/ Oceanic suits on this deployment
>Get Michael opinion/help in improving Vali

I’m admittedly reaching with the 3rd one but I figure Michael might be able to improve Vali or have decent opinion on what needs improvement.

File: a-non-threatening-smile-of-happiness.jpg (252.4 KB)

252.4 KB JPG

>>6384182
>Crewman Martinez
Get this man some training with Nesta.
>>6384183
>That was a graduate of one of the finest officer's academy, standing on a table and howling like an ancient tribal warrior
Get this man an axe.
>>6384184
>???, Shamed Sword Master, is present in the enemy formations!
Pic related. Anyways...
>>Practice amphibious warfare and ambushes, insisting that any Spartan not named Anton or James wears the Mjolnir/Oceanic suits on this deployment
>>Have that talk about faith with Sonar, and bring up the Covenant's own beliefs, and how they might be weaponized against them.
The Skiddy's got a pool we can use, right? I'm sure we can chat while the exercises are ongoing.

>>6384184
>Decide the landing/ staging site with Soren, picking out an LZ with good cover, somewhere you won't be noticed, away from projected Covenant Locations

>Practice amphibious warfare and ambushes, insisting that any Spartan not named Anton or James wears the Mjolnir/ Oceanic suits on this deployment

well if we kill this adversary in a public and brutal fashion boogyman should proc for us

>>6384184
>Have that talk about faith with Sonar, and bring up the Covenant's own beliefs, and how they might be weaponized against them.

>Do some work on Vali, not to improve his programming or efficiency, but to make him especially bloodthirsty for the mission

>>6384184

>Decide the landing/ staging site with Soren, picking out an LZ with good cover, somewhere you won't be noticed, away from projected Covenant Locations

This important to make sure we can attack from stealth.

>Do some work on Vali, not to improve his programming or efficiency, but to make him especially bloodthirsty for the mission. Ask Michael for help and opinions on upgrading Vali too.

Vali is one of our ace cards that we want to keep upgrading. If we can find some sort of covenant command base in alpha we might b able to use it to break a lot of tech the covenant have while keeping ours safe.

File: 76322.jpg (1.1 MB)

1.1 MB JPG

>>6384184
>Secret Objective 1: [File Encrypted]
I am going to throw in what I previously theorized: monument/tomb of the dead prophet.
>Secret Objective 2: [File Encrypted]
Probably taking out the Sword Master. And a shamed one too. Of course it is, the Sangheili lost here.
>Secret Objective 3: [File Encrypted]
This, I feel, might be something secret covenant-related, like something we haven't fully considered. Like the political implication of a brute chieftain playing garrison here and what that might entail: is it just him and his brute shocktroopers here? What if his clan elders are also here? OR Steward/Priest Worm having someone or something particular with him, like a protege? And of course, the monument/tomb, is it just that? Or more already (martyr holy war site)? It could also be something human-related entirely. In FLY-SWATTER, we recovered the remains of a human from a pirate. Here, it could be an equally important thing, but instead it was important for the colony at large... and the covenant decided to keep it. Sometimes beautiful or particular stuff is just too enticing, even if you hate the people who made it. Alternatively, the worst option: if it's brute-related... it probably ties partially with humans and the optional sub-objective.

I feel like Secondary Objective 1 pretty much is both military leadership and religious leaders. So if there is a worm, it includes him. And there will be someone to lead the brutes. Kill/capture.

For the options to consider, the following:
- A good LZ is not just good for arriving and not being noticed, but for keeping doing that while also making sure the place isn't too far away.
- Amphibious warfare/Ambushes are what we need for fighting on Alpha. Not that we aren't trained in fighting this type of warfare, but refining it is never bad. Different worlds' oceans/seas are not always the same to the T either. No matter what humanity did for their terraforming and making them as close to earth has possible.
- The talk with Sonar could really help with using the Boogeyman trait. Even if it's working on a theory, and what little is known of the Covenant faith. But something can be made from that. And terror and fear work better the more you know about someone.
- And upgrading Vali to be even more vicious and hateful with aliens could give good results.

>Practice amphibious warfare and ambushes, insisting that any Spartan not named Anton or James wears the Mjolnir/Oceanic suits on this deployment
I feel like we can sacrifice having the best LZ to be more flexible. More on the move with TYPHON vehicles, more ready for the waters and nature of Alpha Corvi II.
>Have that talk about faith with Sonar, and bring up the Covenant's own beliefs, and how they might be weaponized against them.
And while Vali is great, a religious talk to explore ideas on the Covenant faith is perfect.

>>6384184

>Decide the landing/ staging site with Soren, picking out an LZ with good cover, somewhere you won't be noticed, away from projected Covenant Locations

>Practice amphibious warfare and ambushes, insisting that any Spartan not named Anton or James wears the Mjolnir/ Oceanic suits on this deployment

>Have that talk about faith with Sonar, and bring up the Covenant's own beliefs, and how they might be weaponized against them.