The research facility on Slovia was designed for observing the astral-phenomina that was unusally common in the system. It was in operation for just over a decade before it lost funding with the start of the Covenant war, and was shut down. All the equipment and computers had been removed or stripped from the building, leaving it nothing more then an empty husk. The place has crumble a bit and is a bit worse for wear, but is still quite capable of housing people.

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Several hours had passed with no excitement inside or out. It was looking to be yet another boring day on this planet. When suddenly the makeshift warning lights kicked on and started flashing a silent warning to those in the building. This was known to everyone to be the signal that the enemy has entered the system and they should ready themselves.

Tavish dropped what he was doing. Which was a car. It was lucky he didn't have anyone beneath it, or he would have probably crushed them with the speed it hit the floor. Sure it bounced, but people tended not to. He sighed, straightening up and feeling the weight of his armour all around him. He had a feeling this was going to be a long day.

Spook had finished with Baby and had woken Scorch when he had asked her to. At the moment she was using a pick to scrape the sand out of the workings of her helmet. When she saw the alarm she stopped what she was doing and snapped it on.

Stitch had been looking over what Shaft had been doing to the car, admiring the handiwork, but keeping his distance. Stitch wasn't a mechanic, and he'd rather not tread on people's toes. When the alarm began flashing, he grabbed his spartan laser from its holster, and began running a fast diagnostic on himself.

Scorch groaned when he saw the lights flash in their silent alarm fashion. Time to go to work...just once he'd like a real day off. He checked that his sword was firmly in place and then picked up his shotgun, slinging it to it's holster and then hefted his namesake of a weapon and headed out.

Spook was only a few seconds behind him, having taken the time to load her weapons before heading out.

It was all Tavish could do to not hum "hi-ho, hi-ho" as he went along, feeling as if this was going to be another wage of gun fights against the damn slime beasts, blowing them to pieces before stomping on their little squidgy heads. It was starting to feel like a day job, one where you constantly shipped bullets at terminal velocity straight into faces.

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Tavish let out a small hum as he walked into the garage, looking around for a vehicle that wasn't occupied. He would rather one with people already in it, looking for a driver. He didn't like having to order people just to get into the car.

"Shaft!" Stitch called out from behind one of the warthogs. "Fancy taking this for a ride with me? I'd probably just tip the bugger." Driving was never his strong suit, he'd much rather look after people in the back, or just blast the hell out of anything behind them.

"Alright," Tavish said, thudding into the jeep and starting her up instantly "But I hope you're used to doing your stuff on the fly. I don't like slowing down enough for the enemy to hit me."

"Well, I can damn well try. You think you can take laser-based propulsion?" Stitch had a grin on his face. Perhaps Tavish was a bad influence. This could be interesting.

"We'll see, won't we?" Tavish laughed slightly, waiting for the doors to open so they could actually get into a fight. This was going to be messy. People would die. But he could blow the crap out of people.

"We shall indeed." Stitch stretched slightly, preparing himself for the worst. He still wasn't a big fan of fighting, but if it was anything like those slimes again, it was quite cathartic.

"we've just got to wait around I suppose... until the action really starts..." Tavish said, frowning at the doors and waiting for the orders to be given so they could all drive off.

A long series of clicks came over the helmet comm system which was immediately recognized as Morse Code. It was giving information about the incoming enemy ships. It didn't really pertain to Tavish or Spook, but still let them know it was quickly approaching.

"I see... so we're being taking orders... from a dolphin." Tavish said slowly, frowning as he looked around, still not receiving the actual order to go. Morse code. What was the point in morse code?

"It's better than going in blind." Stitch wasn't one for Morse code, but it was better than nothing, he assumed. "If only we were...actually going."

"I get told off enough for not following orders." Tavish pointed out "And the one thing I don't want to do is start a panic by rushing out there before everyone else. We wait. For now. Until the order comes."

As if on command the comm came alive, ""Tav, we've got a falcon down in sector 8, I'm marking it for you now. I repeat, wounded on the ground in sector 8. Follow the nav-point." the call came from Spook who was outside spotting for the vehicles. The bay doors opened and they knew immediately that they were going to be driving into a combat zone.

Tavish grunted his response and slammed onto the gas. No need to just hang around. In a few seconds Tavish and his passenger were gunning out of the doors. "Whatever you do, dont miss!" Tavish yelled as they hit the battle top speed.

"Whatever you do, don't crash!" Stitch called back, a grin almost marking his face beneath the helmet. He kept the Spartan Laser ready, the red beam pulsing as he pressed and released the trigger, waiting for a target.

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-Return to Slovia
Halo C.E. RPG