>>3944897

The first rebel facilities to fall were the outlying drydocks. Most of them were holed by MAC rounds, sending them careening off as the sudden depressurization blasted them around. Hundreds of rebels died in the void as they were blasted out of the asteroids, with some of their bodies being pulped by stray rounds and missiles that they floated in the way of. Some pelicans dropped off marine squads, but many more hung back and waited to assault the main asteroid base. As they waited, the longswords slaughtered the remaining rebel fighters. The rebels had organized and trained their fighters to attack ships -not other fighters- and that lack of training showed. The longswords cut them apart with ease, clearing the way for the greatswords to engage the rebel point-defense guns. The guns were more than capable of tracking and engaging the incoming missiles, but they were old guns and were guided by less than modern sensors and fire control units. The greatswords blew straight through the defenses with a mix of speed and electronic jamming. They blew multiple holes in the rebel defensive sphere, opening it up for the pelicans to dive on in and deploy their troops.

The marines blew their way in through ancillary airlocks, small cargo bays, and other routes. It took them an hour to get a secure foothold, but within a couple of hours of securing a foothold, the rebels folded. The combination of dedicated soldiers in the middle of their home, the battle damage, and the unexpected strain of the assault all combined to keep the rebels off their feet. With the rest of their fleet gone, their defenses crippled, and the marines in the midst, the rebels finally threw in the towel. You weren't paying attention to the reports though, you were more concerned with the new support you were getting for repairing the battle damage you had suffered. The Concord Hymn had specifically detached from the fleet after deploying her Pelicans to assist you. The help from the Charon-class frigate practically doubled the number of engineers and repair drones working to fix up your vessel. And with your pelicans helping to evacuate the more critically wounded members of your crew to the far more extensive medical facilities on the assisting frigate, the strain on your medical teams was massively reduced.

>CONT

>>3944899

A few hours later, and your ship was ready to jump out. The UNSC forces would take custody of the recovered Covenant tech you had onboard and would hold onto it until ONI could recover it, meanwhile, you would jump straight to a UNSC shipyard to effect immediate deep repairs. The frigate that had been assigned to escort the Halcyon had been detached from its charge with orders to ensure that you got back to port without your drive or engines suffering any further damage that would keep you out of the fight for a while. Thankfully, you had a few options on just where you could go for said repair work, and you could choose them yourself. Most of them had the capacity for shore leave, given the strain of recent actions your crew was more than due for some RnR time.

The first option was Greydowns, either the SDF yard over the moon of Reinov or the FLEETCOM yard over Miller. The SDF yard was primarily meant to act as a primary dockyard for the local defense fleet, but it retained the facilities to repair and rearm your ship. Miller's yard, on the other hand, was better suited to maintenance and structural repairs but it still featured the facilities needed to perform work of active military vessels, including the service work needed for your MAC gun. Greydowns was the closest adequate choice for the repairs you needed. But with the work having to be split between two yards the overall repair time would be greatly extended.

The second option was your de-facto homeworld of Tribute and the world where your ship had been built. The world was a primary manufacturer for frigates and had the facilities to affect a deep repair and refit of your ship. They were probably the best option from a technical aspect, and you did have business there that you needed to attend to. Your brother needed to be warded off his plan to join the Marines, and if you could use your damaged ship to illustrate how badly the navy got it, you could probably ward him onto a more docile path. However, the sheer travel time would be hard to justify. Especially given how close the final option was.

>CONT

>>3944900

The final option was Anchor Five. One of the dedicated anchor points that the UNSC used to muster forces away from inhabited systems. It was the closest you could get to a major shipyard, but with the added advantage that most of the work was done by military repair crews and repair drones. Dozens of UNSC ships were parked up around the station at any given time, and that could jump up massively if an offensive was planned. That created a surplus of materials and skilled workers to make the repair work happen as fast as possible, not to mention that you could take the Covenant tech you had recovered from the innies and drop it on the station's complement of spooks. The station's position in the interstellar void allowed you to skirt around the rules against the recovery of stolen alien tech. However, the lack of any sort of shore leave capacity would not go over well with the crew. And after such an intense battle, you were damn sure that they deserved the time off.

>Go to Greydowns! While the work will take longer, your crew needs the time off.
>Head home to Tribute! You need to make sure that your damage is repaired properly.
>Go to anchor five! The sooner you're back in the fight, the sooner you can get your crew's mind off the recent losses.

>>3944902
>Head home to Tribute! You need to make sure that your damage is repaired properly.
Seems to be the better option; last one would not go over well with our weary crew.

>>3944902
>>Head home to Tribute! You need to make sure that your damage is repaired properly.

>>3944902
>>Head home to Tribute! You need to make sure that your damage is repaired properly.
Welcome back Thunderhead

>>3944902
>Go to Greydowns! While the work will take longer, your crew needs the time off

After a bit of thought, you decided to set off to Tribute. There were a few obvious reasons why you had chosen the planet as your selected destination. Chief among them was that Tribute was one of the UNSC's major shipyards. The shipbuilders both in orbit and on the surface of the planet pumped out all manners of escorts ships at a rate that most other planets couldn't match. Even Mars couldn't match them in escort ship production, and mankind's first planetary colony had the advantage of being the home of two of the UNSC's major military contractors. A lot of that lay in the fact that Tribute sat in the same system as humanity's first fortress world, Reach. Together, the two worlds provided a sizable portion of the manufacturing, training, and command infrastructure for the entire UNSC. And while there were probably dockyards closer that could do the repair work, having the work performed at Tribute ensured that your ship would be back in pristine condition.

Not to mention that there were a couple of breaker-yards in the system specifically for UNSC ships. If you played your cards right, you could probably pick out some surplus equipment and have it installed while they were doing the repair work.

Aside from that, there was also the question of shore leave. Epsilon Eridani was a very well colonized system, boasting three planets fully capable of supporting human life and another five assorted planets and moons that were home to colonies of varying size in spite of the lack of a hospitable environment. There were a lot of places where tired crewmembers could go off to relax, from countless bars to resorts and even a few well known red-light districts. Additionally, the system boasted a powerful FTL comms network capable of allowing messages to be sent quickly and easily to other colony systems. Your crew hailed from a lot of worlds, and you knew that every last one of them had a family to contact. Speaking of family, you had some business with them. Aside from the need to check in on them and assure them that you weren't about to run face-first into a salvo of plasma torpedos. Plus you also had to talk your brother out of throwing himself into the meat grinder, though you had no idea about what you were going to suggest he do instead.

Either way, nobody in the relief flotilla objected to you returning to Tribute. You were damn sure that someone on the other end of the journey would raise a stink about it, but by then it would be too late. The journey through slipspace took around a month and a half, but for most of the crew, it was over in the blink of an eye. Around two-thirds of your remaining crew went straight into cryosleep under your orders, but some had to stay awake for that month. Most of them were engineers tasked with keeping your ship held together during the journey, and they were supported by a skeleton crew of bridge crew, support staff, and others.

>CONT

>>3945028
You had considered entering cryo yourself. As captain, you could do so without any negative repercussions. If anything, it would have been better for you to go into cryo and leave command to your XO. Although she had suffered a mild concussion during your battle against the rebels, she had recovered enough to keep the ship operating with the help of your AI. If anything, that was actually better for her medically than just sticking her in cryo, as she could use the time to recover. However, one of the major lessons taught about getting a ship back home was to ensure that the person watching over it was medically sound, as even a slight error brought about by fatigue or the lingering effects of a concussion could have very poor results for the entire ship. Not to mention that it looked bad for the commanding officer of a ship to be asleep while members of his crew worked had to keep the ship from falling apart.

>Stay awake! Losing a month isn't so bad, losing the respect of your crew, on the other hand, is not good.
>Go to cryo! Stuff like this is the exact reason why cryo tubes exist, it doesn't make sense not to use them.

>>3945029
>>Stay awake! Losing a month isn't so bad, losing the respect of your crew, on the other hand, is not good.

Make it a point to have our XO stay awake as well. We can do a 12 on 12 off schedule for bridge watch.

>>3945029
>>Stay awake! Losing a month isn't so bad, losing the respect of your crew, on the other hand, is not good.

>>3945029
>>Stay awake! Losing a month isn't so bad, losing the respect of your crew, on the other hand, is not good.

>>3945029
>>Stay awake! Losing a month isn't so bad, losing the respect of your crew, on the other hand, is not good.

You decided that ensuring that the ship survived it's journey to the shipyards topped potentially saving a month's worth of your life. You crewed a frigate for heaven's sake, ensuring that you lived a long life wasn't something you could indulge in. Instead, you stayed up and ensured that there was someone there to cover for your XO if she wasn't able to put up with the strain.

Soon after you made the decision, your ship was joined by and attached to the frigate that would be carrying you to Tribute. Thankfully, all modern UNSC ships were designed with hardpoints on their dorsal and ventral sides. The idea behind the hardpoints being that in the event that a ship was too crippled to move under its own power, another UNSC ship could dock, lock systems, and carry the wounded ship away. This was kind of what was happening right now, except that your ship wasn't crippled, they just wanted you to arrive within a month's time, not two or three months. Almost half an hour after that, you felt your stomach churn as your ship's gravity plating struggled to get the power needed to remain active during the rougher than usual slipspace jump.

Once underway, you and Dyad settled into a twelve-on, twelve-off schedule. Though only a few days in you had the deck for sixteen hours with Dyad taking the remaining eight hours. Just before entering cryo, your chief medical officer made sure to hammer in the fact that for the first one or two weeks she would be a bit lethargic, so you allowed her to take things at her pace. If anything, it gave you even more reason to kick yourself over not getting a seat installed for her. While having the XO stand behind or beside the captain's seat was a far more traditional way of doing things, it really didn't work out well when a single heavy hit could send any standing crewmembers flying around like pinballs.

That was the norm for the first few days, with you rarely seeing your XO aside from the very start and very end of your shift. However, you watched as she became less and less lethargic as the days went on. And by the end of the first week into the journey, when you woke up to find that Dyad wasn't just awake, but had specifically requested to see you. You also had a similar request from the head of engineering, who like you had elected to stay out of cryo.

>Check in with Dyad! You've been working on opposing schedules for the past week, so you haven't had an opportunity to talk with her.
>Check in on engineering! Now that the battle is over, maybe you can get an estimate on how long it will take to repair the ship.
>Get back to your duties, you still need to keep this tub on course after all. (TIMESKIP TO TRIBUTE)
>Other (write-in)

>>3945111
>>Check in with Dyad! You've been working on opposing schedules for the past week, so you haven't had an opportunity to talk with her.

>>3945111
>>Check in with Dyad! You've been working on opposing schedules for the past week, so you haven't had an opportunity to talk with her.

>>3945111
>Check in with Dyad! You've been working on opposing schedules for the past week, so you haven't had an opportunity to talk with her.

>>3945111
>>Check in with Dyad! You've been working on opposing schedules for the past week, so you haven't had an opportunity to talk with her.

>>3945111
>>Check in with Dyad! You've been working on opposing schedules for the past week, so you haven't had an opportunity to talk with her.

File: UNSC mess hall, sparse.png (1.93 MB, 1920x1080)

1.93 MB PNG

"Diana, can you tell me where Dyad is?" You asked your ship's AI. While you were in your quarters, you could talk with her from any terminal on the ship. Your XO took president over the head of engineering, and with your AI being able to watch everything on the ship, she had the best position to know where your XO was.

"Commander Dyad is currently in the mess hall. She recommended that you meet her there." Your AI reported to you, and within a quarter of an hour, you were walking through the door into the almost empty mess hall. The small groups of cooks that had stayed awake to serve the food had apparently having closed the shutters between the kitchens and the mess hall in order to let them work in peace. You could hear some trashy civilian music coming from inside the kitchen, but given how they were probably understaffed you decided not to make an issue over it. Aside from you, the only other person visible in the room was a deckhand administering over the various machines being used to clean the mess hall. Upon seeing you, the cleaner pressed a button on his wrist-pad and left the room as the small cleaning drones that did most of the work returned to their charging stations.

"Over here sir." You heard your XO call out, you looked over to see her leaning out from one of the window booths. The window was covered by an armored screen, blocking any radiation from slipstream space from entering the ship. You walked over and sat on the bench opposite her. A tray with a small meal sat in front of her, she had picked at it a bit, though around half of it still remained untouched. A bottle of water sat on one side of the tray, and a small bottle of pills sat open on the opposite side.

"Dyad, how are you holding up?" You asked. You weren't gonna say anything, but Dyad looked like shit. Deep bags sat under her bloodshot eyes, a tell-tale sign of a lack of sleep. In spite of that, she smiled at the question.

"I'm doing well sir, though I wanted to check in on you." Dyad asked as she leaned forward and picked up her bottle of water. She took a swig of the clear liquid before continuing. "We lost a lot of people due to your call, and that isn't something a lot of people can take."

>"All things considered, I'm holding together well enough. I can handle the losses."
>"Honestly? I don't feel too hot right now, my decision got a lot of people killed."
>"I'll be better when we get into dock, getting a tow into dock is humiliating."
>Other (write-in)

>>3945632
>"Honestly? I don't feel too hot right now, my decision got a lot of people killed."

>>3945632
>>"Honestly? I don't feel too hot right now, my decision got a lot of people killed."

>>3945632
>>"Honestly? I don't feel too hot right now, my decision got a lot of people killed."

>>3945632
>>"Honestly? I don't feel too hot right now, my decision got a lot of people killed."
>not that it was not necessary, but I could have attacked it another way..

>>3945632
>"Honestly? I don't feel too hot right now, my decision got a lot of people killed."

"Honestly? I don't feel too hot right now, my decision got a lot of people killed." You confided in your XO, who had apparently become your majordomo over the last few weeks. This was the second time she had asked to see you after a major engagement.

"So, same as last time then?" Dyad asked a little bit of concern in her voice. But you only got this overwhelming feeling of being studied, as if Dyad was trying to figure out if you were being genuine.

"Yeah, I don't think I'll ever get used to this." You nodded, before leaning back in your seat and letting your shoulders relax. While you were sure Dyad was looking at how you responded, you doubted if there was any malice in it.

"Forgive me sir, but I doubt that. A lot of officers tend to harden after combat exposure and those that don't tend to hand in their commission after a few months. And you seem way too tough to quit, so I'm gonna put my money on you hardening." Dyad assured you, your XO giving you an assuring smile. She held it like that for a few seconds before her smile turned mischevious.

"Then again, I could see something else hardening in..." Dyad began, only to trail off as she began to dryly cough. You could only shake your head at what she was getting at.

"Really, Dyad? A dick joke at this time?" You asked as your XO took another swig of water. Dyad chuckled to herself, before replying.

"Well someone's gotta lighten the mood." Dyad gave a weak smile, and you couldn't help but admit that she was right. It had certainly provided a break in the mood.

>"And would that be a good thing? Losing empathy doesn't seem like a good thing."
>"You seem like you've seen this before. Have you?"
>"How's your head? You took a pretty bad knock during the fight."
>Other (write-in)

>>3946712
>>"You seem like you've seen this before. Have you?"

>>3946712
>How's your head? You took a pretty bad knock during the fight."

>>3946712
>>"How's your head? You took a pretty bad knock during the fight."

File: PILLS HERE.jpg (81 KB, 600x600)

81 KB JPG

"How's your head? You took a pretty bad knock during the fight." You asked as your XO reached over to the bottle of pills and took a pair of the little capsules out of the brown container.

"Doc's say that it's fine. There's some short-term damage from the concussion, but there are no long-term issues at least. I'm on the pills for a few weeks until I get the all-clear, though it should clear up before we make port." Dyad explained, before popping the pills and washing them down with some water. After taking the pills, she gave a forlorn look at her plate of half-eaten food. "Though it's not doing much for my appetite."

"Anything else? You didn't land that well." You posed another question related to her knock. While the concussion was the worst issue, you wanted to make sure that you weren't missing out on the full picture.

Dyad shrugged, before giving a brief description. "Popped one of my shoulders out of it's joint, but that was an easy fix. Some bruising to the chest also came along with that too, but that's to be expected."

"I'm surprised you haven't made a joke about needing someone to massage your chest yet." You said with a small smile as she told you about her least interesting injury. If not for its placement.

"Come on sir, that would be too easy." Dyad pointed out with a smile, you were starting to catch on to her humor, and she certainly liked that. You did too, at the very least it meant that you were both starting to think on the same wavelength.

>Ask if she just wanted to see you for a checkup and some jokes.
>Ask how her family is doing, and if she plans to see them during shore leave.
>Take your leave and meet the chief of engineering.
>Take your leave and return to the bridge. [TIMESKIP TO TRIBUTE]
>Other (write-in)

>>3946838
>Ask if she just wanted to see you for a checkup and some jokes.

>>3946838
>>Ask if she just wanted to see you for a checkup and some jokes.

>>3946838
>>Ask if she just wanted to see you for a checkup and some jokes.

"So, did you call me down here for just a checkup and some jokes, or is there some deeper meaning to this?" You asked, while your XO had a history of being interested in your mental state, it just didn't make sense for her to request to see you in the empty mess hall as opposed to the bridge. Especially given that she had seemingly ordered the cleaner to pack up and leave the moment you entered the room.

Dyad seemed to pause for a second, almost as if she was about to say something, but stopped herself. "Just a checkup sir, part of my duties is to ensure that you're doing fine mentally."

"Dyad, are you hiding something from me?" You questioned the lieutenant, who seemed a bit taken aback by the question, but she recovered quickly enough.

"Nothing worth you knowing sir. Trust me with this." Dyad told you, her eyes boring into yours with a strength that was completely at odds with her injuries. She seemed determined to handle whatever this problem was herself.

>Push the issue, if there's something she's hiding then she should just tell you. (roll 1d20, bonus may be given for write-ins)
>Leave the issue to her, you need to trust your XO to do her job with this matter.

>>3946904
>Leave the issue to her, you need to trust your XO to do her job with this matter.

>>3946904
>>Leave the issue to her, you need to trust your XO to do her job with this matter.

"Alright, I'll leave it to you." You decided to leave the matter in Dyad's hands. Although you were a bit curious about just [i]what[/i] the issue was, you weren't about to poke into something that Dyad wasn't willing to let you know about. You'd probably ask her again after you made port, maybe during shore leave if she stayed on Tribute.

"Thanks sir, you won't regret this." Dyad nodded, a relieved smile spreading across her face at being allowed to handle the problem on her own.

>Ask how her family is doing, and if she plans to see them during shore leave.
>Ask her something else (write-in)
>Take your leave and meet the chief of engineering.
>Take your leave and return to the bridge. [TIMESKIP TO TRIBUTE]
>Other (write-in)

>>3946987
>>Take your leave and meet the chief of engineering.

>>3946987
>Take your leave and meet the chief of engineering.

>>3946987
>>Take your leave and meet the chief of engineering

"Well, if that's all Dyad, then I'll leave you to finish off your... dinner? I guess." You said as you stood up, gesturing back towards your XO's plate.

"Not much to finish off, but thanks either way. Have a nice day." Dyad smiled up at you, before retuning to her meal. You took this as the right time to go, and left her to her meal. The cleaner from before having waited outside the entire time, and re-entered the room in order to finish cleaning the room.

The next person on your agenda was your cheif engineer, and finding him was a slightly harder affair. Thankfully, your AI already had his position for you. Conviniently, he was on break in the port-side engineering section break room. The break room was a far smaller, far more condensed version of the primary mess hall. With only enough seating for around twenty people, and on very simplistic folding tables and benches. The room had a few engineers milling about, eating snacks and drinking. The man you were after was just standing in front of one of the automatic catering units, getting a refil of coffee in a mug with "the boss" printed on it.

"Sir." The burly engineer greeted you with a single, simple word. The engineers around the room took notice of your arrival, but didn't react much. Apparently their cheif had told them to ditch the formalities in advance. "Want some coffee?"

"If there's already a pot on the boil, then sure." You answered the engineer as you walked up to him, before leaning up against the wall.

>Get straight to the point, engineers don't like formalities and don't like officers in their midst.
>Ask the cheif what the general situation is down here, you need to know how they are handling the strain.
>Other (write-in)

>>3947124
>>Get straight to the point, engineers don't like formalities and don't like officers in their midst.

>>3947124
>>Get straight to the point, engineers don't like formalities and don't like officers in their midst.

>>3947124
>Get straight to the point, engineers don't like formalities and don't like officers in their midst.

>>3947124
>Get straight to the point, engineers don't like formalities and don't like officers in their midst.

File: catering machine.png (354 KB, 1280x1024)

354 KB PNG

"So, what's the rub?" You asked as the engineer punched the order for another cup of joe into the machine. The machine dispensed a small polystirine cup and began to fill it as he spoke.

"Do you want the abriviated explanation or the longwinded one?" The chief asked as he took a sip from his mug, before retreiving the now-filled cup and offering it to you.

"I'll take the short one." You decided as you took the small polystirine cup from the engineer and took a sip. The coffee from the food dispensers was always a bit off, but this one seemed to take the cake. Coffee was not meant to have a coppery after-taste.

"Ok, short story is that we're going to need a significant repair at the very least in order to fix up the damage we sustained. As such, our leave time is probably going to extend up to around a month at the very least." The engineer explained, before taking a sip from his mug. You weren't sure about what shocked you more, the fact that your vessel would be out of service for at least a month or the fact that the engineer was unphased by having drank such bad coffee.

>Ask for the longwinded explanation, why the hell is your ship going to be spending at least a month in drydock?
>Ask about the oppotunities you'll have in dock, if your ship is down for a long time then maybe you can make some more in-depth changes.
>Ask about what the engineering crew will be doing in the meantime, it wouldn't make sense for them to just be let free.
>Other (write-in)

>>3947197
>Ask about the oppotunities you'll have in dock, if your ship is down for a long time then maybe you can make some more in-depth changes.

>>3947197
>Ask about the oppotunities you'll have in dock, if your ship is down for a long time then maybe you can make some more in-depth changes.

>>3947197
>>Ask about the opportunities you'll have in dock, if your ship is down for a long time then maybe you can make some more in-depth changes.

>>3947197
>>Ask about the oppotunities you'll have in dock, if your ship is down for a long time then maybe you can make some more in-depth changes.

"Well, what refit options would we have in dock?" You asked as you took another sip of your drink, and once again had to stop yourself from grimacing at the taste.

"That depends on what you want. As standard, any warships undergoing major work will be upgraded to match the newest production block. So that will happen regardless of any choices you make." The engineer stated as he turned and walked towards an empty section of the room, only for another table and set of benches to rise up out of the floor. Giving you a place to talk without crowding the space around the food dispenser.

"What about more non-standard equipment?" You asked as you sat down on the opposite side of the table. While it was all well and good to simply find more standard-issue guns and slap them on, having the option to stick on non-standard equipment gave you a lot more flexibility for refitting.

"Aside from the issue of actually getting the things to fit, smaller modifications like adding bolt-on systems such as small sensor packages and lighter point defense guns will be fairly easy. Heavier refits like mounting larger guns, installing additional weapons systems, or overhauling anything related to the reactor and drive system will take a lot longer. Not to mention that the deeper refits tend to be against regs." The engineer explained the process simply enough that you were able to understand with no complications. Until he brought up how some modifications were considered to be essentially illegal.

"Why would deeper refits be against regs? Most captains are allowed to obtain and mount military-grade equipment as they see fit." You asked with no small amount of confusion. Hell, your old ship -the UNSC Hoel- mounted a set of non-standard engine couplings and nobody seemed to care. Hell, it was part of the reason why the ship had been temporarily seconded to ONI.

"That reg also says that any modifications have to be sustainable and easy to repair with automated systems. Granted, that can be circumvented with a decent AI and a competent cheif engineer, but if a book-basher takes notice then they'll try and have you up on regs as soon as possible." The engineer shrugged, nonverbally signaling his confusion and contempt of the regs as they stood. Both of you knew that in the war against the Covenant, some of the more silly regs had to be ignored for the sake of fighting power.

>"Where would I find information on successful refits? There has to be a more official system."
>"Is there anything that would be beneficial to engineering in particular?"
>"How would we go about getting the parts for the upgrades?"
>Other (write-in)

>>3947333
>>"Is there anything that would be beneficial to engineering in particular?"

>>3947333
>>"Is there anything that would be beneficial to engineering in particular?"

>>3947333
>>"Is there anything that would be beneficial to engineering in particular?"

"Is there anything that would be beneficial to engineering in particular?" You asked, now that the chief of engineering had been willing to furnish you with information, you decided to give him the offer of a reward.

"Aside from basic stuff like an actual break room rather than a refitted cargo bay." The chief began slowly, before gesturing around the room. You could still see the markings of where supply crates had been stacked could still be seen. "I'd have to take a look once we get the full brief on what the repairs to the engine would look like before I can give

"Ok, let's assume that we'll be getting the same engines as we cast off with. What would those engines need?" You took a different tactic now. While you were sure that the refit would include something to do with the reactor and engines, you had to assume that if work was going to be done to it, then the work would most likely just be a repair job rather than a refit.

"Well if we're just going from the base model, then we need a set of civilian-grade power regulators. The standard regulators are fine, but they need to be calibrated way too often. Civilian-grade regulators have an automatic subroutine that handles most of the calibration for us, and we can use the spared time to work on other tasks." The chief scratched the stubble of hair growing on his chin as he spoke, apparently deep in thought at a seemingly minor issue with some major implications.

"Shouldn't something like that be standard on all UNSC ships?" You asked it seemed like a bit of a stupid thing to omit. But then again, you cast off without an AI. The UNSC was looking for ways to cut costs wherever possible right now.

"The pre-war Paris class vessels had that feature, but they required between a couple of weeks and a couple of months to initially calibrate. And with the need to make ships quickly, it just got left behind." The chief shrugged, before taking another swig of coffee, leaving you to ponder your next question.

>"Where would I find information on successful refits? There has to be a more official system."
>"How would we go about getting the parts for the upgrades?"
>Take your leave and return to the bridge. [TIMESKIP TO TRIBUTE]
>Other (write-in)

>>3947465
>>Take your leave and return to the bridge. [TIMESKIP TO TRIBUTE]

>>3947465
>Well tell me what you'd need on my end to get those power regulators and I'll see what I can do.
>>Take your leave and return to the bridge. [TIMESKIP TO TRIBUTE]

>>3947465
>>Take your leave and return to the bridge. [TIMESKIP TO TRIBUTE]

>>3947465
>>3947475

>>3947475
This.

>>3947465
>"How would we go about getting the parts for the upgrades?"

>>3947465
>Other (write-in)
How would bolting on say a convenant AA gun to to the blind spot of our engines area work? It was a exploitable blind spot the rebels used.

>>3947465
>"Where would I find information on successful refits?"
>"How would we go about getting the parts for the upgrades?"
>"Any opinions on how to plug the vulnerability in the engines area?"

"Well tell me what you'd need on my end to get those power regulators and I'll see what I can do." You assured the head of engineering, before finally finishing off your coffee. This time, however, you couldn't help but grimace at the aftertaste. The engineer seemed to grin at your discomfort, before replying.

"Sure, I should be able to do most of the legwork myself. Though maybe getting the catering unit serviced would be a good idea?" The chief joked, before sighing. "Either way, I won't take up any more of your time."

"I'll see you around." You said your goodbye, before getting up from the bench. The chief simply nodded in acknowledgment, rather than saying goodbye. None of the engineers watched you go, all of them either unconcerned that you were going or more concerned with making the most of their break period. However, it seemed that most of the crew was just as unconcerned about rank as they were. The first salute you got of the day was when you were saluted by the marine on guard duty outside the bridge.

The rest of the trip to Tribute was relatively quiet. Dyad's condition improved and she returned to normal. The ship stayed together, and regular checkups on the ship assigned as your mule confirmed that they were also doing well. Eventually -after around a month in slipspace- you arrived at Epsilon Eridani. As one of the most built-up systems in human space, infrastructure had been set up to allow ships to drop out of slipspace very close to any one of the planets in the system. You detached from the frigate that had carried you here and set about bringing your crew out of cryosleep. The first to be thawed out were the medical teams, who then helped in slowly taking the wounded out of their tubes and ensuring that they were stable. Once everyone was thawed out and all systems had been safety checked, you gave the order to head into dock.

Your navigation officer began to spool up the engines, bringing them fully online for the first time in a month, only to be yelled at by at least three different dockyard traffic controllers. Apparently, the damage report sent off automatically by Diana had resulted in your ship being automatically flagged as a possible navigation hazard, and as such, they would tow you into dock rather than trusting that you would be able to get into dock under your own power. As such, you help your place until a small flotilla of tugs arrived to take your ship into dock. However, the Dawn wasn't taken directly to its repair dock. Instead, the ship was towed to a large space station, where three more UNSC warships in various states were docked. The tugs dragged you into position, and a set of docking arms extended from the station in order to allow your crew to disembark.

>CONT

>>3948520

>Disembark with the rest of the crew, you might as well leave the ship while you have the option.
>Take a pelican off the ship, you want to get down to the planet as soon as possible.
>Stay aboard the Dawn for a while, if anyone wants to see you in person then this will be where they go first.
>Other (write-in)

>>3948520
>>Disembark with the rest of the crew, you might as well leave the ship while you have the option.

>>3948527
>>Disembark with the rest of the crew, you might as well leave the ship while you have the option.

>>3948527
>Stay aboard the Dawn for a while, if anyone wants to see you in person then this will be where they go first.

>>3948527
>Stay aboard the Dawn for a while, if anyone wants to see you in person then this will be where they go first.

Need a tiebreaker

>>3948614
I'll change to
>Stay aboard the Dawn for a while, if anyone wants to see you in person then this will be where they go first.

>>3948520
>>Disembark with the rest of the crew, you might as well leave the ship while you have the option.

I want to show our brother our damaged ship before its all patched up.

>>3948527
>Disembark with the rest of the crew, you might as well leave the ship while you have the option.

>>3949233 has a point.

>>3948527
Supporting >>3949233

>>3948527
>>Take a pelican off the ship, you want to get down to the planet as soon as possible.

File: refit cradle.jpg (232 KB, 1502x825)

232 KB JPG

You decided to stay on the Dawn for now. After all, someone had to be on board in order to hand over control of the ship to the head of the work crew. Though in this case it would probably be the manager responsible for a group of docks. Either way, it would give your long-suffering XO a chance to get a longer break. Either way, it took around half an hour for your crew to fully filter off. Leaving you, your AI, and some of the ship's marine complement onboard. The first civilians to board the ship was the replacement navigator and engineering crew. They took their stations and soon your vessel was undocked from the offloading station and en-route to the berth assigned to you.

Tribute's orbital docks were mainly used for final assembly, fitting out and repair work. And while a lot of the work was performed at dozens of orbital dockyard platforms -massive kilometer size plates of metal that hosted most of the required facilities- a lot of extensive work was performed at smaller repair cradles. These cradles were rough, vaguely box-shaped constructs. Each cradle was fitted with a variety of repair booms, docking mounts, and storage holds to help repair ships. In each cradle was an escort ship with some form of severe damage. Destroyers with entire armor plates burned away, frigates missing their engines, and corvettes that had soaked rounds they were meant to dodge. You watched these vessels pass by for around a quarter of an hour before finally, you arrived at an empty cradle. The tugs pushed close to the dock, and let the civilian ship pilot take you in. A few minutes later, the Dawn was finally docked in place. Soon after, a short, fat man waddled onto the bridge.

You weren't sure what was more suprising; the fact that his shirt's buttons were still holding or the fact that he walked with a swagger that screamed authority. He looked around the room, and his hard eyes settled on you.

"You the commander of this ship?" The short, portly man asked, his podgy sausage finger carrying a huge amount of authority, even as it was poked in your general direction.

"Yeah, I'm going to guess that you're the guy I'm handing my ship over to." You asked, leaning up against the side of your chair.

"Yeah, wanna say how you got fucked up this badly? I've seen a lot of plasma burns, maneuvering impacts, impact damage from debris, you name it. But this shit? What the hell did you do?" The dock manager asked, gesturing with his hand as if to encompass the whole ship in a sweeping declaration. "I mean, a good number of your missile pods are blown out, but I don't see any plasma damage around them. And the damage to the ventral hull is even more out of place."

>Write-in

>>3952663
"That's Classified"

The big transport died, right? The one they were tying to jury-rig together?

>>3952663
>"You should see the other fleet."

We could at least allude to them being Innies, no?

>>3952719
Yeah, the rebels didn't have time to complete it before the UNSC fleet arrived. They used the slipspace propulsion sections to try and take some improvised habitation sections to FTL. You don't know how well they fared, given how hectic things got, but you can find out if you look at your records.

>>3952663
>You should see the other fleet. But really, that's classified.
Por que no los dose?

>>3952663


"That would be a very long story, but let s just say that anything out of place, did happen this time. War is chaos and there aren t many times its in our control, same for the wounds it gives. Ah chief, the incoming fleet should be in a similar shape, if not worse."


"Another thing, inform me on the state
of repairs. Have a nice day and good work sir !"


////


Actually change my vote

to support this vote


>>3952767

>>3952663

>>3952767
I like it.

>>3952767
Supporting

>>3952663
Murphy happened

>>3952767
Supporting

>>3952767
dis, ONI spooks would get mad if we snitched

>>3952767
Supporting

"You should see the other fleet. But really, that's classified." You replied with a cocksure smile, while you'd enjoy the chance to tell this fat bastard about how many kills you had in that battle alone, you were sure that would break quite a few OPSEC rules. And ONI really wouldn't like that.

"Yeah, yeah, classified my ass. Officers like you spend a week at the helm and think you're hot shit. And guess what? Me and my guys have to fix your mistakes!" The maintenance manager snapped, the short man apparently thinking that he could get away with being a dick. The man began to advance into the bridge, apparently intending to get close enough to yell into your face, when a familiar figure slinked into the doorframe. If the man's cocksure attitude and almost surgical stare weren't identifiable enough, then the plasma pistol dangling off his hip in flagrant violation of UNSC regulations was a sure-fire reminder of just who you were looking at.

And in spite of all that, you still didn't know his name. Though you guessed that was part of his act.

"If you need someone else to confirm that he was on a clandestine mission, then perhaps I can help?" The ONI agent you had previously worked with called from just outside the door. His voice turned the short engineer towards him, but one look at the triangular insignia on the spook's uniform stopped him dead. At this, the spook walked through the door, his steps barely making a sound as he moved.

"T-That won't be necessary." The manager stuttered at the spook, before turning back to face you. The man's attitude having apparently just as quickly as he had paled. "Anyways, I'll be responsible for ensuring that your vessel is quickly brought back into operational service. We will work with your AI and the relevant military authorities in order to facilitate that."

"Please make sure that you do your job properly this time? The commander has been a very valuable asset to us in recent months, we would hate for his performance to be hampered in any way." The spook said from behind the man. You weren't sure if the spook's veiled accusation at a lack of competence from the manager were based in fact or not, but they ruffled the podgy produce's feathers enough.

"Of course! She'll be just as good as the day she left drydock, I promise." The supervisor squeaked, almost like a mouse getting stepped on.

>CONT

>>3954083

"Then shouldn't you be going?" The spook asked as he stepped aside, allowing the dock manager to leave. And he took that chance as soon as it was offered, not even bothering to say goodbye." The spook chuckled as the portly man waddled out of the bridge with barely disguised haste. The ONI agent then turned to look at you, his smile and body language trying to be soothing while his eyes bored into you. "Ah, it's been too long since I've been able to do that. Though I have to admit, you've been a bit of trouble today, Commander Wells. I was waiting for you to disembark at the loading station. I think that we looked a little silly there, standing there in our coats and all. We only found out that you would be staying on the ship when you undocked and took off."

"Well, if I had been informed that you had in fact been waiting then I would have come out to meet you." You stated as you walked towards the spook, and offering him your hand. The spook shook, a self-assured smile on his lips.

"Ah, but where's the fun in that?" The spook asked, and you wouldn't gratify that question with an answer that you both already knew.

>Get to the point, ONI isn't known for social calls, and you've not reported back on your last mission.
>Ask about your previous "cargo", the floating alien you handed to him.
>Ask about him, you don't know much about this guy, and at least a name would be helpful.
>Other (write-in)

>>3954086
>>Get to the point, ONI isn't known for social calls, and you've not reported back on your last mission.

>>3954086
>>Get to the point, ONI isn't known for social calls, and you've not reported back on your last mission.

>>3954086
>Get to the point, ONI isn't known for social calls, and you've not reported back on your last mission.

>>3954086
>Get to the point, ONI isn't known for social calls, and you've not reported back on your last mission.
Much as I'm dying to know about the Engineer, I know better than to ask for stuff we don't need to know..

>>3954086
>>Get to the point, ONI isn't known for social calls, and you've not reported back on your last mission.

>>3954086
>>Get to the point, ONI isn't known for social calls, and you've not reported back on your last mission.

>>3954086
I hope we get to catch another alien friend soon. We need an Engineer we can keep.

>>3954086
>>Get to the point, ONI isn't known for social calls, and you've not reported back on your last mission.

"So, what's an ONI spook doing here?" You asked as casually as you could. All in all, you had things planet-side you wanted to get on with. And while you knew that your debriefing was slated to happen reguardless, you'd prefer to have some time to relax before being dragged over the coals.

"I was ordered here to debrief you on your operation and to recover the equipment we lent to you. While we do have half the story from our prowler, but the situation changed drastically since then." The spook confirmed your suspicions with a small nod. "And as your XO suffered a concussion during the action, we would prefer to debrief you first."

"I see, and would we be having the debriefing here?" You asked. You hoped that you could have the debriefing on your ship, as ONI seemed like the kind of people who would debrief you in a room that could be easily vented into space.

"Well, my orders state that I should take you onto an assigned prowler." The spook stated, before backing up. Apparently, he had spotted that you were a bit uncomfortable at going onto their ship. "But if you would be more comfortable here, then that would be alright. Assuming that your AI is willing to provide systems access and not snoop on the conversation?"

>Have the debriefing here, on the Dawn.
>Have the debriefing on the ONI prowler.

>>3955227
>>Have the debriefing here, on the Dawn.
Seems fair to me

>>3955227
>Have the debriefing on the ONI prowler.
Let's not get our friendly ONI contact in trouble

>>3955227
>>Have the debriefing here, on the Dawn.
I feel like this is him extending a hand after the shit we just went through.

>>3955227
>>Have the debriefing here, on the Dawn.

>>3955227
>Have the debriefing on the ONI prowler.

>>3955227
>>Have the debriefing here, on the Dawn.

>>3955227
If Systems Access means ONI goes poking around in our AI's code to redact things, then

>Have the debriefing on the ONI Prowler.

The last thing we need is our AI feeling violated because ONI fudged with her memories again.

>>3955227
>>Have the debriefing on the ONI prowler.
we did good so we wont likely be vented

>>3955227
>>3955244
Switching to
>Have the debriefing on the ONI prowler.

>>3955324
>>3955299
switching to
>>Have the debriefing on the ONI prowler.

>>3955227
>>Have the debriefing on the ONI prowler.

File: Prowler office.jpg (283 KB, 1920x1080)

283 KB JPG

"We'll take the briefing on your ship. No need to get you in trouble." You decided, in part motivated by the demand for you to give ONI access to your ship's computers. You knew for a fact that your AI had already had a section of her memory wiped once, and you weren't looking to have that happen again.

"Very good, if you would please follow me." The spook smiled, and lead you out of the Dawn. You only noticed after walking out of the bridge that a pair of ONI security guards had been waiting outside. Though aside from them, you spotted no more obvious ONI personnel as you were lead towards the closest airlock. Rather brazenly, the ONI prowler had docked itself right on the port-side command tower airlock. You mentioned nothing as the four of you walked through the flexible metal tube, and left behind the dark minimalist confines of your ship for the bright minimalist interior of the ONI prowler. Where white and light grey walls stood in stark contrast to the wooden floors. The ONI guards were left behind at the door as the spook lead you deeper into the ship.

"So, this is a prowler? Seems a bit extravagant for its role." You asked as you ascended the stairs past yet another set of well-trimmed plants. Generally speaking, plants were a very odd thing to find on a ship outside of a dedicated hydroponics system. And usually, it meant that the ship was owned by someone who could afford to put form over function.

"Well, she isn't a true prowler. She used to be a luxury yacht, though we bought her out of the docks when the previous buyer ended up on the wrong side of a Covenant fleet. We made our own modifications, but a ship like her has her uses" The ONI agent replied, flippantly gesturing at one of the walls. You couldn't help but notice that the minimalist architecture had robbed the wall of many of its fittings. Access panels and terminals were replaced with small holographic projectors that sat inlaid into the wall itself. You assumed that this extended to almost everything else on the ship.

"Is there a good side to a Covenant fleet?" You asked sarcastically. Both of you knew that there wasn't a good side to something that heralded the massed slaughter of humans.

>CONT

>>3955451

"Well, that depends on if you're in a prowler or not." The agent admitted as the pair of you entered into an open office area. Though calling it an office was a bit disingenuous. The large room was furnished with a variety of shelves stocked with books, booze and a pair of Covenant weapons. A plasma rifle and what looked like some sort of triangular rifle, though it lacked a stock of any kind. A minimalistic desk and a set of chairs sat on a metal disk raised slightly higher than the rest of the wooden floor. You assumed that the disk could rotate in order to allow a better orientation relevant to the massive floor-to-ceiling window that allowed a great view of the dockyard outside. The spook gestured to one of the seats. "Please, sit."

You sat down, taking one of the seats in front of the desk. The spook took the seat behind the desk and tapped a few times on the built-in terminal. "Recording start. Agent Quezon performing the debriefing of Commander Norman Wells of the UNSC Dawn's Early Light."

The agent waited for the terminal to flash green in confirmation, before pressing a button to fold it back into the desk itself. And with that out of the way, he leaned forward and rested his hands on the back of the terminal as he began to speak. "Commander, could you please tell me what happened when you translated into the system?"

>Write-in

>>3955453
>http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive.html?tags=Halo:%20Wolfpack
We came out near the Gas Giant of hoover, I had us move to Theta Montrose Delta while having the prowler move to Faber to maximize the area covered for scanning.

>>3955460
Supporting

"We came out near the Gas Giant of hoover, I had us move to Theta Montrose Delta while having the prowler move to Faber to maximize the area covered for scanning." You began to recall the events of the operation, and going over the start of the report in as brisk of a manner as possible.

"Yes, that corroborates with the prowler's report well enough. So we can cross that off the list. Tell me, how did you find the rebel supply stash?" The spook brushed off the start of your personal report, and instead went for the more lucrative part of the mission. The supply stash you had found.

"To be honest? We just got lucky. They had rigged the facility to send out periodic comms bursts that we picked up. All we had to do from there was wait for them to send out another burst and we were in." You shrugged. While you could have added that having the semi-passive sensors helped and that the presence of your AI made all the difference, you really didn't need to add that. It was already in your report.

"Yes, and you recovered a good haul of Covenant weapons from the site before destroying it with a stolen nuke. But can you please explain to me why you chose to destroy it all? Supplies like that are still useful to humanity after all." Agent Quezon asked about why you had destroyed the rest of the supplies and had spared the Covenant tech.

>"We wanted an excuse to visibly take their comms station, so we had to get plausible deniability."
>"We couldn't carry it all out, and we couldn't leave it all to the rebels. So I grabbed what we couldn't get codes for."
>"Most of the stuff in there was worthless to the wider UNSC, but useful to the rebels. We could take the loss."
>Other (write-in)

>>3955544
>>"We couldn't carry it all out, and we couldn't leave it all to the rebels. So I grabbed what we couldn't get codes for."

>>3955544
>>"We couldn't carry it all out, and we couldn't leave it all to the rebels. So I grabbed what we couldn't get codes for."

>>3955544
>>"We couldn't carry it all out, and we couldn't leave it all to the rebels. So I grabbed what we couldn't get codes for."

>>3955544
>We couldn't carry it all out, and we couldn't leave it all to the rebels. So I grabbed what we couldn't get codes for."

>>3955544
>>"We couldn't carry it all out, and we couldn't leave it all to the rebels. So I grabbed what we couldn't get codes for."

>>3955544
>>"We couldn't carry it all out, and we couldn't leave it all to the rebels. So I grabbed what we couldn't get codes for."

"We couldn't carry it all out, and we couldn't leave it all to the rebels. So I grabbed what we couldn't get codes for." You answered. You had made sure to include the recovered codes and serial numbers in your first report, so you knew that ONI had gotten them.

"Fair enough, and the serial numbers you were able to recover have already lead to quite a few leads on rebel suppliers and supporters. We have plans in place to deal with them, but that's as much as I can say. Though please, continue." Quezon calmly gestured for you to continue, and you obliged him.

"Between our discovery of the rebel supply base and the destruction of said base, we detected a hidden rebel comms base. We remained a distance away from it and used the assigned sub-prowler to deploy two squads of marines in a boarding action. We were able to gain a connection to the base's computer systems and mimic it, allowing the boarding team to successfully shut the base down and subdue the crew." You summarised the action that had taken place regarding the rebel sensor outpost. You got the idea that the spook didn't care as much about the start of the operation, so you cut down on everything but the bare essentials.

"Yes, that incident. Computer, orient to face Commander Wells and play video recording zero-bravo-two-zero-one. Playback from marker one, and pause at marker two." The agent ordered the computer, which then smoothly flipped over and up the face you. The screen came online with a snap and displayed the helmet camera of one of your marines. The video showed the marine breaching into the reactor room, and gunning down one of the armed guards. The recording stopped just after the man gunned down one of the unarmed techs, the video showing the body suspended in the middle of falling to the ground.

"As you can see in the recording commander, you ordered your marines to kill unarmed rebels. Can you please explain your reasoning, as this would appear to violate several laws against killing non-combatants." The agent gestured to the screen and the grisly screen on display.

>"With only two squads deployed and the chances of the rebels detecting them increasing by the minute, they couldn't afford to be weighed down by prisoners."
>"If we had captured the rebels, it would have taken valuable marines to guard them. And we didn't have the numbers to afford that."
>"There is no such thing as a non-combatant rebel. If given the chance they would have armed themselves, so we pre-empted that."
>Other (write-in)

>>3955648
>>"With only two squads deployed and the chances of the rebels detecting them increasing by the minute, they couldn't afford to be weighed down by prisoners."

>>3955648
>"With only two squads deployed and the chances of the rebels detecting them increasing by the minute, they couldn't afford to be weighed down by prisoners."

>>3955648
>"With only two squads deployed and the chances of the rebels detecting them increasing by the minute, they couldn't afford to be weighed down by prisoners."
Also the last time our marines stormed a reactor room they chose to self-destruct so we didn't want to take any chances

>>3955648
>"There is no such thing as a non-combatant rebel. If given the chance they would have armed themselves, so we pre-empted that."

Only good inne is a dead one

>>3955648
>>"With only two squads deployed and the chances of the rebels detecting them increasing by the minute, they couldn't afford to be weighed down by prisoners."
>additionally last time we tried to take a reactor they tried to self destruct,.

>>3955648
>>3955684

>>3955648

>>3955684
And to clarify
>"We couldn't take the risk of the tech attempting to initiate another self destruct after the last event."

>>3955684

support

"With only two squads deployed and the chances of the rebels detecting them increasing by the minute, they couldn't afford to be weighed down by prisoners. Additionally, if we had left the techs alive, they could have overloaded the reactor. It's what a previous group of rebels linked to them did, so I decided not to take the risk." You explained rather coldly. Killing unarmed civilians was never good, but the rebels had left you no choice. Either way, the spook seemed satisfied.

"Fair enough, that should be a good enough reason to keep it under wraps. Terminal offline." Quezon decided, before then ordering the terminal to turn off. The screen in front of you winked off before moving back to its flat position in the desk.

"Following our takeover of the station, we ascertained the location of the main rebel base and the strength of the forces guarding it. We lured them out by destroying the supply base and promptly destroyed almost all of their fleet. Once that was done, we moved closer to the rebel base in an attempt to blockade it, and transferred our prisoners to the ONI prowler before ordering it out of the system to get reinforcements." You continued your recollection of the events of the first stage of the battle with the rebels, eventually culminating at the departure of the ONI prowler.

"Yes, that about covers everything in the first report. Would you be able to tell us if there were any incidents between when the prowler left, and when the rebel reinforcements showed up?" The agent asked though he didn't seem too concerned about if there was actually anything to go on.

>Write-in

>>3955753
>"Yeah, the fuckers tried to sweet talk us, so I stalled for time to effect repairs after the slammed a MAC round into the hangar."

>>3955753
The Base Leader tried to bribe me off, with various offers, we were both stalling for time. Apparently he was the Rebel equivalent of a banker. his XO was likely former military.

>>3955753
>>3955766
Supporting

>>3955766
Supporting

>>3955766
+1

>>3955766
Support

"The Base Leader tried to bribe me off, with various offers, we were both stalling for time. Apparently, he was the Rebel equivalent of a banker. his XO was likely former military." You explained, and that got one hell of a response from the agent. While before he had seemed fairly uninterested in your report, he now looked at you with a keen look in his eye.

"A rebel banker you say? That's certainly... odd. Rebel cells don't like to share with each other, too many gaps for us to exploit. Though having a military XO makes sense, it lets him focus more on keeping other cells happy while his XO focusses on what's his." Quezon mused on the meaning behind the rebel cell's existence. You wouldn't provide much more info to him, as you didn't know much more than what you had put in your report, and he could spend as much time picking through that as he wanted.

"Well I guess he was the exception, they sent one hell of a force to check up on him." You lamented as you lent back in your chair, the smart materials in the seat molding to comfortably accommodate you. "With a destroyer and three frigates bearing down on us I couldn't effectively fight two enemy forces at once, so I ordered a missile strike against the rebel transport ships and beat a hasty retreat. After escaping via slipspace, we jumped back into the system and observed the rebels attempting to load their vessels up with as much salvage as they could in preparation for fleeing the system."

"Can you explain why you chose to engage the rebel fleet, even though you had so recently fled from them?" The spook was a bit annoyed at you changing the subject and knocking him out of his musing, but you didn't really care. The less time you had to spend on an ONI ship the better.

>"The opportunity to engage only half of their numbers presented itself, so it had to be taken."
>"The rebels were attempting to salvage parts from the destroyed freighters in order to escape with a large number of suppliers. They had to be stopped."
>Other (write-in)

>>3955883
>>"The rebels were attempting to salvage parts from the destroyed freighters in order to escape with a large number of suppliers. They had to be stopped."

>>3955883
>"The rebels were attempting to salvage parts from the destroyed freighters in order to escape with a large number of suppliers. They had to be stopped."

>>3955883
>"The rebels were attempting to salvage parts from the destroyed freighters in order to escape with a large number of suppliers. They had to be stopped."

>>3955883
>>"The rebels were attempting to salvage parts from the destroyed freighters in order to escape with a large number of suppliers. They had to be stopped."
>The plan was to harry them and keep them from leaving until the relief I requested came in. Sadly things did not go to plan.

>>3955898
>>3955883
>>3955892
Supporting

>>3955898
This

>>3955883
backing this>>3955898

>>3955898
dus gud

>>3955898
Backing

"The rebels were attempting to salvage parts from the destroyed freighters in order to escape with a large number of suppliers. They had to be stopped. The plan was to harry them and keep them from leaving until the relief I requested came in. Sadly things did not go to plan." You continued on, gesturing to the window looking out on the rest of the dockyard. Although you couldn't actually see your ship, it got the message across well enough.

"Indeed, I can't imagine that you intended to catch a MAC round. And the damage sustained by the rebel fighters was certainly not to plan." The spook sighed, apparently he felt a bit of empathy towards just how wrong your attack had gone. Admittedly, you had lucked out when the MAC round only grazed the lower part of your ship. But the horde of rebel attack craft had brutalized you. "Did you have any further contact with the rebel commander after that?"

>Write-in

>>3956589
>Yes, if a bit short lived. He offered intelligence on other cells, more covenant weapons, even nukes. Anything to get us off his back. I gave him an option to surrender but unfortunately he decided otherwise.

>>3956636
Supporting

>>3956636
support

>>3956636
This

"Yes, if a bit short-lived. He offered intelligence on other cells, more covenant weapons, even nukes. Anything to get us off his back. I gave him an option to surrender but unfortunately, he decided otherwise." You revealed. The spook nodded, though you could tell that he was a bit unhappy at your choice.

"Well, I can understand not taking that offer. Payoffs between UNSC captains and rebels are never viewed well. Though I would have preferred if you had taken that offer. Getting intel on other cells would have been very valuable." Quezon told you what you could only take as ONI's view on the matter.

"He wanted to provide half of the payment in a dead-drop after we let him escape. Most likely he would have given us false information as part of the first payment, and simply wouldn't have provided anything at the dead-drop. We couldn't take the risk that he would be trustworthy in return for letting a major cell escape." You explained your choice, before then adding. "Not to mention the likelihood that there could have been a bomb included in their payment, and that the intel could have been a means for him to get rid of competitors without having anything traceable back to him."

"Well, fair enough. We have the rest of your report to refer back to. Though before we wrap this up, is there anything else you want to add?" Quezon asked for your final words on what had happened, and how you had responded to it all.

>Write-in

>>3956741
>Nothing I can think of.

>>3956741
>That's all I have to say about the matter.

>>3956762
Supporting

>>3956762

support

"Nothing I can think of." You stated flatly, you didn't think there was much more for you to add. Saying that you had done the best you could in the situation was way too corny, and basically screamed that you thought that you had fucked up.

"Fair enough, thank you for your time commander. Terminal, end recording." The agent ordered the terminal, which flashed twice in confirmation. "Well, at least that was short. Though it sounds like it corroborates with what was in your report."

"So, what now?" You asked the spook, who leaned back in his seat with an almost cat-like stretch.

"Well, officially I should thank you for your assistance and send you off on your way. Though if you have some more questions about anything else involving your work with ONI then feel free to ask. I should be able to squirrel away some time for a couple of questions." Quezon offered, giving you a small opening to find out about a few things that had been bugging you for a while.

>Ask about the alien you handed to them, is it still around?
>Ask about what ONI will be doing with the Covenant tech you recovered.
>Ask about any future options to work with ONI.
>Aks about compensation, you went out and got whacked for them. You deserve some payment.
>Other (write-in)

>>3957043
>>Ask about compensation, you went out and got whacked for them. You deserve some payment.

>>3957043
>>Ask about compensation, you went out and got whacked for them. You deserve some payment.

>>3957043
>>Ask about compensation, you went out and got whacked for them. You deserve some payment.

>>3957043
>>Aks about compensation, you went out and got whacked for them. You deserve some payment.


maybe for modifications of our ship

>>3957043
>Ask about the alien you handed to them, is it still around?

>>3957056
I like this. Maybe see if we can keep the upgrade(s) that were installed for this mission?

>>3957043
>>3957103

Also see if we should refer to him as Quezon in the future?

>>3957103

>>3957103

that would be good too.

"So, what am I looking at in terms of compensation?" You asked Quezon. While it hadn't really taken this mission with the promise of getting paid, recent events had changed that dramatically. And now you needed something a bit more substantial to leave with.

"You don't like working without payment?" The spook smiled, though the fact that it didn't reach his eyes told you that he wasn't pleased. "That's not what I was hoping for, but I can't say I'm surprised. A lot of officers only help us if we can help them in return. What would you like?"

"What are my options?" You answered his question with a question of your own. While you could make a shot in the dark and hope you got what you wanted, you wanted to see how far you could push things.

"The first option would be to simply keep the equipment we loaned to you. The semi-passive scanner suite, the sub-prowler, and the greatsword bomber. You would be able to get away with three new systems for your ship." The agent began, recalling that they had already furnished you with some equipment for the mission. Though by the fact that he was offering it as payment, you guessed that they wanted it back. "Though given the analysis of the various reports provided by your crew, it would seem as if you only made effective use of one of those items. And it doesn't seem like most of the equipment would be that useful in the long-run. Wolfpacks tend to be very fast, aggressive formations. The semi-passive scanners and the sub-prowler aren't well suited for a stand-up brawl."

"The second option would be access to a single upgrade straight from us. I know that you were assigned to one of the vessels assigned to field-test a number of prototype systems for us, so you have experience with how that functions. And having a field-asset capable of testing our equipment against the Covenant would be very useful to us. But I must stress that if your vessel is boarded and there is a possibility of being captured then you will be required to immediately destroy your vessel." The second option sent you back all the way to your days on the Hoel. Back when your first CO had decided to score some additional brownie points by farming his training ship out to ONI to test some new systems. A fair amount of it had been innocuous stuff, but for one of their fighter craft, ONI had assigned some jacked-up guy in power armor to help out with the testing. Ostensibly as the pilot, but everyone knew that he was also there as security.

God you still remembered that creep. You had no idea that someone could make a ton of armor plating move that quietly.

>CONT

>>3957320

The spook snapped your attention back to the present with his final offer. "The final option is what we were originally planning to give you as recompense. A recommendation for immediate promotion. Your effectiveness in combat has already put you in a good position, but we both know that FLEETCOM is very slow when it comes to recognizing greatness. If they had their way then you would have to wait at least a good few months -maybe even a few years- before getting the command experience required to be promoted to captain. With our recomendation and appreciation of your services to the office, you could cut straight through the bureaucracy and take what should already be yours."

>Keep your existing systems! They've served you well, and hopefully, they will continue to do so. (GAIN: Semi-passive scanners, Black-Cat sub-prowler, and Greatsword bomber)
>Take a look at the ONI upgrades! You've already seen how useful they can be on a corvette, imagine how good they can be for a frigate. (GAIN: Access to Tier:1 ONI ship upgrades)
>Get promoted! Ship upgrades are all well and good, but getting promoted gives you far more options overall. (GAIN: Promotion to the rank of Captain)
>Ask for something else. (Write-in)

>>3957323
>Get promoted! Ship upgrades are all well and good, but getting promoted gives you far more options overall. (GAIN: Promotion to the rank of Captain)
If I remember right, our rank was the reason we got a frigate instead of a nice beefy destroyer.

>>3957320
>>Get promoted! Ship upgrades are all well and good, but getting promoted gives you far more options overall. (GAIN: Promotion to the rank of Captain)
A promotion probably gives us more resources and influence in FLEETCOM anyway

>>3957323
>Get promoted! Ship upgrades are all well and good, but getting promoted gives you far more options overall. (GAIN: Promotion to the rank of Captain)

I get the feeling we lost some points with our new ONI friends due to greed. I do want to keep working with them in the future get to do cool spook shit.

>>3957323
>>Get promoted! Ship upgrades are all well and good, but getting promoted gives you far more options overall. (GAIN: Promotion to the rank of Captain)

>>3957323
>Get promoted! Ship upgrades are all well and good, but getting promoted gives you far more options overall. (GAIN: Promotion to the rank of Captain)

>>3957323
>Get promoted! Ship upgrades are all well and good, but getting promoted gives you far more options overall. (GAIN: Promotion to the rank of Captain)

"I'll take the promotion then, there's no point waiting an extra few months when I might be dead in that time." You decided in an instant. While you knew that you had been doing well thus far, you knew that your life expectancy was fairly short should you actually engage the Covenant for a protracted campaign. Destroyers assigned to wolf packs were only expected to last for a few weeks, and you were in a frigate. The sooner you got something beefier, the better.

Not to mention that it meant that your family would get more money before you met your end.

"Well, at least our AI didn't make a mistake when trying to predict what option you would prefer." The spook said, nodding all the while before checking his watch. An expensive clockwork watch, the kind that had to be manually wound on occasion. "Is that everything? I think I have time to answer one more question before you have to go."

>Ask about the alien you handed to them, is it still around?
>Ask about what ONI will be doing with the Covenant tech you recovered.
>Ask about any future options to work with ONI.
>Other (write-in)

>>3957384
>>Ask about any future options to work with ONI.
"Well if you need a ship again for this kind of stuff you know where to find me."

>>3957384
>>Ask about any future options to work with ONI.

>>3957384
>Ask about any future options to work with ONI

>>3957384
>>Ask about any future options to work with ONI.

>>3957384
>Ask about any future options to work with ONI.

Particularly any potential chances to abduct more aliens.

"Is there any other work you need done?" You asked the spook, who shuffled in his chair. Probably to get some air between him and the seat. You didn't blame him, the chairs were perfect for fitting to the unique shape of your back but in doing so they trapped heat.

"Not right now. And given the state of your ship..." The spook gestured with his hand in the direction of the Dawn, which was probably getting it's damaged sections hacked away right now. "I doubt you would want any work with us until after she's repaired."

"Well if you need a ship again for this kind of stuff you know where to find me." You nodded, before standing up to leave.

"That we do commander, or should I say... captain Wells." Quezon gave a genuine smile, before standing up. "We should be going now, if you like, I can charter a small ship to take you to Reach in preperation for your promotion ceremony? It should be slated to happen in around a week once we've sent off our reccomendation to FLEETCOM."

>Head immidiately to Reach. You can suprise your family with your promotion once you're done there.
>Stay on Tribute. You need to see your family first, and deal with your crew getting into trouble.
>Other (write-in)

>>3957489
>>Stay on Tribute. You need to see your family first, and deal with your crew getting into trouble.

>>3957489
>Stay on Tribute. You need to see your family first, and deal with your crew getting into trouble.

>>3957489
>Stay on Tribute. You need to see your family first, and deal with your crew getting into trouble.

>>3957489
>Stay on Tribute. You need to see your family first, and deal with your crew getting into trouble.

>>3957489
>>Stay on Tribute. You need to see your family first, and deal with your crew getting into trouble.

>>3957489
>Stay on Tribute. You need to see your family first, and deal with your crew getting into trouble.

>>3957489
>Stay on Tribute. You need to see your family first, and deal with your crew getting into trouble.

We can impress brother with damaged ship, then Promotion after. Having him see our promotion first might give him the wrong idea about glory in this line of work.

>>3957542
Agreed

"I'll be staying on Tribute for a bit. I have family to meet." You replied as Quezon lead you out of the office space. The pair of you once again traversing the clean white walls of the ONI yacht.

"Ah yes, your family. Can you do us a favor and tell your sister that our offer still stands?" Quezon said as the pair of you descended the stairs towards the airlock. The pair of security personnel still standing guard on either side.

"Is it normal for you to go snoop on people's families, or am I a special case?" You asked as you stepped off the stairs and made your way towards the airlock. The spook just laughed in response, and unsurprisingly you didn't see the funny side.

Still, you said your goodbyes and you left the ship. You walked back into the Dawn and didn't bother to wave the ONI prowler goodbye as it detached from your ship and left, leaving the space open for another docking tube from the refit cradle. After that, it took only a few minutes or you to return to your quarters, where you had already bagged up your personal effects, sans some clothes that you wanted to wear when meeting your family. It was around this time that you debated warning them of your arrival. Usually, everybody would either be at work or school, but as today was a public holiday -ostensibly in celebration of the official recognition of Tribute as a self-sufficient colony- they would all probably be at home. So you wouldn't have to go running around the planet looking for them. However, you didn't know what state their apartment would be in. If your memory was correct -and it usually was- then your sister's room would look like a bomb had gone off in it, while your brother's room was even more untidy. Your family would probably appreciate some time to get the place cleaned up.

>Call home first. Showing up unannounced is rude after all.
>Show up unannounced. It may be rude, but a good surprise is always welcome.
>Check up on your crew first. They may have only been planet-side for around an hour, but soldiers had a tendency to get locked up almost instantly.
>Other (write-in)

>>3957623
>Show up unannounced. It may be rude, but a good surprise is always welcome.

>>3957623
>Show up unannounced. It may be rude, but a good surprise is always welcome.
This could be funny

>>3957623
>>Show up unannounced. It may be rude, but a good surprise is always welcome.

>>3957623
>Check up on your crew first. They may have only been planet-side for around an hour, but soldiers had a tendency to get locked up almost instantly.
They have a hard time keeping out of trouble.

>>3957623
>>Show up unannounced. It may be rude, but a good surprise is always welcome.

>>3957623
>>Show up unannounced. It may be rude, but a good surprise is always welcome.

>>3957623
>>Show up unannounced. It may be rude, but a good surprise is always welcome.

You decided not to bother with informing your family that you would be arriving soon. With the number of ships that came and went every day, you were sure that the Dawn's arrival would slip through the cracks. After quickly chartering a place on a dropship headed down to the planet, and getting your transport arrangements in order, you quickly jumped into your quarter's small shower.

After taking a few minutes to clean yourself up, you dressed in the clothes you had picked out...

>Casual clothes! You won't draw too much attention and sends the right message.
>Deck gear! It's a nice intermediary between casual clothes and a dress uniform.
>Dress uniform! Nothing says "commissioned officer" like a dress uniform, even if wearing it also screams "massive tool".
>Other (write-in)

>>3958986
>>Deck gear! It's a nice intermediary between casual clothes and a dress uniform.

>>3958986
>>Casual clothes! You won't draw too much attention and sends the right message.

>>3958986
>Casual clothes! You won't draw too much attention and sends the right message.

>>3958986
>>Deck gear! It's a nice intermediary between casual clothes and a dress uniform.

>>3958986
>>Deck gear! It's a nice intermediary between casual clothes and a dress uniform.

>>3958986

>Deck gear! It's a nice intermediary between casual clothes and a dress uniform.

>>3958986
>>Deck gear! It's a nice intermediary between casual clothes and a dress uniform.

File: hoel patch{1}.jpg (17 KB, 297x299)

17 KB JPG

You decided on wearing your standard deck uniform, though officially it was the combat-ready uniform. The uniform consisted of a double-breasted olive drab tunic with matching trousers and a baseball-style cap. The tunic originally bore the seal of the UNSC Defense Force, though the version you wore ditched that in order to make it easier to produce. The patch on the shoulder still bore the emblem of the UNSC Hoel, which hadn't changed in the hundreds of years since the last vessel that bore the name in the US Navy.

You'd have to get that changed eventually, maybe you'd open it up to a contest to the crew. But for now you just pulled the patch off and shoved it into your bag.

Either way, you could wear the uniform off-ship without it getting you too much attention. At worst, people would think that you had just left your ship and hadn't had time to change. Which was partially true. The fact that it also bore your rank was also something you could make use of. However, there was one part of the uniform that you were a bit less hot on. The belt-worn pistol and holster. If you were on some outer colony shithole then you'd have no problems with open-carrying a firearm. But on a safe inner colony like Tribute it was over-the-top at worst and downright threatening at worst. Tribute's metropolitan areas were fairly anti-gun afterall, and you weren't looking to make people uncomfortable. Then again, your last mission involved you engaging rebels, and if word got out then you could very well be at risk.

>Take your sidearm. Even if you don't expect any trouble, it's part of the uniform for a reason.
>Leave your sidearm. Walking around one of the best-protected colonies in human space with a pistol sends the wrong message.

>>3959087
>>Leave your sidearm. Walking around one of the best-protected colonies in human space with a pistol sends the wrong message.

>>3959087
>Take your sidearm. Even if you don't expect any trouble, it's part of the uniform for a reason.
Regs are regs

>>3959087
>>Leave your sidearm. Walking around one of the best-protected colonies in human space with a pistol sends the wrong message.

>>3959087
>>Leave your sidearm. Walking around one of the best-protected colonies in human space with a pistol sends the wrong message.


>walking

call a car, we can probably permit ourselfs to have a car for a day for reach the quarter of our family.

>>3959087
>>Leave your sidearm. Walking around one of the best-protected colonies in human space with a pistol sends the wrong message.
Get a car/taxi like >>3959139 says

>>3959087
>Take your sidearm. Even if you don't expect any trouble, it's part of the uniform for a reason.
If we leave the gun, we may as well leave the uniform.

Rebels know our name and ship.

>>3959087
>>Take your sidearm. Even if you don't expect any trouble, it's part of the uniform for a reason.
No point in having a sidearm if you're not going to carry it.

>>3959094
Switching to
>Take your sidearm. Even if you don't expect any trouble, it's part of the uniform for a reason
Though can't we just conceal carry it or something?Or just take a car as anons have said.

You shoved your pistol -still in it's holster- into your backpack and hefted it onto your shoulder. Carrying a pistol around would send the wrong message, and if things went violent, then you could always fall back on your boot-knife and CQC training.

"Diana, where's the dropship assigned to take the remaining crew to the surface?" You asked your AI, who was going to remain running through the duration of the repair and refit cycle. You'd be keeping an eye on things through daily updates to your personal data-pad.

"Pelican bravo-one is preparing to launch from hanger port-six. All remaining crew members being directed to leave aboard that dropship." Your AI informed you as you left your room. You took one last look around the clean-stripped room, before leaving and making your way down to the hanger. With all of the recovered Covenant tech having been taken off your ship before you began your journey here, your pelicans had been transfered to the aft-most hangers in order to ensure that there was no chance of a minor breach occuring during routine flight ops. The last dosen members of your crew milled around the general area, some sat inside the dropship, some sat on the magnetised cargo pallet that would carry a few more pieces of equipment down to the planet for servicing. And standing by the ramp was the only pilot who had a problem with you, Lieutenant Perkins.

"Commander, got a minuite?" The pelican pilot asked as you approached, a couple of ensigns looked up and saluted you, but for the most part many of them ignored you.

>Talk with the pilot. Hopefully he's cooled down by now.
>Don't talk with him. You both have your opinions, and now isn't the time to go arguing.

>>3959207
>>Talk with the pilot. Hopefully he's cooled down by now.

>>3959207
>>Talk with the pilot. Hopefully he's cooled down by now.

>>3959207
>>Talk with the pilot. Hopefully he's cooled down by now.

>>3959207
>Talk with the pilot. Hopefully he's cooled down by now.
>

>>3959207
>>Talk with the pilot. Hopefully he's cooled down by now.

>>3959207
>Don't talk with him. You both have your opinions, and now isn't the time to go arguing.

>>Hopefully he's cooled down by now
Were it so easy.

>>3959207
>Don't talk with him. You both have your opinions, and now isn't the time to go arguing.

>>3959207
>>Talk with the pilot. Hopefully he's cooled down by now

Hope everything is going ok QM

You nodded at the pilot, who led you into the cockpit of the Pelican dropship, the two-seat cockpit was roomy enough for the two of you to talk comfortably. Perkins lent up against one of the seats, while you stood by the door. You waited in silence for a few seconds before you broke the silence. "So, what's this about?"

"Being an idiot, sir." Perkins sighed, before correcting himself to make sure there was no mistake in just who he thought was an idiot. "Specifically my actions around a month and a bit back sir."

"Perkins, you don't have to." You began, but you stopped after a gesture from the pilot. He was dead-set on explaining himself.

"Sir, please. Let me finish. Me and Checkman were close, he used to be my copilot for a while, and had been flying my wing for a while. He was a good pilot and an even better person. I let the loss get to me, and I let it color my judgement when we talked." Perkins explained, the pilot telling you things from his point of view. And you could definitely see yourself doing the same in his position. "So to put it bluntly sir, I'm sorry for yelling at you, blaming you for abandoning so many people, and generally being insubordinate."

"You don't need to apologize, that was very stressful for everyone." You assured the pilot, who seemed to relax at having his apology accepted rather than being told to leave the Dawn and never return.

>Ask if he blames the captain of the Furious.
>Ask if Checkman has any surviving family.
>Ask why it took him so long to apologize.
>Ask something else (write-in)
>Board the pelican and head down to Tribute.
>Other (write-in)

>>3966401
>>Ask if Checkman has any surviving family.

>>3966401

>Ask if Checkman has any surviving family.

>>3966401
>>Ask if Checkman has any surviving family.

>>3966401
>Ask if Checkman has any surviving family.
Though really, we should know this since it's the Captain's duty to write letters to next-of-kin.

"Does Checkman have any surviving family?" You asked the pilot. While Checkman's name rang a bell from when you were writing the next-of-kin letters, you couldn't remember the specifics off the top of your head.

"Yeah, a girlfriend and two kids on Meridian. His grandma is still kicking, along with both parents." Perkins explained, giving a small smile as he recalled his wingmate's family. He saw your look though and shook his head. "Checkman didn't like the idea of marrying while he was deployed, especially with Meridian's divorce laws. He wanted to get a local deployment, but the needs of the war put him on ships."

"Yeah, I remember now. Kinda surprising that his grandma's still alive, file said that she's pushing a hundred and ten." You nodded, remembering the pilot now. Checkman had quite a decent spread of deployments, from cutters to cruisers. Though the most interesting fact about him was that his grandmother was still alive. Medical tech had advanced a lot, but it was still expensive to live past eighty in a state that made living worth the expense.

"Yeah, she's stupid rich. Kinda envious to be honest, you could do a lot with her net worth. Sweet old lady though, especially given that most people as rich as her are scumbags." Perkins nodded, and you couldn't help but agree. Money went to people's heads, and your time working in security made sure you encountered a few of them before you made bridge-rating.

>Ask if he blames the captain of the Furious.
>Ask why it took him so long to apologize.
>Ask something else (write-in)
>Board the pelican and head down to Tribute.
>Other (write-in)

>>3966696
>What brought on the apology?

>>3966696
>>3966710
Backing

>>3966696
Backing this sure >>3966710

>>3966696
>>3966710
Backing

>>3966710
Support

"You know, if what had happened hadn't been brought up again, then things could have gone on well enough. What brought on the apology?" You asked the pilot flatly, who took a few seconds to clear his throat before explaining.

"I've been talking with my family sir, specifically my old man. He used to be an officer in the CMA early in the war. He told me a story about how his ship almost got destroyed because the commander didn't trust him and his flight. He impressed on me that an officer needs to be able to trust everyone under his command, and that requires the people under his command to own up to their mistakes and make amends." Perkins told you, revealing just who you could thank for having normalized relations with one of your pilots.

"Your father's a wise man." You nodded. The pilot's parent had single-handedly managed to solve the issue between you and Perkins, where apparently both you and the pilot had been happy to let lie.

"That he is sir." Perkins agreed with you. He opened his mouth to continue before a flashing icon on one of the pelican's console flashed green. "Ah, looks like everyone's here. Do you want me to drop you off somewhere or are you fine to get dropped off at the main UNSC airbase?"

>Land at the main UNSC airbase. You can get a connection flight from the nearby civilian airport.
>Get flown to your family's city. You're a commander with a promotion on the way. You can afford a bit of abuse.

>>3966859
>>Get flown to your family's city. You're a commander with a promotion on the way. You can afford a bit of abuse.

FUCK IT

>>3966859
>>Land at the main UNSC airbase. You can get a connection flight from the nearby civilian airport.

>>3966859
>Get flown to your family's city. You're a commander with a promotion on the way. You can afford a bit of abuse.

SHOW IT OFF

>>3966859
>Get flown to your family's city. You're a commander with a promotion on the way. You can afford a bit of abuse.

>>3966859
>Get flown to your family's city. You're a commander with a promotion on the way. You can afford a bit of abuse.

I mean, we did choose the 'lax maverick' option at character creation...

>>3966859
>>Get flown to your family's city. You're a commander with a promotion on the way. You can afford a bit of abuse.

>>3966859
>>Get flown to your family's city. You're a commander with a promotion on the way. You can afford a bit of abuse.

File: Space_tether.png (325 KB, 1042x720)

325 KB PNG

"Yeah, that would save me one hell of a wait." You took the pilot up on his offer, before relaying where you needed him to go. A few minutes later, the rest of the waiting crewmembers boarded the pelican, and a few minutes after you were taking off and flying away from your broken frigate.

While the majority of the UNSC's presence was in the capital city of Casbah -and as such was the original place where Perkins would be flying- your family was based in the city of Irbid. One of the two original cities of Tribute, and a point of contention among the population. Irbid was a decently sized city, it's two main points being the city's space teather and the remains of the colony ship that had been the seed that had created the city. The space teather's terminus station was primarily a civilian station, but military craft like the pelican dropship you were riding in was given landing priority. Dozens of hangers were used to accommodate shuttles to carry work crews to the various repair cradles, and your dropship landed in one of them. You quickly disembarked alongside a couple of other crew members who apparently had some business in Irbid. You quickly made your way over to the arrivals bay and boarded a climber just a few minutes before it departed.

By the time you had finished the three hours long decent, you had already arranged for some transport to pick you up. A local army soldier was waiting to pick you up in a warthog. The vehicle was an up-armored but unarmed version of the standard 'hog. And while the vehicle lacked the mounted chaingun, it still looked mean. While traffic in a city like Irbid would usually be horrible, your driver's local knowledge allowed you to quickly avoid the traffic and cut through to the residential block where your family was holed up. The apartment block they were in was only a few kilometers away from the base of the space elevator and the center of the city, and that made it a valuable place to stay. Hell, if it wasn't for your commission then you were sure that your family would have been forced to move to one of the pre-fab towns that had sprung up around the city.

>CONT

>>3968160

The apartment building that your family lived in was a fifty-year-old tower, a fairly bland lump of polycrete that stood around thirty-two stories high with an underground parking lot. Your driver pulled up next to the entrance of the building and popped the door to let you out. You thanked him for driving you out here and jumped out of the vehicle. After recovering your bag from the cargo bed on the back of the 'hog you hit the side of the vehicle twice, giving the signal for the driver to move off. You didn't bother watching him go, instead of making your way towards the entrance to the building. You could feel eyes focussed on you, and it didn't take too long to find the people staring at you. Just a few meters away was a small group of kids, who were looking over at you with wide eyes. You ignored them as you walked into the lobby of the building. The large but sparse room was decorated with a few bland paintings, some plants, and some seating. A receptionist sat at a desk by the door, though she didn't seem to notice as you walked in.

>Head straight up to your family's apartment. You don't want to wait much longer.
>Talk to the receptionist. Maybe you can get some info on the local situation.

>>3968162
>>Head straight up to your family's apartment. You don't want to wait much longer.

>>3968162
>Head straight up to your family's apartment. You don't want to wait much longer.

>>3968162
>>Head straight up to your family's apartment. You don't want to wait much longer.

>>3968162
>>Head straight up to your family's apartment. You don't want to wait much longer.

>>3968162
>Head straight up to your family's apartment. You don't want to wait much longer.

File: hotel interior.jpg (24 KB, 795x530)

24 KB JPG

Deciding to take the chance offered to you, you walked straight past the reception desk and went straight for the elevator. You tapped the button to call the elevator and boarded it as soon as it arrived. The ride up was fairly swift, if a bit jittery due to the elevator being an old cable-pulled version. However, as the elevator doors opened on your floor, you were greeted by an argument.

"You can't do that! The rent here is already above the market average, adding another ten percent onto that is going to force people out of their homes." Your sister stated with a hard edge that instantly made you stop in your tracks. Generally speaking your sister tended to be very laid back, it took a lot to make her show that she was annoyed. You began to creep forward as quietly as possible, heading down the corridor towards where the argument was coming from. At the same time, you pulled out your phone and turned on the recording app.

"This is my building lady, and last time I checked, I had the legal authority on raising the rent rates. Almost all of the other people living here don't have a problem with it, why the hell do you runners have a problem?" A nasally voice answered back. If you had to guess, he was the landlord that owned the building, and as such he was the asshole that had already attempted to price your family out. If you remembered correctly the case was still ongoing, and increasing their rents would just sap more money away from paying the legal fees for the court case.

"Because you're cutting the water and electricity bills for most of the people living here, you're letting them keep their current rates while forcing us and the other refugee families to pay an increased rate. That's discrimination, you've already been dragged to court over this and you're just gonna give us more ammunition for our case." Your sister said as you reached the T-junction at the end of the corridor, you silently lent out from around the corner, and looked at the scene in front of the apartment you were paying for. Your sister stood in the doorway with her arms crossed, her attention entirely focussed on the suit-wearing weasel in front of her.

"And who the hell is gonna care? I did a bit of looking after you started the case, none of you have the money to afford it going on for much longer, I can afford to drag it out. Besides, scum like you who let their homes burn and then lie about having a relative in the military don't deserve an easy ride." The landlord lent back with a smug grin on his face, and you felt your free hand curling into a fist as you watched your sister tense up at his insult. While you felt that he really deserved to get punched in the face, you did want to

>Make your presence known. Time to prove that your family is neither lying or poor.
>Keep listening in. The more evidence you can gather, the better you can help your family.
>Other (write-in)

>>3968308
>>Make your presence known. Time to prove that your family is neither lying or poor.

>>3968308
>>Make your presence known. Time to prove that your family is neither lying or poor.

>>3968308
>>Make your presence known. Time to prove that your family is neither lying or poor.

You decided that now was the time to get involved, and casually walked around the corner and into the corridor. Both your sister and the landlord were busy staring each other down, so you decided to butt in before anyone else could take the chance. "While I appreciate that you retain the legal right to raise your rates at your own pleasure. What do you think will happen if the audio of you harassing your clients gets out?"

"Now listen here you..." The landlord rounded on you, but unlike the drydock manager, he actually respected your rank and stopped dead the moment he saw your uniform. When he noticed the commander's insignia he promptly went sheet white. Your sister, on the other hand, had to stop herself from running over, instead of leaning up against the frame of the door with a big smile on her face.

"That caught your attention, didn't it?" You smiled, though it didn't reach your eyes. You shook your head before continuing. "Tell me, what good would a mass or unarmed civilians do against a foe that routinely cuts down our best-equipped soldiers and ships with little issue?"

"Hey, I didn't say-" The landlord tried to interject, but you cut him off. You didn't care much for his excuses.

"You know that civilian refugees couldn't do anything to save their homeworlds on their own. So why punish them for that?" You pressed on as you walked towards the pair of them, you kept your eyes on the landlord, fixing him with a particular glare taught to you at the fleet academy. "And with this being a war for the very survival of mankind, don't you think that making the lives of those who survived even harder is just a bit hypocritical?"

The landlord was silent for a few seconds, and you took this as his acceptance of defeat. "Now that you know that my family is not lying, I'm going to give you an ultimatum. Cut your rent prices back to their original level, and reimburse the people who you have tried to force out of their homes. Or I will make sure that news of what you've been trying to do gets plastered all over the local news networks, social media, and other places. Understood?"

"Yes sir, I understand." The landlord nodded, before turning and walking away in a huff. You briefly considered going after him but decided against it. You could just get Diana to do a lot of the work for you, and that made carrying out your threat much easier. Besides, your family was right there. A point that was only reinforced by your sister almost knocking you off your feet.

"What took you so long?" Your sister asked as she tried her level best to compress your chest.

>Write in

>>3968480
>"It's good to see you too."

>>3968480
> You should see the other ship. No really, my ship is nearly cut in two and that's the only way I could get back here.

>>3968480
>>3968483
Backing.

>>3968480
It's crazy what you have to do to get some shore leave. I'll tell you more inside.

>>3968480
>"It's good to see you too."

"It's good to see you too, sis." You answered as you returned the hug. Bethany was less than an inch shorter than you and could appear taller than you when wearing high heels, so you were more than a little thankful that she considered wearing them a form of torture. With both of you being around the same height, hugging was the least awkward thing the two of you could do.

"What are you doing back here? I thought shore leave was taken closer to the front?" Bethany asked as she released you from the hug but still kept her hands clasped on your biceps. You laughed as you picked up your bag, which had fallen to the floor at some point.

"It's crazy what you have to do to get some shore leave. I'll tell you more inside." You said, giving your sister a grin at the same time. Bethany nodded at you, before leading you into the apartment. The apartment was a decently-sized family complex. Complete with three bedrooms, a bathroom, and a combined kitchen and living room. The combined living area was complete with a large floor-to-ceiling window with a pair of seamless windows built-in.

"So, tell me the juicy details. Did you break your ship or something?" Bethany asked as she lent up against the cluttered kitchen island. Uncountable numbers of empty energy bars, empty fast food wraps, and other pieces of rubbish were haphazardly strewn across it. You had to stop yourself from instantly walking over and cleaning it up.

"You should see the other ship." You stated as you shrugged your bag off next to the door. You could feel your sister getting ready to ask the question again, so you headed her off. "No really, my ship nearly got cut in two and that's the only way I could get back here."

"Mom's gonna be pissed, you know what she's like." Bethany warned you as you walked over to one of the cupboards. "Cups are in the cabinet underneath the sink."

"Thanks, Beth. Speaking of mom, any idea where she is?" You thanked your sister as you opened up the cabinet and pulled out a tumbler and filled it.

"She's at work, overtime and all that. So, what happened to your tub?" Bethany insisted on finding out what had happened to get you dragged all the way back here. You lent up against the counter and sipped your drink as you considered what to tell your sister.

>Tell her the full story, ONI be damned.
>Tell her an edited version of the story.
>Tell her a lie, you don't want ONI to take offense.

>>3969992
>>Tell her an edited version of the story.
I"m guessing this is the middle ground between the two other options.

>>3969992
>>Tell her an edited version of the story.
Whatever that isn't classified

>>3969992
>Tell her an edited version of the story.

>>3969992
>Tell her an edited version of the story.

>>3969992
>>Tell her an edited version of the story.
>Tell her as much as we can without breaking secrecy

>>3969992
>"I can't tell you everything, but ONI has hinted they really want you working for them sis."

>>3969992
>tell her and edited version
"Long story short we got a taste of our own medicine in the form of a MAC round"
Nothing more need be said, its how we were critically damaged and were afforded the chance to limp back to tribute. It doesnt compromise what our mission was and i assume engagements with innies isnt some super secret thing worth hiding if she draws the conclusion that we fought some.

>>3970092
An edited* damn typing habits

File: slipspace dirve static buildup.png (1.26 MB, 900x530)

1.26 MB PNG

"Well, we were assigned to hunt a group of rebel ships that were raiding local shipping. As you know most rebel groups have either disbanded or have at least stopped actively engaging us, but there are still the occasional groups of idiots that decide to pick a fight." You began, deciding to tell her only a half-truth. You'd include that you fought against a rebel cell, but you wouldn't tell her how extensive it was. You'd tell her that you took on warships, but not that they were defending their own base.

"In fairness, they're probably just persuing a more militant path to a migrant fleet. It's been floated around quite a bit on the 'net after all." Bethany suggested, her inquisitive mind trying to find a reason behind the rebel's actions. You didn't blame her for it, she was always the kind of person who looked deep into a topic, to the point of obsessing over a subject for weeks on end. In a way, you were glad that she had decided to work on AI. It was probably one of the few topics that could keep her entertained.

"That explanation would work, except for the fact that they stole from ships and left them behind. They didn't bother to take them or salvage them for additional cargo modules for hydroponics." You continued spinning your tale, giving an angle for ONI to actually get information on the rebels aside from just the fact that a ship had gone missing. "Either way that was their loss, as ONI extrapolated as much information as they could from the dead hulls and sent us in the place of one of the next cargo shipments they were due to hit. The rebels liked to ambush their prey out in the more uninhabited systems, where the cargo ships would make short mid-journey stops."

"How would that work though? I always thought that slipspace jumps were just a point-to-point affair." Your sister asked as she walked towards one of the leather couches. You followed suit, after collecting your bag from the door.

"And you'd be correct, except that most civilian ships need to discharge their drives. A lot of civilian slipspace drives build up a static electric charge as they move through slipspace due to using inferior materials in their construction, and that has to be discharged into a sufficiently powerful planetary magnetosphere to avoid the charge building up to enough to discharge into the ship's hull." You explained the basic differences between civilian and military slipspace drives as you walked over to the couch. And in this part of the tale, you weren't actually lying. Hell, it was one of the reasons why unmanned slipspace cargo tugs were so popular. You didn't have to worry much about a drive discharge if there weren't any humans aboard.

"I always thought that drive charge was just a movie plot-point. How come it isn't more of an issue?" Bethany asked, leaning forward in her seat as you planted yourself on one of the faux-leather couches.

>CONT