New Threat (TPF)

“Hey Sam, what was the name of that Brute group you were talking about earlier? The Banned or Banner?”
Sam looked up at Oriana as she sat down across from him in the Mess Hall. Ever since the Requiem Campaign fell apart, Osage needed a new enemy and target. Infinity was after Jul ‘Mdama and so was the rest of the UNSC, Oriana wanted to look elsewhere to hunt.
“The Banished, a Brute mercenary organization. They’ve been busy based on SIGINT activity we picked up since the end of the War.”
Sitting up, Sam stared across at Oriana as the rest of Osage came to join them.
“What’s your take on the Banished?” Oriana asked after greeting her Gammas.
Sam only shrugged his shoulder, “They’re any other Covenant splinter faction. They got the ability to move a large number of personnel, launched successful piracy operations, handle politics extremely well on Dosiac based on SoS intel, and probably the next best thing for the Brutes.”
“Yeah, but they’re Brutes. If we’ve learned anything, they’ll tear each other apart before they get to us.”
Both Sam and Oriana turned to look at Darrick, it was clear he hadn’t been on the receiving end of a Brute attack. If he did, such comment wouldn’t been made.
“Maybe, maybe not. But do you want to figure that out?” Oriana asked as she tilted her head slightly.
Darrick shook his head no and Sam rolled his eyes. Oriana returned to toying with her food as Sam continued with his opinion.
“The reality is no one has seen Atriox, their leader, for some time now. Their activity remains the same, but it’s not big enough for the UNSC to want to do anything about it. With Jul hot on everyone’s mind, we’re letting the Banished grow.”
Oriana agreed, she didn’t like how the UNSC fell in love with Jul and wanted to send every possible asset after him. She also knew the power struggle in the Brute species was bound to spill out into UNSC space and the UNSC weren’t entirely prepared for such a conflict.
“Can’t we go to Dosiac and nuke them?” Isidora asked as she picked at a peach.
“Unlikely.” Sam responded. “Dosiac is a nightmare for us, gravitational pull is twice as strong there and we’d have the disadvantage. Nuke is an option, but we don’t want to do anything that causes them to hit us back. We just got out of the War; we don’t need another one.”
“So if the UNSC not going after the Banished, then why don’t we? We’re a small outfit that can do a lot of work without having to rely on a supercarrier.”
Sam glanced at Levi before looking at Oriana, he knew what they were going after.
“There’s been an unknown uptick of seismic activity across colonies with Forerunner signatures. A compartmentalized report from Beta-3 theorized some sort of awakening by an unknown entity. MASINT readings have been haywire, and people can’t explain them. We’ve yet to have any confirmed activity, but ONI doesn’t leave one stone unturned, not after the War.”
“We’re hunting shadows.” Darrick said with a hint of frustration. “That’s all we got? The Banished seems like something more in our wheelhouse.”
“The Banished isn’t going anywhere and they’re staying out of the spotlight. That’s not a problem, but the MASINT readings are. We’re not going to let another Didact assault happen. ONI won’t allow it, and neither should we. If ONI wants us to hunt the shadows, we hunt the shadows.”
Category:The Weekly