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The trip took Excelsior a couple hours to reach the location of the UNSS Port Royal. When they arrived they saw that the transport ship was severely damaged, with one section of the hull completely blown away. Only one engine was still working, and most of the weapon turrets were down too.

It didn't look good, Treize was worried that no one would be left to rescue. Also he wondered who could do this. "Any response," he asked of Rommie.

Rommie shook her head, "no sir, I have not received any response on any channel. But from the extent of the damage it could be likely that their communications are down."

Treize nodded, "are their docking hatches accessible?"

"It appears so," the AI responded.

"Alright, prepare a boarding party and take a drop ship over," Treize said.

"Sir," Raziel began, he was on the bridge watching the situation, "I would like to join the team. I know that your kind have never been out this far before, and if it is an alien threat then Eldar would be best suited to deal with it."

"I agree," Treize said, "you may join them."

(Um anyone else can go except the Koneko and Syvila, they really have no purpose in going over to a damaged ship...)

Otrera quickly arrived at the boarding party with two of her guards, she was even younger in person "Admiral, there is a cargo onboard that vessel that is ONI property, your men will not intefere in our recovery operation..." then glared at Raziel "That cargo is essential to dealing with the colonial insurgency... I would advise that if you locate the cargo that you do not open it, it is held in a biocontainment unit and it still has not been verified as safe." she spoke softly and quietly but her authority was obvious. On her back was a rifle that would be too big for her to carry had she not been an Augment but as that was classified it had probably shocked the Excelsior's crew.

Otrera nodded "Good... now, admiral, if you are ready we can go over there..." she spoke bluntly, almost rudely, showing her lack of social skills.

(well, not all governments practise what they preach but no, it's not a bioweapon)

(ah well i thought ONI was kinda like Section 31 but Otrera was kinda raised in a tube so no social ability whatsoever.)

Otrera sighed heavily, this was why she didn't get on with other species. She glared at Trieze "Keep him and your Eldar friend on a tight leash admiral... this cargo is vital and i refuse to fail in my mission to reclaim it..." she spoke softly, highlighting her anger.

Treize was annoyed that the ONI officer was annoyed with his friends, but he remained respectful to everyone as best as possible. "You have my assurances that there is no need to worry," he said, "they are some of the best behaved people on the ship." He of course had to get in a semi-subtle jibe before they went over to the ship.

"I hope you do not see me, or else that will mean I am not doing my job correctly," Raziel replied to Deek.

***

When the team was ready they all boarded the dropship that would take them over to the damaged UNSC transport. The team included Otera, Deek, Raziel, Tasha, 10 Marines, and 4 Eldar Warriors that Raziel insisted should join them.

On the short trip over to the Port Royal the Eldar Warriors started speaking to each other telepathically. For anyone who was not an Eldar they were communicating very quickly, but to them it was normal. They were mostly nervous about being with so many non-Eldar and they were worried that the Humans were incompetent. Then Raziel's mind burst in, you should know that there are more than just Eldar telepaths on board. He glanced to Tasha apologetically, he decided to not apologize to Otera since she seemed to care about her space. The Eldar then stopped their silent conversation.

The dropship flew over beside the damaged transport and then latched onto a docking hatch. The ship shook as the docking clamps went into place and then they waited for a brief moment as the seal was confirmed by a green light in the passenger section of the drop ship. The doors opened and they could see into the damaged corridor of the Port Royal.

The Marines led the group into the ship, keeping a sharp lookout for anything. The interior of the ship was just as badly damaged as the outside. There were burn marks and ripped metal walls all over. Very little seemed to work inside the ship, all of the control panels were down and only emergency lighting was working.

Raziel looked at the damage. It all seemed rather random. Why would someone go to this much effort to damage a ship but not destroy it?

One of the Marines handed out navigators (small handheld maps, sorta like an iPhone...) to everyone on board. The devices were interlinked so that they would all know where they all were. On the maps the main objectives were highlighted: the bridge, the engine room, the crew quarters, and the expected location of the carog Otera wanted.

"I would like to go to the bridge," Raziel said.

(ok, pick wherever you go. Surprises around every corner!?!?!)

(Oooooh.... she is a telepath. Whoops... I guess I should double check to make sure next time... but I was so sleepy. Anyway, I changed it a little bit.

And fine, Treize can come too >_> )

When they were aboard Treize responded to Raziel, "very well. You go to the bridge with Deek and Tasha, I will take some of the Marines with Otera, the rest will cover the rest of the ship."