EliteCommander

The Cradle

Roth’Orsa showed little emotion or reaction while she waited for the President’s reply. Though, the constant, unblinking stare she was giving towards DeWinter might have been somewhat unnerving. “We do not think that is a choice for any of us. That is…to say, we think that is a choice that will be forced onto all of us. We have spent weeks discussing this over the last few hours. We have run innumerable calculations…projections of our possible futures. This is a situation with frustratingly many unknown variables; we can make no guarantees. But…the words of the being imply that war may be difficult to avoid without substantial sacrifices.”

No doubt, everyone present had seen the recordings many times, but Roth still took a moment to play the relevant portions aloud for reference: Our…home. It’s begun…waking, hasn’t it?/ I’m so sorry. I fear that means our foe draws nearer, and that puts you in grave danger. You must help us return home, so we may escape. Otherwise, they will destroy us all./ They will crush you if they discover you harboured us. They oppose our desire to spread life throughout the universe. They seek to control it all./ But if you return us to our home, we can start to heal. And then we can lead them away from your civilization. You’ve hidden our home well, behind our shields and underneath your city. But it won’t take long for them to join the dots once they arrive.

Roth continued immediately once she had played back the words. “If the intelligence speaks true, their enemy will attack us when they arrive, because we are on the worlds that harbour them. The being’s plan seems to be to leave with the Cradle to guide the Hegemon away from you. We lack knowledge of the variables to know if the plan will work, but it may. If your choice is to avoid a war, the options we have calculated are for you to allow the Cradle to leave your world, or to evacuate your people from Outremer.”

The Cradle

While Vreta knew that the Humans were being fairly polite, anything short of reverance towards the Rahn’Saki was considered offensive to at least some of the Rothians present. There were some glances exchanged between a few scientists, and an audible snarl from the Grand Admiral. He was a large, powerful, angry-looking Rothian with dark green scales, patterned with black lines in sharp, geometric arrangements. Fortunately for the Humans, though, the feelings of those being offended on the Speaker’s behalf did not seem to be shared by Roth’Orsa herself. With but a wave of her hand, a simple gesture to the Admiral, he silenced himself and erased any hint of anger from his being, as if it had never existed. She signaled for her people to stand and return to their seats, then took a seat at the head of the table herself opposite of the display of the President.

Although many of those present likely had much to say, there were none who would dare to speak over Roth’Orsa. She stared ahead with a friendly, yet somewhat strange expression. It was hard to place or describe in detail, but there was something about the way the Speaker looked and acted that was not perfectly normal. “I believe politeness would demand I…introduce myself. It would be…rude for me to not inform you of who you speak to. I, this form before you, am Roth’Orsa. I speak for the Rahn’Saki, but we all listen to you. You speak to all of us. We do not want that to be a surprise to you. We have come to a time where we cannot afford our usual patience. For us to preserve life, we must act with decisive purpose. We must think with haste; we must make our judgement. How do your people judge this being we discovered within the device?”

The Cradle

After the meetings he attended with the Rothian leadership, there were some hours of waiting before he knew what would be happening next. His own role had not changed, in the sense that he would remain as the Rothian liaison to the Human science team, but his objectives had…evolved, thanks to what had been brought to light. One thing that was sure was that this was becoming far more complicated, and serious, than he had ever expected.

Eventually, Vreta did get word that Outremer’s representatives had agreed to a prompt meeting. In attendance would be…everyone, pretty much. Vreta, the Rothian science team, and every major Rothian leader that Vreta had met with over the last few hours would be involved in discussing the next steps. Likewise, they recommended to the Human delegation to send anyone who might be involved with Outremer’s response to these developments.

Given the size of the planned meeting, they were once again back to the Rahn’Masser’s building in Threria. Even for the number of attendees, the conference hall they had been assigned was large and spacious. For those attending remotely, they had the option of controlling a holographic avatar of themselves to attend more “naturally”, as they had made sure the Rothian hologram projectors were synced properly with the respective devices on Outremer.

Naturally, there was some delay in getting everyone into such a meeting on short notice. The science teams, and those who had gone into the simulation, were the most readily available, and the first to arrive. The other, higher-ranking Rothian officials took a bit longer to deal with delegating their other responsibilities, but Vreta knew they were all making this their top priority. One by one, the conference hall filled up with a collection of some of the most powerful individuals from both of their nations. Vreta, on his part, took his seat near to Freyr and the Human science team, as fitting his role of liaison. He spent most of his time before the meeting looking up and familiarizing himself with the identities of the Human attendees he did not recognize. He felt that was the most productive he could be at this point, though there was one other detail he could not help but to notice. It was something that unsettled him, not about any of the Humans, but about the two Datius. Both Rareth’Jharn and Director Valic’Ans almost seemed…nervous. To a Rothian, at least, they seemed visibly anxious, which was something Vreta thought was impossible for the likes of a Datius. Even in the face of certain death, a Datius could remain the very picture of focus and composure, so if there was something that had them worried, Vreta certainly could not bring himself to relax.

Eventually, it got to the point that everyone who was necessary, from both species, seemed to be present and ready to begin. Yet, Valic insisted they were not. The Director, High Commissioner, and Grand Admiral were all physically present in the room, along with nearly everyone who had been involved in the expedition, so Vreta could scarcely think of what Rothian they could possibly be waiting on. However, that question did not take long to answer, and the answer he received was one that left him nothing short of speechless.

When the doors to the conference hall opened, the first thing to step through were two Rothian guards in full, top-of-the-line combat armor at least on-par with Rareth’s combat gear. Though, they only walked a few steps in before stopping on either side of the doors. Vreta was initially confused as to why there would be armed guards in such a meeting, but the person who stepped in afterwards immediately erased any thoughts of such concerns. She was a person who every Rothian would recognize immediately: the Speaker of the Rahn’Saki, Roth’Orsa.

In an instant, every single Rothian who was standing, apart from her guards, dropped to their knees and bowed their heads in reverence. Then every single Rothian who was sitting got up from their chairs so they could do the same. The Rahn’Saki themselves did not have any specific hierarchy among themselves, at least not that the public knew of, but Roth’Orsa was their oldest member, and the most public face of the Rahn’Saki. She had immaculate white scales, with red stripes across much of her body, apart from her stomach. The Rothians were not generally ones for elaborate regalia, but as was traditional for the Rahn’Saki, she wore her own, unique headdress. Each one was chosen to represent the individual members of the Rahn’Saki, and though they did change them through the years, they still retained the same core design. Roth’Orsa’s most recent headdress consisted of a simple headband, which projected a holographic display of a plume of multicolored feathers that formed a crest behind her head and neck.

The Rahn’Saki, in general, were not a public-facing group. Their internal discussions and decision-making were all made behind closed doors. They did not often interact with the public, and there was no official way to directly contact them. To other nations, they always worked through representatives and other intermediaries. There were some occasions for the Rahn’Saki to appear in public and address their people, but those were rare, often tightly-controlled instances. From a Human perspective, they would generally be considered propaganda events. For the Speaker to appear in person came as a surprise for everyone in the room, except perhaps the Datius. To Vreta’s knowledge, the Rahn’Saki had never directly engaged in conversation with representatives of another nation, so this was unprecedented in every way he could think of.

The Cradle

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The Cradle

For the Rothian members of the team, the next few hours were marked almost entirely by discussions and meetings. Rareth personally notified and briefed the necessary individuals remotely, but given the severity of the situation, even they preferred to meet in person. Their ship returned from the excavation site back to dock in Threria: a journey that, at their maximum safe speed, took only minutes once they emerged from the ocean. For those on-board, unless they happened to be looking out of a window, they may have not even noticed until it was announced that they had arrived.

Vreta watched the most important parts of Rareth’s recording on the way back to the city; namely their meeting with this mysterious being. After his own experineces in the Cradle, he was surprised they they had encountered anything willing to be civil with them, let alone helpful. The revelations that had been brought to light by this being could shake the core of their civilization, yet Vreta, strangely, felt almost numb to it by this point. It had been from his own DNA that the hints leading to this had been uncovered. The weeks since had felt like they were leading to this almost as an eventuality.

As a Rahn’Masser agent, Vreta was accustomed to being among the more important individuals in a room at any given time, especially when deployed on a mission, so it did feel somewhat strange to him to be brought into these meetings as what felt like an observer. These developments would certainly impact how his own mission played out, so he was not out of place, but the kinds of people that Rareth met with were far from obscure bureaucrats. The news Rareth was bringing them came with the risk of a potential war against an unknown enemy, and Rothian leadership took that threat exceptionally seriously. By the time their meetings were over, Vreta had ended up exchanging pleasantries with the likes of the High Commissioner Morav’Ki, the administrator who oversaw all of the sector governors of the nation, as well as Grand Admiral Fel’Marazahn, leader of the Rothian military and captain of the flagship Niris’sho’Roth. Vreta even found himself in the presence of Datius Valic’Ans, the Director of the entire Rahn’Masser. He was the Rothian widely considered to be the most powerful individual in their nation, short of the Rahn’Saki.

Ultimately, no one could be sure of how truthfull the being had been with them, but the evidence they had certainly pointed to at least part of its story being true. The notion that Rothian life had not been entirely the product of natural selection was a common point of conversation among the meetings, though Vreta did notice a certain calmness to how the others spoke about it. Even more than he would have expected just out of their professionalism.

The Cradle

Nirann nodded. “Sure. With my processing power, I’d say I can have a proposal written up in- it’s done. I do have to send in the request for approval, but once that’s done, I’ll have it sent to Outremer. Considering how much of a rush we’re in, we can just repurpose two Class 1 gateways from Rothia’s network. They are the smallest, most plentiful gates, intended only for small ships. The network can do without a pair of them.”

“I suggest you watch that recording right away.” Rareth spoke up towards Freyr. “My description may not have fully conveyed the weight of this, but if that being was truthful with us, we do not have much time. It did not seem to be in good condition, and if we delay too long, there may be no healing for it. No healing for your Cradle, and we may all have to face the enemy that defeated them ourselves. You may speak to your leaders, but be sure to tell them that Datius Rareth’Jharn is insisting upon a conversation within the this Outremer day. They should consider it a diplomatic priority.”

Rareth too had her own meetings to attend and people to persuade, so she left Freyr with that request. Though, it was certainly a serious one. Rothian diplomats did not tend to name a “diplomatic priority” lightly, so Freyr’s leadership would know it was not a mere suggestion.

The Cradle

“The being claimed the Cradle is its home.” Rareth answered. “To its knowledge, there are three remaining of these beings, including itself. If we accept what it says as true, then we may need to find the rest as well. Though first, we have to deal with this one. It claims that by returning to the Cradle, its home, it can heal the damage to itself, and possibly the Cradle as well. Currently, based on my description of what your people have experienced in the Cradle, it believes it is damaged as well. Without memory or directives, it is expelling all foreign presence within itself in self-defense.”

As Rareth finished speaking, the hologram of Nirann’s avatar appeared beside them. Now that he was united with his copy’s memories, he could join in the discussion as well. “I think my original plan for moving this thing may serve us well. We won’t need to excavate much of anything; just some extra rock around the device. From what I had read up on your Cradle, I figured we might have difficulty moving it, if it came to that, so I came up with a plan that doesn’t really require moving it at all. Even if it was somehow locked into its position in space, we could just…push that space somewhere else. All we have to do is assemble a gateway around it, then move another gateway to our destination. The device is fairly small, so it would only take a Class 1 gateway. In this case, we just need to move our destination gateway to Outremer. We could put it under the surface right next to the Cradle, if we wanted to. From there, it’s just a matter of activating the wormhole, and the device will be there in an instant.” Nirann explained, snapping his holographic fingers for effect.

Nirann did take on something of a more worried expression as he added one more comment. “Plus, based on what this being was saying, it seemed like it was hiding out from this Hegemon. If we can transport it without taking it out of hiding, that might be best.”

The Cradle

Rareth was initially surprised to see the reaction of 595’s body, considering Rareth herself had little to no issue exiting the simulation. It could have been luck, or perhaps the nanites already present within Rareth’s body had helped protect her mind? Her own body had nanites in reserve that could be dispensed when needed. Or it could have had something to do with whatever the being had done with her in their last moments before leaving; Rareth did notice that the other Humans, Memnon excepted, seemed to be fine.

In any case, Rareth did not delay in answering Freyr. “We encountered an intelligent being. I believe the others were able to report on that much when we made contact. It first spoke to us through the form of a large worm and directed us to meet it in person. We were able to contact you on the way, once we were able to resolve the issues with our equipment, but we were cut off by an attack from some of the local creatures. One of your soldiers, Memnon, was killed in the battle.”

Rareth gave another glance down at 595. “We did reach the being. It was an…ancient intelligence. It appeared to us in a form of pure energy. It answered some of our questions, and it made a request of us. It claimed to have crashed here on Rothia running from a foe known as the Hegemon. It stabilized Rothia for life, and it modified my people in the hopes that we would one day help it communicate with the Cradle, and the others of its kind. It wants us to return it to the Cradle so that it may heal.” Rareth paused just a moment as she accessed her neural implant. “I have just sent you a copy of my recording of the entire event.”

The Cradle

It seemed that the being had spoken with them for as long as it was able, as the situation deteriorated quite quickly once it seemed like it was losing its strength. Rareth was not sure what to make of the storm outside. She had her neural implant analyze everything her sensors were picking up while she looked for a method of escape. However, before they would be forced to learn the nature of this storm, the team suddenly found themselves ejected from the simulation entirely.

---

Rareth drew in a deep breath the moment her eyes opened. It was very much reassuring to be back in her own body, though at the same time, she did not feel different at all from just a few moments ago. Truly, the simulation did replicate the experience of being alive quite remarkably well, to the point that her implants’ automatic responses did not even kick in automatically when she returned to consciousness. The experiences were similar enough that there was no meaningful shock to her system. She had to activate her diagnostics systems manually to examine her current state.

A Rothian doctor assisted Rareth as well, but once she was out of the harness, she was quick to her feet rather than waiting around for an examination. Her diagnostics could handle the rest. She did stand up cautiously, just in case something was wrong, but after a step or two, she rushed over to 595 as well. Freyr was helping her out of the harness, while Vreta looked on nearby. “What happened to you with the being? Did it answer my final question?”

The only member of the team not to “awaken” immediately was the droid body that had been scanned for NIrann. Although, it was not because anything had gone amiss. As soon as it had returned, the mind of the copy had been transferred a quarantine segment of the base’s central computer. Nirann would analyze his memories and any other changes to ensure they were safe to merge with his own experiences. It would not take too long, but the process was still not immediate.

Halo: Aegis Team

Vael 'Virisusai and Tasuma

---

The detonation of Tasuma’s fuel rod blast was the signal for Vael as well. While Ryker and Grikgar fired from above on the right flank, Vael moved in on the left flank. He initially moved in under the cover of active camouflage. The imperfect invisibility could be spotted at such close range, but in this case, he only needed it to give him a few moments to approach while his enemy was otherwise occupied.

For Vael, he was able to rush in to close the gap on the left pillar while the rebels were hiding from Tasuma’s fuel rod. By the time one of them peered out and spotted the shimmering in the air, he was already upon them. His blade ignited mid-swing, and the body of the Human he was looming over put up no resistance as it cleaved through. The second rebel behind the pillar did manage to land a few SMG rounds on Vael in the second or two he had to react, but it was far from enough to break the Sangheili’s shields before his body too was pierced by the energy sword.

Ryker was correct that the remainder of the rebels were trying to move into the hall. They no longer had much of a defensive position, and those that were left were willing to retreat. The volume of plasma bolts from Grik, couples with accurate DMR fire from Ryker, put on them a great deal of pressure. Three made a run for the door while firing blindly back at the pair, and two went down before they could make it into the hall. For the few that remained pinned behind the right pillar, another fuel rod from Tasuma landed directly beside them.

When there were no more left to retreat, the rebels closed and locked down the door to the hallway. It would only delay their team for a short time if they decided to pursue, but it would let the rebels put some distance between them. However, Vael had other priorities than ordering a chase. As soon as the room was cleared, he ran back to the center to the nearest crate. Their objective had been to find the armory, so using his strength to simply pry open the lock, Vael pulled open one of the crates to see its contents. Unfortunately, it was not weapons within, but rather sealed, packaged foodstuffs. He let out an irritated growl and flared his mandibles. “This is not the armory. Fall back, and we will rejoin the others.”