EliteCommander

The Cradle

Vreta hummed to himself as he looked over Kjartan and Thebes. He still was not sure entirely what to think of the Sacred Band’s newest member. Just based on their short time working together, it felt like he would be more of a liability than an asset. He would just be someone to watch out for if they continued to work with the Sacred Band in the future, Vreta supposed. “Well, at least everyone is fine. I’m sure that’s not how any of us expected the match to end.”

As they moved to leave the arena, Vreta kept close to the Sacred Band. The simulation had been an interesting diversion, and one that he hoped would convince them to see him as less of an outsider, but he still had certain things he wished to say to them before they parted. “I know everything is still moving quickly with the excavation. A lot of work to do, not a lot of time to stop and think. I know I wasn’t there in the simulation, but I did see the recordings of what happened. I wanted to thank you for it; you fought for our people as much as you did your own.”

From the floor of the arena, and with everything he had been dealing with otherwise, Vreta had not noticed Rareth’Jharn up in the spectator booth. So, it came as a surprise when he suddenly heard her voice ahead of them. “That they did.” She said, stopping just in front of them. As a guest aboard the Human ship, she lacked any of her military equipment and weapons, though seeing her outside her suit really just drove home exactly how large and powerful of a Rothian she really was. She towered over the rest of the crowd, supersoldiers included. As they had learned inside the simulation, much of her body was artificial, though one would not be able to tell through her synthetic flesh. “I am not so busy that I cannot come to say it myself. I know our people have different customs, different ways of seeing things, but I wanted to give respect in the ways of my people.” She said to the Sacred Band.

The Cradle

Vreta’s implant had stamped out the final traces of the virus in his mind, outside of the records in the quarantined partition. Though, it had stopped fighting back after the room had gone dark. The simulation might have ended inconclusively, to the confusion of most of those involved, but Vreta could be satisfied with the fact that he had a record of everything that happened within his mind. He realized that he was going to have to schedule some minor surgery to deal with this, but hopefully, what was within his storage drive now would be a gift well-worth the trouble.

In the spectator’s booth, there was another guest to the Barbarossa. She stood near the window, looking out over the now-featureless arena. Rareth was unarmored and unarmed, or at least did not carry any external weapons. She had not originally come for any official purpose as a Datius, but rather simply to speak with the members of the Sacred Band. She had not expected anything more complicated than a conversation, but she was nothing if not adaptable. It had been easy to notice when something strange started to happen with Vreta, so she had been in a position to observe everything that was observable when the room shut down. “Interesting.”

On his part, Vreta did not show any signs of distress, nor did he have any intention of letting on to what happened on his own. It was in his interest to keep the details quiet for now, if at all possible. In fact, the more ignorance he could believably feign towards 595, the better. Though, he could not be sure what the simulation’s observers already knew. After all, the room would not have shut down without reason, so either the virus forced the simulation into shutdown for some reason, or there was something that the ship could detect, which it reacted to. “Is everything fine? No one is hurt, are they?” Vreta asked loudly.

The Cradle

It took only a moment for Vreta to realize what was happening, and his implant was already working to contain the detected threat. Someone was being exceptionally bold, and at least at first, Vreta had a mind to show them who they were dealing with. However, he soon realized that there was something more to this virus. Normal Human malware likely would have been dealt with before Vreta was even aware of it, but there was something different about this one. His implant started dedicating a surprising amount of resources to adapting to the malicious code, so as quickly as he could, Vreta himself stepped into action.

From the start, Vreta disabled all outgoing signaling from his implant to prevent any outbound transmissions. Without that, there would be no connection from his implant to any external server. Naturally, he also ceased his ongoing tactical support to his team so that his implant could dedicate its full processing power to the task ahead.

Despite the surprising sophistication of the virus, Vreta might have been able to have it dealt with swiftly, had that been the path he chose. There was clearly Cradle tech involved with the program, but his own implant was top-of-the-line by Rothian standards. It had immense computational capacity compared to anything of Human creation, and this virus was at least still partially Human-made. Vreta, however, was not merely interested in stopping it. This presented new opportunities beyond just the outcome of a combat simulation.

Vreta, of course, did nothing to hamper his implant’s ability to fight back and protect himself. He stopped his own digital assistance towards his team so that his implant would have the resources for the kind of record-keeping he required. Like a ship sealing off compromised compartments, his implant first quarantined various sections of his internal network from one another. Some sections, by their core design architecture, were inaccessible. Implant subsystems connected to most vital organ systems were isolated, with their own processors and core programming. They were disconnected from his neural implant, except for a specialized interface that allowed the subsystems to view directives without allowing the direct transmission of code. The virus could not spread to them, but other systems, such as his sensory and motor functions, did have a direct, low-latency connection to his neural implant. As such, his implant did have to work to protect them.

Instead of outright deletion, Vreta directed his implant to create an quarantined partition with “write once read many” write protection. Any well-made virus would be able to erase part or all of itself if needed, but his implant was more than capable of dealing with that issue. It issued a root-level override to all deletion operations, or indeed any form of code modification, to instead copy into the quarantined partition. In effect, that partition would serve as an immutable record of everything happening within Vreta’s internal network in order to guarantee that he could save a copy of the virus in its entirety. Of course, Vreta had stopped giving any manner of assistance to his team during all of this, but at this point, his goals had changed.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

For the remainder of the quick, bloody battle, Meesei’s pack was the hammer that crushed the Daedra against the anvil of their allies. Vicious and deadly, Kaleeth crushed and cleaved through every Skaafin in front of her. Her armor was still more than strong enough to hold off their weapons, and they were given little chance to aim for precise strikes. Janius certainly would not allow them the chance, and any he did not slay with claws and blades, Sabine would pierce with ice and freezing cold. Mages among the Skaafin attempted to defend their ranks, but between Sabine’s chilling cold and the awesome power of Meesei’s lightning that followed it, there was no defense that would be good enough. The momentum of the pack was all but unstoppable; by the time they pushed through to the point of reuniting with their allies, they were practically competing for kills.

The reinforcements from the pass had bolstered their weary allies, both in numbers and morale. With the cavalry moving around the perimeter and attacking from any angle they could, the Daedra’s own numbers withered as they fell more and more quickly. Now that Arinette was no longer leading them, the Daedra did not entertain the thought of retreat. They fought to the death, down to the last single individual. Their relentless struggle did cause more casualties on the part of the mortal invaders, but they did all fall in the end.

Standing over the last, freshly-killed Skaafin corpse, Meesei turned back and looked up to the tower at the top of the hill above them. The pillars of energy that swirled around it were much clearer to see, and feel, from here than they had been from the other side of the valley. They were still a fair distance away, but the power looming over them was beyond immense. It was a concentration of magicka on a scale that she had never witnessed before. Without a doubt, that was where they would find Vile.

Unfortunately, the threat of Vile’s Daedric servants was far from over. They had killed all that stood in their way, but as they could see from their vantage point down into the valley below, more reinforcements were on the way. A substantial portion of the Daedra fighting down in the valley were breaking off from the “main” battle below to come protect their lord’s tower…a force much larger than the one they had only just managed to defeat. Saras approached Meesei on one side, and Hjergir on the other. Both still lived, but neither had been through the battle unscathed. Saras was burned across his stomach. Badly. He looked like he had taken a direct hit from a fireball, and it was likely only the fact that he was a Dunmer that was allowing him to keep going. Hjergir’s white fur was stained red across much of his body, and it was hard to say how much of it stemmed from his own wounds.

“The Daedra are drawing off quite a lot of their forces to come deal with us.” Saras commented. “Our forces in the valley will certainly gain a great deal of ground off of this…but it won’t matter if we are overwhelmed first.”

Hjergir reached out one hand and pointed a claw down towards the bottom of the hill. “There’s only one good path leading up here. That’s a chokepoint we can hold. Not forever, but…”

“...long enough.” Saras nodded in agreement. “As our lord Hircine said, it is our Champion who will defeat Vile. Your pack is the one that needs to reach him. We can make sure his minions don’t have a chance to overwhelm you.”

Ri’vashi sheathed her katana in its scabbard and dismounted her horse nearby. “This one agrees, but she will not leave the Champion’s pack unprotected. She made a promise to guarantee that the Champion reaches Vile, and she intends to keep it.”

The Cradle

Vreta had seen the explosive drones in action before, so his implant knew to mark it as a priority threat. The drones were quick, but that did meant that, by tracking the drone’s vector, he could know just as quickly which one was targeting him. In an instant, Vreta snapped his aim towards the incoming explosive. His implant gave its projected path, as well as assisting his hands in aiming precisely enough to put a shot right in that path. Vreta took multiple shots, though it was his first that struck the drone mid-air.

The detonation was still close enough to stress Vreta’s shields and drop them low, but he was still able to dive into the nearest cover. He had to wait for his shields to recover, so he took the time to observe the state of the battle. He was not sure what was causing his frontline to lose ground, considering the advantages they had over the enemy, but it was a circumstance he would need to adjust to. The soldiers behind Vreta were at least keeping Saddam occupied for the moment, so Vreta could afford to focus on Thebes. The marines Vreta was pushing with did not yet have pressure on them, though they had still not found a shot on Thebes. He was not sure he could rely on Kjartan to defeat Thebes alone either, so he needed to help personally.

Vreta shifted over next to one of the Blue team marines in cover near to him. “I need this.” He said as he grabbed the Human’s lethal grenade. “Kjartan, shield up. Grenade incoming!” He warned through their comms before arming the grenade and tossing it over towards Thebes. He stayed down while his implant tracked the explosive through the air. Though he did warn Kjartan, he still made sure to throw it such that Thebes would be between Kjartan and the grenade, just to be safe. At the last moment, Vreta peeked a narrow angle and shot the grenade to airburst it on Thebes’ position.

Halo: Aegis Team

As tough as its defenses were, the Brute Chieftain was not invincible. At least, not any longer. With his shields now depleted, his armor had to handle the incoming fire. Many pellets from the shotgun blasts either deflected off of the armor or was stopped by it, but each shot weakened his defenses, and some broke through. It might have been hard to notice in the chaos of battle, but bright red blood dripped from some holes in the Jiralhanae’s armor plating.

Had the Brute’s ambush not been discovered, or his allies not taken so many casualties when they tried to rush across the room, they might not have been able to place as much focus on the chieftain himself. Alone, the chieftain could be overwhelmed from all angles. Still, in his blood rage, he may not have even been aware he was essentially alone, and he would be fighting to his last breath. Tar nearly knocked him off of his feet when she jumped on him from behind, but he managed to keep standing. In a rage, he let out a roar as he managed to reach up over his shoulder to grab a hold of Tar’s arm. He had her in a vice-grip, and despite his unfavorable leverage, his raw strength was not something to be ignored. Although, in his struggle against Tar, he could not focus on many other threats.

The Cradle

Athena had been taken down, but not before taking Carthage with her. That was a pivotal kill to swing the momentum back in Blue team’s direction. The Red team flag had been dropped, but it was closer now, at least, and Carthage’s respawn timer would give them an opening to push and claim it. If they could take out Thebes as well on the way, their opponents would have less effective leadership for a time.

Once again, it seemed like Vreta’s opponents were not rating him too highly as a threat. Saddam elected to shoot Athena rather than Vreta, but it suited him to go under their radar. They might not have realized that Vreta was constantly marking their positions. If all went well, they would have the enemy flag captured before they realized Vreta’s contributions. About a dozen marines had respawned around him in their spawn, which was a good-sized force to make a second push for the enemy flag. Since Saddam was recovering his shields, Vreta focused his fire at first on the remaining marine on the ground floor. Though the supersoldier on the floor above would be a persistent problem that would need to be dealt with.

After firing a volley of shots at the marine on the ground floor, Vreta picked out three of the Blue team soldiers around him and directed their attention up to Saddam’s window on the first floor. “Saddam is firing from that position. You three, take him out if you can, or at least keep him suppressed. I’ll keep him marked, so you can predict his movements.”

For the remaining nine marines, Vreta decided it was time to join them personally in moving forward. He would be moving near the rear to stay within his weapon’s preferred range, granted, but it was time for him to help with one good, final push. “Help Kjartan. We’ll take out Thebes, then push for the flag.” He ordered to the soldiers around him. It also seemed like there were some Blue team soldiers on the upper floor of the apartments that had managed to claim part of the building. It was a pleasant surprise, and it would be good to have their covering fire for the push ahead.

As he moved out into the street once more, Vreta jumped onto a pile of rubble to get an angle on Thebes while his allies were advancing. He put more of his implant’s focus on predicting Thebes’ and Kjartan’s movements based on their momentum so he could weave in shots from a distance in the midst of their melee.

The Cradle

It was in times like this that quick and calm tactical analysis could serve Vreta well. Knowing his enemy’s positions, he could work out a reasonable plan, even as events had not gone perfectly well. His implant had collected enough data to be able to project a live-updated map of the arena, and the people in it, in the corner of his vision. He could identify the supersoldiers by their silhouettes, so he knew where they were, and which needed to be dealt with most urgently.

Thebes had bested Knossos, but he was still near the middle, among the clouds of smoke. He was still a few seconds from being able to help, at least, and more than that, he was behind enemy lines. Supersoldier or no, his shields were no more powerful than anyone else’s in the simulation, so if any Blue team marines turned around on him, he could not ignore them.

“Thebes' position is marked, behind our lines. Take him down.” Vreta said through team-wide comms. Though, his own focus had to be on the threats immediately around them. If Carthage was taken down, the momentum could easily swing in the other direction. She was carrying an object for cover, but he doubted that a simple door could stand up to a railgun intended for anti-materiel roles. Athena just needed the chance to take one shot.

Vreta himself had backed up away from the bus, taking cover in some rubble closer to their spawn and near to the flag itself. He no longer had an angle to shoot down the street, since the building to his right blocked his view, but he could still see the apartments. Saddam was accurate, but since he and Athena were in quite different positions, he still could only suppress one of them at a time. Vreta could use that. “Athena, eliminate Carthage. I will cover.” He ordered simply.

With Carthage’s position marked for his allies, Vreta fully-committed onto taking out Saddam. He peeked out from behind the rubble and fired into the window, quickly and accurately. Being that he was firing from long range, Vreta’s weapon did have the edge. It was only three shots for it to break shields, in this simulation. Still, whether he won or lost the duel was not important to his goals. Only a supersoldier like Saddam would be accurate enough at long range to stop Athena from taking her shot, so he just needed to be occupied for a few seconds. If Vreta lost the duel, Athena would still be able to take her shot, and a trade of his life for Carthage’s would be more than worth it.

The Cradle

The team did run into some bad luck when the enemy soldiers barged into a room that had an angle on Athena from the door itself. Vreta did mark them, but it gave him less time to warn Athena than if they had approached from any other room. Still, Vreta responded right away in giving her cover. They committed onto taking out Athena, so Vreta was able to focus one target down to score a kill, and Athena was able to make it to cover, if only narrowly.

Being that they were supersoldiers, Carthage and the rest of the Sacred Band had distinctive silhouettes, so Vreta knew right away when he had detected her. It took a moment to transition his aim, but he was able to see her the moment she was in view near the fire exit. He saw the launcher she wielded, and his implant could estimate its trajectory based on her current point of aim. She might have been able to take advantage of the opportunity, but, perhaps for reasons of pride, she inadvertently gave Vreta the time he needed to respond. The time she took to taunt Kjartan was only seconds, but on the battlefield, seconds may as well have been an eternity. Those seconds were enough for Vreta, while keeping low and out of sight, to retreat back a sufficient distance from the bus to keep his shield from breaking. Carthage had picked her target well, as Kjartan was not an immediate threat to her at range, but she may not have expected the trio of shots that Vreta sent through the fireball onto her position.

The Cradle

“I see.” Vreta answered. He kept himself in cover behind the bus, though Kjartan might have been able to see a smirk cross his face. “I see everything.” Naturally, there were some limits to what information his echolocation could give him. Anything deep within the building, in the interior hallways, were outside of his awareness, but he could see into any room open to the outside through a window or door. Vreta did stay behind the bus, though he did move from hard cover to a position where it was just the bus’ roof blocking the line of sight between him and the shooter. Vreta pointed his rifle up to the source of the shooting on the first floor, then fired, quickly and accurately, at the shooter straight through the thin metal roof of the bus. Whether Vreta got the kill or not, just forcing the shooter back to make them recharge their shields would be sufficient to buy time for the moment.

Vreta gestured towards the frontline. “We may or may not stop them, but we can stall them. Keep them from getting value out of their position. Push forward quick and get the flag. Just leave a few soldiers to help us contest the building.”

Vreta spoke first to Athena, then any other soldier that was helping to hold their flank. “I can see into the rooms. I can show you exactly which rooms they are in, and precisely when they are going to peek. The moment they peer out to shoot, you can take off their heads. Or if your railgun can pierce the walls, take them out as soon as they step into the rooms.” Vreta recommended. For the purposes of the simulation, he was not sure what surfaces could or could not be destroyed, but if Athena’s weapon could pierce the walls, then the apartments would be more of a deathtrap for them than a flanking route. “Just make sure to mark the window you’re going to handle. Everyone else, we can suppress their windows right as they are about to peek. Get kills if you can, but just stay alive and focus on keeping them from getting anything done. I’ll warn you if any of them try to leave the building.”