EliteCommander

The Cradle

Overall, Rhia was more effective in combat when she was in control, but if there was an advantage to being in the backseat, so to speak, it was that she could devote more processor time to analysis. These creatures were yet another new monstrosity to be thought up by some twisted intelligence in the Cradle, or perhaps Rothia’s Object, if it was already joining with the Cradle. She did not know the purpose behind these creatures, as many of them, witnessed both here and on Rothia, did not seem to be natural. Were they created intentionally in these forms, or perhaps they were allowed to evolve over time in a Cradle-like environment? But then, what would be the reason for an existence adapted only to the artificial environment? The entity in the Object had claimed its people were life-seeders, but none of the creatures in the simulation would be at all adapted to any sort of known habitable environment. Something simply did not add up.

For combat analysis, the situation was simpler. The creatures were quick, but still easy enough for Rhia to track. It helped that the female creature made her target abundantly clear. With he speed of Rhia’s processor, she could plot out its projected path on Vreta’s HUD while marking potential weakpoints. In this case, she pointed out its open beak and the jaws emerging from within. As Vreta took aim, she adjusted the choke to maximize hit probability, as well as making minor adjustments to his aim as he moved. Vreta fired a scattershot at the lunging creature, intent on putting an unhealthy amount of superheated plasma down its throat.

The Cradle

There were a handful of reasons that Vreta had Freyr hold on to him. The foremost was to reduce the chance of her panicking. She simply did not have the training to stay calm under this much pressure. Physically holding on to him would be a constant reminder that he was there and able to protect her, which, unless Human psychology was drastically different from his expectations, would reduce panic. Even if it did not, it would at least make sure she knew which direction to go at all times so they did not end up separated. At this stage, they could not afford any delays or detours.

“We will, just hold on and stay close.” Vreta replied. He did not have near as much of an academic interest in these creatures, as his focus was purely on survival. Even if it wasn’t, he did not have enough background knowledge on the Cradle to know why the creature was significant. He fired another pair of shots at the creature, but kept moving at a steady pace to catch up to 595. “Agent, we’re behind you! Moving to catch up.” He shouted ahead, intent on shooting his way through anything that might get in his way.

The Cradle

Seeing as 595 was leading the way, Vreta took up guarding the rear alongside Freyr they were moving forward. As such, he was in a position to notice when she strayed. She was frightened, understandably. Vreta was frightened, and it was only training that kept him calm and focused. He just kept his mind on moving from one moment to the next, and in this moment, he needed to keep their team cohesive.

Freyr would find herself stopped as Vreta took hold her her arm. It was her weapon arm he grabbed, just to make sure she did not fire on him in a panic. At the same time, Rhia had been observing 595’s fight with one of the creatures. She analyzed the effect of the Agent’s shotgun on the creature and used the data to calibrate the efficient power setting for Vreta’s own weapon. As Vreta took aim, holding his rifle underarm in his other hand, she swapped the rifle to its scattershot setting. While not the most stable firing position, the reticle painted on his HUD allowed him to put shots on target.

Having Freyr firing wildly at anything that moved was more of a risk than a benefit, so Vreta took immediate action to address the issue. “Stay calm, and just stick close to me. You don’t need to shoot unless they are getting close enough to threaten you. Just stay with me and let me protect you. I want you to grab my tail, and don’t let go.”

The Cradle

Taking 595’s knife, Vreta activated a magnetic holster on his thigh to secure it, since he did not have a scabbard meant for it. He reasoned that his plasma blade would be better served in 595’s hand for the moment, since it could cut through most materials with little effort. Since he had greater strength than her, he was more likely to be able to successfully make use of the knife. His past experiences with the Cradle’s creatures taught him that they tended to ensnare their foes, so he wanted as many of them as possible to be able to cut themselves free of whatever might grab them.

Following the Agent’s lead, Vreta ran when she gave the order, though he did not run at a pace any faster than Freyr could keep. They would only be as fast as their slowest member, after all. As soon as the vines started to move, Rhia started marking the most threatening ones in their path, as well as taking the liberty of swapping Vreta’s rifle to its plasma thrower firing mode. As Vreta took aim, Rhia engaged the choke to keep the plasma stream narrower and more concentrated so Vreta could focus on burning away only specific vines. Starting too many fires would likely just end up being a hindrance, so Vreta tried to be precise. The three were still moving close together, so Vreta focused on burning vines in their direct path.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Given that they were still fighting back the Daedra, not all of the pack had been watching what happened, but when the order was given, they followed it without question. Even Ri’vashi followed through without hesitation. She tightened up her warriors’ formation and fell back closer to the lift to ensure it was protected. She was at the front, her Akaviri katana in constant motion towards each threat that approached. A Dremora lord and a Skaafin officer both tried to surround her, but every swing they made was met with the perfect response. She would parry one, and with one deft, fluid motion, switch targets to the other to place her blade between the gaps in their armor. Ri’vashi had been leading their war effort for so long, it was easy to forget how deadly she was on the field of battle. However, even she still had her limits, and the Daedric army converging on their position was nothing short of overwhelming.

Meesei’s pack moved quickly to get themselves into the lift. While there was enough space for them, it was still a tight fit, and there was a certain amount of chaos involved with squeezing everyone in quickly. In that chaos, there was a certain detail that was easy to miss until it was too late. The jagged metal bars of the lift’s gate slammed shut as soon as Fendros pulled the lever, though Lorag let out a growl in protest. “What are we doing? Ri’vashi will never hold long enough for us to get to the top!”

“I know.” Meesei could be heard replying, but not from within the lift. Her words turned the collective gaze through the bars…to where she stood outside the lift. Without a word, she had stepped out as Fendros pulled the lever, and now, the world around them slowed to a halt as Meesei brought them out of time to draw out this one moment into minutes. It was a tiring spell, but she did not seem to care anymore about over-exerting herself. She took the Rueful Axe and tossed it through the bars onto the floor of the lift, then gripped the Staff of Magnus tightly to hide her shaking hands.

The Cradle

Vreta focused wholly on his surroundings, keeping himself ready in the moment to react to anything. Based on how 595 was acting, he had questions in the back of his mind about how Rhia had been behaving in his absence, but now was not the time for that. Something was in the area, and he tried his best to get a lock on its position, though that was before the environment…shifted. This, unfortunately, was not new to him. The Cradle was taking control of this area, which did not bode well for the headquarters’ defenses. In the event that their actions here did not solve their problems entirely, Vreta hoped the events here would be the wake up call needed to get Outremer to accept help more willingly. They were very clearly not in control of the situation.

“Keep moving forward.” Vreta said, calmly and firmly. If the Humans were no longer in control of their own headquarters, then the defenses they had against these sorts of intrusions were certainly failing as well. Threats could appear from anywhere, at this point. “Cradle beings can behave in ways that would be irrational in the real world. There is no sense in trying to track them in the ways we normally would. Be ready for sudden attacks. Agent, you can keep my plasma blade for now. You may need it more than I. Just give me your knife.”

Halo: Aegis Team

Ethat' Lacalu and Vael Virisusai

---

Ethat let out a quick huff as he turned his head towards Tar. ”Once the assault begins, there is likely no escape without either destroying most of the keep, or deposing Uztel. The Covenant’s operations on Brissekh will be stopped, one way or another. The plan we have devised is our best way of doing so with the least damage to your homeworld. Do remember that.”

Ultimately, Vael saw little reason to argue against the plan at the moment. Strategically, it was sound. If the plan proceeded successfully, then Brissekh would have new leadership loyal to the Arbiter. There would certainly be resistance from Covenant loyalists after the coup, but they would not be conquering Brissekh. Tar had the legal claim to become Scion, so if Uztel was removed in battle, honor would demand most of the citizens’ loyalty. It would be unconventional, with Tar being female, but the position of Scions had changed under the Arbiter’s rule. If they were correct about the level of support for the Arbiter on the world, then Vael did not expect that the resistance would be insurmountable.

Ryker joined Tar as the meeting was dismissed, though Vael did not. He doubted the Human would understand half of what a situation like this would mean for someone in Tar’s position, but if he made the mistake of offending her, then the Spartan could deal with the consequences himself. As long as his team could perform their duties to his standards, they were free to deal with personal issues between them however they saw fit. Should they ever fail in their duties because of such issues, then they would have Vael to deal with. Vael himself wasted no time in making his way to the pelican outside. They would be using a Sangheili Blockade Runner for this mission, so it would be the Humans who were out-of-place this time.

The Cradle

Though it did not appear so from the outside, Vreta had a great deal to focus on in the moment. Rhia was quickly catching him up on everything he missed, while he still had to pay attention to what was happening around him. Rhia helped with that as well by highlighting and recording points of interest, particularly outside the windows of the train. She recommended responses to 595, but Vreta still heard her well enough to have his own answer.

“I think you know Rothians well enough by now to know that we never plan on dying. Or plan on never dying, rather.” Vreta replied.

The train was quick, so as Freyr had said, it did not take long for it to arrive at their destination. They were not quite in the GCHQ yet, but rather a nearby station. Even still, Vreta was already feeling chills when he stepped out onto the platform. The place was a mess, with debris, refuse, and personal items scattered all around the station. No bodies, so it could have been a sign of a hasty evacuation…hopefully. In any case, Vreta checked his weapon’s charge and kept his head on a swivel, while Rhia kept up scanning everything he could not see.

The Cradle

“Agreed.” Rhia replied. “We should make sure we have our fallback plans in place before we arrive. Do you have the schematics for the headquarters? Or at least the surrounding area. We should make sure we have the nearest transit stations marked and know how to reach them in case we need to retreat quickly.”

Ultimately, Rhia would not have a better opportunity to make the transition than in the train. Once there was a long enough lull in conversation, Rhia tightly held on to the handhold above her and began to shift her consciousness back into its proper place while doing the same for Vreta’s.

To Vreta, the time that Rhia had been in control was like sleep without dreams. After he had given her authority to take control, there had been a brief moment of…confusion where his senses became blurred, but he only remembered that lasting an instant. The very next moment, to him, was standing in this train with Rhia flashing alerts on his HUD to stay calm and not react. She kept control of his motor functions for the first few seconds to give him time to come to his senses, but slowly started to return those to him as he regained consciousness.

”We’re on a train heading to the GCHQ. I’ve prepped a package to help catch you up on everything you missed. If others ask you questions before then, just repeat everything I say.” Rhia instructed, though Vreta was more concerned about the fact that he had been unconscious at all.

There was a tinge of confusion and anger in Vreta’s thoughts, which Rhia would feel quite clearly. ”What is…what did you do? I gave you permission to take control for the fight, not to knock me out! Why didn’t you tell me about this?”

”I did not have time in the middle of the firefight. I had to act, not debate, and I completed every objective successfully. Our team faced no casualties since you lost consciousness. Dr. Girard returned to the vault, and Osman is coordinating her soldiers. We are going to the headquarters to complete our mission.” She explained. Vreta could not help but to be angry, even still, but he had to avoid showing signs that anything was out of the ordinary to the others.

Halo: Aegis Team

Ethat 'Lacalu, Major Alice Robinson, and Vael 'Virisusai

---

Ethat took only a moment of thought to reply to Yalu. ”It’s best to deal with him quickly, but…it is more important to claim the keep and ensure the planet knows of Tar ‘Mdalak’s victory. To flee his keep instead of fighting to the death to defend it would mark Uztel as a coward. Only the most fanatical of Covenant supporters would be willing to overlook such dishonor. If you have to make that choice, focus on securing the keep.” He answered.

After a few moments of silence passed, Major Robinson deactivated the display and pulled Shih’s data chip from the holotank. ”If there are no more questions, then Commander Vael ‘Virisusai has operational authority for Aegis team on this mission. That means he will be your commanding officer. There is a pelican waiting outside to take the team to our Blockade Runner in orbit. All of your equipment is being brought to the ship as we speak, along with UNSC reinforcements and supplies that have been approved for the mission. Dismissed.”

Vael had an eye on Tar. After her initial outburst, she had kept quiet. However, he knew her well enough to know that this was not a mission she could just detach herself from. Much of her motivation for fighting was to restore her father’s honor; family did have clear meaning to her.