EliteCommander

The Cradle

Vreta had taken the destruction of everything he saw around him surprisingly well, perhaps because he was already conscious of the fact that none of what he was seeing was real. Regardless, there was no one who could see what Vreta was shown and feel anything but dread. If it were true, the power of this enemy would be immense. The thought of it elicited enough of a raw, emotional response from Vreta that he felt the need to fall back on his training to calm his mind. Push back the fear, the instinct-driven reactions, and return to a rational mindset. He cleared his thoughts and focused on the mission. Weapon output, shield strength, the details were important. Above all, he needed evidence.

“Nothing can be truly indestructible. That would defy the laws that govern our reality. Whether we face it now, or in a trillion years time, we cannot pursue Eternity with that thing in existence.” Vreta finally spoke up. He was still in the void with the entity, looking upon this representation of the Hegemon. He did not doubt that such a thing could exist. Even just thinking about how far his own people had ascended in his lifetime, he did not believe there was a limit to the heights technology could reach. But, there was no law of the universe that prevented his people from reaching the very same heights as what he was being shown. “We are a patient people. If fleeing is the only course of action, it is what we will do, but if I understand the Rahn’Saki as well as I believe I do, we will not give up on the notion of victory. And I am sure you know that it is not me that needs to be convinced. The Rahn’Saki are our guides. I need to be able to prove it to them. Everything that happened after our first meeting was to try and gain that proof. We were not willing to risk hurting you to find it, but we needed evidence. What you are suggesting involves uprooting our entire civilization.”

Vreta let out a sigh, though despite being in this void, he felt no urge to breathe. “Is there any evidence you can give? Can we find that world, perhaps? Or the R’tk’tk’s generation ships, if they escaped? Is there any way I can show to my leaders that this threat is reality?”

The Cradle

There was plenty that Vreta could infer from the situation. This being had seen deeply into his memories, in order to be able to create everything he saw and heard around him. Many might not welcome such a thing, and Vreta could not say he was happy about it, but he had to admit that if he had such an ability, he would gladly do the very same thing. By seeing their memories directly, this entity could avoid the uncertainty and mistrust that had been plaguing them since the beginning of this project. It knew exactly what they intended.

“If that is the case, then we need to prepare. You’ve seen into my memories; you know at least what I know about my people’s capabilities. We are not warmongerers, but we are capable of terrible violence when given no other choice. I remember what you showed me back on our homeworld of a civilization being destroyed by your enemy, but they were rather primitive by comparison. It was hard to get a true sense of the threat. Last time we spoke, you were unable to share much with us, but now that we are here, if you can help us understand exactly what they can do, then we can prepare our defense. We can know when to fight, when to buy time, and when to retreat.” Vreta asked. Given what happened last time, he wanted to get straight to the most important information right away, just in case there was something that might interrupt them.

The Cradle

Vreta’s gaze went quickly over towards the “Rothian” over near the edge of the cliff, though he was well-aware of the fact that this was not truly one of his own people, regardless of appearances. He still had his memory of everything that had just transpired in the headquarters, so he understood what was happening. This was not what they had planned on, but their goal had been to establish contact with the entity. If this was the only way it was going to happen, then he could at least work with it.

Approaching alongside the entity, Vreta took a seat on the rock without argument. The scale patterns of this “Rothian” were not natural, though that was hardly strange among his people. He wondered if the entity was actually aware of that fact, or if it was simply a coincidence? Regardless, Vreta took a moment to take in a deep breath. “It is exactly as I remember. I wonder how far that is from reality?”

Vreta finally looked over at the entity. “I can guess who you are. I suppose you want to speak to me, or perhaps all of us, separately? Our reason for coming to the headquarters was to make contact with you. To…understand what is happening. I cannot speak for most of the Humans’ intentions, I suppose, but understanding is all that I want.”

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

For a moment, Meesei tightened her grip on Sabine’s hand, then finally reached in her other hand to pull Sabine into a hug. It was somewhat awkward through the bars of the lift, but Meesei still held on for what felt like an eternity. Many of the others were, at least for a moment, speechless. Kaleeth’s eyes held a sadness one would not have thought possible on her crocodilian visage. Lorag shed what might have been tears for perhaps the first time in his life, at least that others had been able to see, though his rage towards their enemy also grew even stronger. He looked like he wanted to tear apart anything he could get his hands on that was even remotely associated with Vile.

Meesei did, however reluctantly, eventually release her grip on Sabine. She took a step back and finally allowed herself to look at each member of her pack in turn. “I…will not try to lie and pretend this will be easy for you. At the top of this tower is Clavicus Vile, the source of everything we have fought against. He is a god, and it is difficult to even comprehend the power he holds. But you are not alone. Our lord Hircine stands with you, and in your hands, Fendros, you hold the power to bring a god to his knees. I can feel…content to leave you now, because I know that you can do this. You can do what no others can. You are the sharpened teeth of Mundus itself, and you will prove Vile’s arrogance when you tear through his throat. Our war against Vile has been a struggle fit for the greatest legends in history, but this last battle is your story. I am simply proud to have been a part of it.”

The Cradle

Vreta seemed to be struggling almost as much as the rest of them. He saw memories around him more and more clearly, even as Rhia was trying to run interference. Though, she was having to try to interfere for both him, and herself. The memory he did see as he was starting to stagger around disturbed him in more ways than one. He could not trust Connie or Gene, that much was clear, though their minds seemed to be affected just as much as everyone else. There was far more to worry about than their Human companions.

Rhia had to struggle to keep mental control for just a bit longer. She gave up on controlling motor functions, causing Vreta to stumble. While she still had influence, she did the best she could to hedge against what could possibly happen, scattering specific neural markers throughout Vreta’s hippocampus, as well as rapidly writing specific programs for his nanites. Ultimately, though, Rhia could only delay in the short term. He was the last to start to fall, but he knew it was inevitable. Staring straight ahead, he could feel that…something, that presence, permeating everything. “What…do you want?” He asked, though it was the last he said before losing consciousness.

---

Vreta was lying on his back when he opened his eyes. Immediately, he took in a long, deep breath. The air, though thin, was crisp and clean. His body felt light, and all of it was familiar, especially once he cast his gaze up to the sky and saw the swirling, colorful clouds of Throssai. He was on Syr’Jakra, up on the mountain overlooking the vast valley that contained his hometown.

Halo: Aegis Team

Vael 'Virisusai, Mdalak State, Brissekh

---

For Aegis team, they simply needed to board the phantoms to be ready for the mission, though for them to even make it to the ground to begin with relied upon the skill and planning of the ship’s crew, and the rest of the fleet. After about another half hour, the rest of the fleet made their advance under the cover of stealth. They approached the planet from the opposite side of the planet from where most of the Covenant ships were positioned, which made it easier to avoid detection on approach. However, as planned, the fleet intentionally strayed close to the “hidden” listening post to allow the Covenant to detect their presence. Immediately, the Covenant fleet went into alert and deployed to intercept the Swords fleet.

This was the signal for the Magnificent Defiance. Once the defending fleet was out of position, it advanced at its best speed under the cover of its stealth systems to make it into the atmosphere while there was a gap in the Covenant’s sensor coverage. From inside their phantom in the ship’s hanger, Aegis team could not see what was happening outside, but Vael was given constant updates on the progress of the mission. Their Blockade Runner made a bee line straight for the planet’s surface while walking a very fine line with the speed they maintained. While the ship’s shields could certainly handle the heat of re-entry on any habitable world, the ship’s crew had to be careful not to generate atmospheric disturbances strong enough to be detected, while still getting to the surface as quickly as they possibly could. The skirmish in orbit would not last too long before the Swords fleet made their retreat.

Ultimately, the ship did make it to ground safely, though only time would tell if they had truly remained undetected. It had landed on the same continent as ‘Mdalak keep, at least, but to ensure they were not spotted, their landing zone was extremely far from civilization, in an unsettled region. Considering the difficult terrain, it would have taken days to reach their objective by land. Fortunately, the phantoms could bring them close enough to cut that down to a few hours.

The particular phantoms the team was using were equipped with active camouflage, so they kept up a good pace once they left the ship. Still, it was a cautious pace just to ensure they did not show up on any sensors. Overall, Aegis team spent about an hour in the back of their phantom before they finally arrived at their drop zone.

The pair of phantoms maneuvered into a valley between multiple, towering mountains with peaks obscured almost entirely by fog. They located a grassy area in the forest just large enough to drop their specters, then did the same for the team itself through the grav lift.

Vael’s feet sank partially into the mud as soon as they hit the ground. It was raining rather heavily, which, along with the fog, made visibility quite poor. Even with how deep in the wilderness they were, Vael still had his carbine at the ready as he left the phantom, and still went through the trouble of clearing the area before holstering it.

After offloading the team, both phantoms immediately set off back towards the Magnificent Defiance. Given that they could not afford detection, they would not be risking staying on station for rapid support. If they were detected, Aegis team would be on their own until their ship could deploy a full rescue team. If they could realistically reach them at all, of course. As long as the keep still had its air defenses available, their Blockade Runner could not come too close.

The phantoms engaged their active camouflage as they lifted off, and while it still provided protection against sensors, the rainfall meant that Vael could clearly see their silhouettes from a much farther distance than usual. He hoped the storm would not persist at their destination, but if it did, they would need to be ready to adapt.

”Mount up. The mission relies on us now.” Vael ordered.

The Cradle

Sharing a mind as they did, Vreta and Rhia also shared the discomfort of whatever was happening around them. It was not quite what he would describe as a headache, though it was no more comfortable than that. His mind was “busy”, like he was constantly in intense thought, but was not experiencing any of the thoughts himself. What Rhia felt was even more bizarre, without even considering what the group as a whole was witnessing.

The Human staffers were alive, but quite clearly incapacitated. None of them even acknowledged the team as they moved through the building. Freyr was the one who stopped to try and help one of them, but they were no more responsive even with interacted with directly. The scene that played out on the monitors looked and felt like some of the memories that had been forced into their own mind. It perhaps could have been one of the staffer’s own memories, displayed for all to see, for reasons Vreta did not understand. The distinguishing features of one of the Humans in the memory looked an awful lot like one of the Humans who had joined them, Gene. Was the woman just projecting what she saw around her onto the memory, or had he actually been present for it? Regardless, Connie’s attempt to move the staffer did not seem to help. As for the memory itself, Vreta did not have the context to truly understand its meaning, but this woman had clearly gone through something taxing to her mental health, and perhaps something relating to the Human homeworld.

“We…need to keep moving.” Vreta finally remarked. “We can’t afford the delay. Maybe once we get to our objective, we’ll be able to help all these people at once?”

Unfortunately, no matter which direction they went, they would not be able to avoid the bizarre occurrences around them. As they started to pass one nearby room, Vreta’s eye caught something even he could not ignore through the glass. It was a memory, like the staffer’s, though not one that was as “clear.” It was also not one of the Humans’. The scene played out with just a few people and objects projected from the memory itself, while all of the office’s furniture was still visible, but ignored.

There was a Rothian, medical gantry in the middle of the room, slightly phased into an office table on the far end. Strangely, it was not a Rothian on the gantry, but rather a Rothian security droid. Quite an old model, by appearances. Slowly, the droid sat up, while a male Rothian looked on taking notes. He looked like he was speaking, but strangely, the words they heard were muffled and mostly indistinct. With some direction from the Rothian, the droid held out one hand towards a device next to the gantry, though its focus seemed elsewhere. When its hand drew close enough, the device delivered a small electric shock to one of its fingers, and unlike a normal droid, its hand actually recoiled on reflex. There were more muffled words from the Rothian observing that grew louder and louder until, finally, they came in clearly.

“Agent! Are you listening? I understand this is a lot at once, but it’s important that I know how it feels.” He said firmly.

The droid looked down at its hand, clenching and opening it a few times. “Like it’s mine.”

The Cradle

Were it not for the Agent, Vreta expected there would already have been a confrontation between them and this pair of Humans, with the way they acted. As long as they were willing to help provide security on the way to their objective, though, he could tolerate them. He continued to carry 595 for a while as they started to move while Rhia directed the treatment of the poison within the Agent’s body. While not exactly an “optimized” treatment for this specific toxin, it was doing its job. Every decoy cell the nanites created made another target for the poison’s molecules. Each one used up a bit more of the dose the Agent had received. As they started to approach the upper levels, 595’s condition improved at least enough that she could walk on her own.

Since the treatment was working, Rhia locked in the nanites’ programming so she could release direct control of them. As a precaution, set them to self-destruct once the treatment had ran its course, then disabled external networked communication for them as she released control. Once that was done, she let Vreta put the Agent down.

Vreta let Connie, Gene, and 595 lead the way through the building, as they seemed perfectly eager to do. They seemed to organize themselves readily into their formation as they moved through the headquarters, without so much as a word to one another. Vreta might have put more focus on that, were it not for everything else transpiring around them. What he witnessed in the rooms was…bizarre, to say the least. There were survivors, but they were working away at their desks as if nothing was happening, entirely unresponsive to any stimuli from the outside world. Vreta tried briefly to get the first one to follow them, but there was nothing he could do to break them out of the apparent trance. He only wished that was the strangest thing he saw. Other rooms contained...scenes, for the lack of a better word. They might have been memories, from himself, his companions, and others in the building. He did not see much that was coherent at first, but he worried about what might manifest before them.

The situation within Vreta’s mind was no better. It was hard for him to describe the strange pressure within his mind, but Rhia did not wait long in bringing it up herself. There is something here, some…presence. Maybe the entity, maybe something else, but I feel like it’s trying to get in my head. It’s like I have a…headache, or something equally irrational.

The Cradle

The thundering sounds from outside were yet another thing that seemed to rush the team along. They needed to avoid delays. The timing of these new Humans’ arrival was still suspicious to Vreta; they had already been attacked once by Humans during this mission, so just the fact that they were not Cradle creatures did not necessarily mean they were trustworthy. He supposed it was true that 595 seemed to know them, but he was not sure if that should be enough for him, at this point. They still had their own names, which would imply that they were not part of the same organization as Agent 595. Or, perhaps they had not yet completed the process of initiation that Vreta had seen a part of when he viewed her memory?

Once Vreta had delivered the injection, and one of the others started to head for the stairwell, he whispered quietly to 595 as a favor to her. Since this was against protocol for her, he did not need to let the others know exactly what the injection contained. “My implants are directing the nanites right now, so we need to stick close while it refines the treatment. You should start feeling better soon, just…play along.”

When Vreta stood up, he picked up 595 in his arms, then finally gave Connie an answer. “We need to get to our objective, quickly. Just stay alert, and keep Freyr safe.” Despite how the Agent may have felt about it, carrying her would be legitimately faster than allowing her to try to walk in her current state, at least until the treatment could take effect.

Still carrying 595, Vreta ran up the same spike had first used to leap up to the floor above, though he had to use thruster assistance this time to overcome the extra weight he was carrying. Being that he took a more direct route, he reached Freyr first. “Let’s get moving. We just need to find the operations rooms.”

The Cradle

Rhia started to analyze the diagnostics in short order after Vreta received them. She recognized that a toxin of Cradle origin could have unexpected properties, but she hoped that it would follow some kind of biological analog, as many other aspects of the Cradle appeared to do. Based on the data she had, she quickly devised a stopgap treatment to at least improve 595’s condition. The suit diagnostics had identified the types of cells that the toxin was targeting, so she could have the nanites repurpose excess red blood cells and reshape them using materials from the blood plasma into “decoy” cells. By mimicking the toxin’s target cells, they could “trick” the toxin into binding to the decoys instead of useful cells, which would effectively reduce the dose of the toxin available to harm the Agent. Rhia decided to assume direct control of the nanites at first until she knew she had a working treatment, then she could leave the nanites with standing instructions. While Rothian nanomachines were quite advanced, they were still not adaptable on their own. They could not deviate from the sets of instructions programmed into them. Without pre-written programs to load into them, it took a digital intelligence like Rhia to modify their purpose in the field.

As Vreta took out the syringe, Rhia took control of the nanites inside. As long as she remained in close proximity, preferably direct physical contact, she would be able to puppet them without trouble. Nanite injections were a common treatment option among Rothians in both a military and civilian context. Agents like Vreta had implants to be able to sustain a population of nanites within his body, but such injections could still be useful as either a backup in case of a loss of his normal nanite population, or a “booster” in case his body sustained enough trauma to require a temporary excess of nanites.

“Okay, just give me an injection site. There is a treatment that should work here.” Vreta said softly as he placed his hand on the Agent. Once she complied, Vreta finally brought his attention to the new pair of Humans that had just arrived. “Yes.” Vreta answered cautiously. “Who are you, and do you know what has been happening in this place?”