EliteCommander

The Cradle

Regardless of the source of the symptoms she felt, Freyr would find she did not experience them for long. The drones her body was hooked to provided constant analysis and treatment for any deviation from ideal homeostasis. The heat from outside, however, they could not address. The whole of the building seemed to shake from the explosion, and once again, most of those around her stumbled and staggered. Fortunately, the blast doors kept back the flames, but it seemed their closest exit was now blocked.

Nirann needed only to double-check the building’s blueprints for a moment to feel dubious about their plan for escape. The hangar was a fair distance away, and he could only guess at the current stability of the structure with the limited information he had available. Based on the estimated yield of the explosion, plus previous impacts, it was possible they could make it down in time, but there was quite a bit of a margin of error in those estimates. An alternative would be preferable. He signaled to the Rothian transports outside, informing them of their current position and situation.

“I can call a transport to this floor.” Nirann informed Skopec. “We just need to get to the building’s outer walls and one of them can cut through and extract us. Preferably on a side that isn’t on fire.”

Already, the dropships were surrounding the building and scanning for safe locations to cut through the exterior, then marking the options for Nirann and the others.

The Cradle

From Freyr’s perspective, the impact to the tower block would seem to shake the whole world, except for herself. The deafening sound would send her ears ringing as those around her stumbled in the hallway, but the drones guiding her on her anti-grav stretcher adjusted quickly and seamlessly to the point that Freyr herself did not feel a thing. She did have her senses returned to her; she could see, hear, and feel everything apart from the pain a targeted sedative was keeping from her. As a safety measure, however, the drones were temporarily suppressing her motor functions to prevent her from accidentally bringing harm to herself in a panic.

The Rothian-like droid stood over her, speaking in an artificially calm tone. “Please do not panic from any sensation of paralysis you may be experiencing. You are being treated for a concussion, and minor injuries to your species’ olfactory organs. Any other symptoms are merely a temporary side-effect of treatment, so you may rest calmly knowing you will make a full recovery.”

Evidently, the programming governing the droid’s bedside manner did not account for the very real dangers around them. The medic had been shaken off her feet, but scrambled back up as quickly as she could. With her neural link, she connected to her ship outside to make sure it was still active and ready for takeoff. “My transport is ready on the pad just outside. It can get us out of here the quickest.”

Vreta’s return to awareness was something less of a shock compared to Freyr. Rhia had been managing his body, and though there were a multitude of questions that would need to be answered out of this, their more immediate concerns were much more pressing. Rhia helped him catch up quickly to what had been happening. She had been in contact with Rareth, and the Datius had certainly not been sitting by idly. The Outreman military had instructed her to evacuate her people as well, and she had no problem complying with that request. Two squadrons of Rothian fighter drones and multiple military transports had been deployed from the cruiser above.

Had the group been outside, they would have been able to see the fireballs in the sky as the shielded craft pierced through the atmosphere at breakneck speeds. The transports were there as a contingency in case their VIPs could not reach their own ship, while the fighters provided protection. Given that the unidentified vessels were currently attacking both Rothian and Outreman citizens, they were absolutely valid targets. The squadrons of fighters came in fast from above, only to lose over half of their velocity in an instant to match speed alongside the hostile craft. Unlike Human ships, Rothian vessels did not use thrusters at all. Their propulsion came from sophisticated gravity engines which could provide “thrust” in any direction, equally. As such, the fighters looked as if they were orbiting the hostile ship in a swarm, with weapons facing their targets at all times. They fired concentrated particle beams like scalpels to cut through the hull and precisely target critical systems. Meanwhile, some of the fighters maneuvered below the vessel to attach to the underside of its hull. Using their powerful engines like tug ships, they would try to push the ship away from any crash course with important targets on the ground.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Kaleeth groaned, letting her head rest back on her pillow. “Um, well…sore, I think. Sore all over.”

Ahnasha grinned lightly. She did not want to crowd Kaleeth nor Janius, but she did find a spot in the tent to stand that was a bit closer. Depite everything, Kaleeth’s attitude seemed relieved, and that did spread to her, to an extent. “I really can’t say I’m surprised, with how fiercely you fought that whole battle. I know I wouldn’t have been able to do the things you did.”

Kaleeth nodded, smiling a bit herself. “I just remember how much I wanted it all to be over. That whole time in the valley, I would keep looking up at that tower and keep thinking ‘That’s the end. Just need to get to the tower.’ My beast spirit wanted it too, I could feel it. All it’s anger at Vile; I could feel it just wanted to get up to that tower and rip him to pieces. I didn’t feel all the hits I took. All the pain, I think my beast spirit took it for me so I could keep pressing on.”

Laughing briefly, Kaleeth again groaned. “I feel it all now, though. But Sabine said I would get better. I remember that. How is…everyone else? Is anyone else hurt?”

The Cradle

The change for Vreta was sudden, and he did not understand it. It was like he was in another place, yet at the same time he was not. He could still see the room he was in, but it was like this other scene was laid on top of it in his vision. It was blurry, like he was looking through ocean waters. He likely would have collapsed, were it not for the fact that Rhia could recognize that something was happening. She took control of some of his motor functions to keep him stable, while also monitoring his mind to make sense of what was happening.

“Freyr…what is going on right now? You need to wake up.” He asked.

---

Obviously, the report the medic received was a cause for immediate concern. “This is no concussion…” She muttered as she sorted through the various screens crossing her view. With just a thought, she ordered her droids to start giving more comprehensive treatment. One of the floating drones hovered over her torso and opened up the bottom of its chassis, revealing an array of specialized instruments. A dozen small tubes snaked across her body and pierced through her skin at different points to connect nearly every organ system she had with the drone. Combined with nanite injections, it could perform nearly any kind of medical treatment required, from simple medication to full surgery. It could even pump her blood manually, if her heart failed to do so. Meanwhile, the Rothian-like droid removed from its storage compartment what looked like a rolled-up, plastic sheet. It was a stretcher, and once it was unrolled on the floor beside Freyr, it went completely rigid. The small, anti-grav thrusters on its corners allowed it to float in the air, and given that it was sized for a Rothian, Freyr could easily fit on it.

The droids moved Freyr onto the stretcher, which lifted up into the air right away. “Clear the way! I’m taking her back to the infirmary.”

Halo: Aegis Team

Vael 'Virisusai

---

As the charge was planted, Vael took up a position prone, obscuring himself as best as he could on the edge of the ridge. He braced his carbine between two rocks and set his sights through his scope on one of the doorways. There were just a few chokepoints that the enemy would be funneled through once the fighting started, so they would want to maximize the damage they could deal in that time.

The detonation sounded out like thunder, though the roar of the storm still overtook it. After a moment, the whole platform in front of them started to list to one side, but Vael adjusted his aim to keep it trained on the doorway. The moment he saw movement, he opened fire. The green glow of the projectile lit up the area around it in the rain, though it cut through the air in the blink of an eye. The first one hit was an Unggoy trying to rush out the door. The carbine shot pierced his torso armor, followed by another, and another. Plasma and bullets joined in pelting the doorways. Unggoy that tried running outside at first were cut down in the doorways or shortly outside, but the better-shielded Kig-Yar and Sangheili could make it farther. The team on the closer ridge could not keep the doors suppressed indefinitely as they started to need to reload or let their weapons cool, but the marksman team on the other ridge would find the targets scattering across the platform had been softened.

The Cradle

Masgard did not have much opportunity to get close to Freyr before one of the medical droids stepped in front of him. It was the one with the frame resembling a Rothian. Unlike Nirann, it did not have that noticeable “liveliness” to its movement. Its motion seemed more like a moving statue. “Do not interfere with the delivery of medical treatment. Step back, citizen.” It ordered.

Masgard would feel the slight pressure of a metal finger as Nirann lightly tapped his shoulder. “The medical drones are pretty protective of their patients. I’d just step back and let them work. Trust me, this medical team is equipped to give better care in the field than she could receive at Outremer’s most advanced medical facilities. She’ll be fine. The short version of what happened is that she hit her head. Slightly longer version is that we were at a concert after meeting with Wallace and things got a bit chaotic. There were a few orbital strikes, and somewhere along the way, she hit her head on a barrier. It looks like she might have broken her nose, but that’s minor compared to a head injury. The medics are making sure there is going to be no lasting damage, so again, just let them work. We can get her comfortable and cleaned up once we’re sure she’s out of danger.”

The Rothian medic herself paid little attention to what the others around her said. Nirann had sent his full report before the medics even arrived, so she could focus her full attention on managing the diagnosis and treatment. She moved little from where she was as the droids worked, but if one looked close enough into her eyes, they might see the lights of holographic screens dancing across her vision under her iris. She had a direct neural link to her droids, allowing her to benefit from their processing and analysis capability, as well as her own training and expertise. The droids were drawing up a toxicology report, as well as neural and body scans, to tailor their treatment as closely as possible to her specifically.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Though she did see how everyone was gathering at the entrance of the tent, it was naturally Janius who earned all of her attention first. Although, she could not show her joy and relief nearly as much as she might have wanted. She could not muster the strength to get up and embrace him; it felt like just being awake took effort for her. Her voice was weak almost to the point that she sounded like a different person entirely, but she could still bring her hand to his cheek and pull him in close enough to nestle her head against his. “It’s over…isn’t it? We can be done with the fighting now?”

Ahnasha kept silent, not wanting to intrude upon the pair. Though, Fendros could see her looking over to him as her grip tightened on his hand. She shed a few tears of her own. It had still not quite settled in what they had already lost, but this was a reminder that they could have lost so much more.

The Cradle

The return back to the safehouse was something of a chaotic mess, and that was being generous. The Institute seemed none to happy with Wallace for their unplanned trip. The crew of her ship ended up being detained, which was something Nirann expected he was going to have to deal with at some point, considering that they had gone with her voluntarily. Though, it was nothing that was going to be solved right away, and they did have other concerns that were more pressing at the moment.

The science team’s safehouse did not have its own medical center, so they ended up bringing Freyr back to her room. Fortunately, she would not end up lacking proper medical attention. Marae woke Vreta as soon as they returned to get into contact with Rareth, who was able to get a Rothian medical team approved within minutes to come down from the cruiser in orbit, with emergency services priority. Given the speed of Rothian craft, it would not take long at all for them to arrive.

Vreta joined Marae and Nirann in Freyr’s room, still half-asleep. With how dull their time in the safehouse had been, he had hardly expected Marae to be shaking him awake with an emergency when he laid down that evening. He had gotten into contact with Rareth right away to get help, though his conversation with her had lasted a few minutes longer after Marae had left. While they awaited the medical team, Vreta suppressed a yawn as he looked down at Freyr. She was unconscious, and still in her wet, somewhat bloody clothes. No one had yet told him anything beyond the fact that she had hit her head, so he could only imagine what events had gotten her to this point. For now, Nirann had put her down on the floor and cleared out a wide area around her to make plenty of room for the medics when they arrived.

“I don’t know what in the Void happened here, but first things first, is she badly hurt, Nirann?” Vreta asked.

“My current frame isn’t equipped with proper medical scanners, but I did see the impact. She just hit her head on a barrier, nose first. That might be broken, but overall, the forces involved shouldn’t be too serious. She’s breathing fine; pulse is normal.” Nirann answered.

Vreta sighed. “Well, one of us should still probably help her pack. I just finished talking with Rareth, and it seems like we’re going to be moving in the morning. All of us. Hopefully she’ll be up and about by then, but I don’t think she’ll be happy to start packing boxes then.

Marae gave a glance around the room. “I suppose I can do it. It will keep me busy, at least.”

Nirann approached her, resting a hand on her shoulder. “No, I’ll do it. It’s not like I need to sleep, and you need to at least try to rest while you can.”

It was not long before the medical team arrived. There was just a single Rothian among the team, with the rest consisting of medical droids. Granted, in most cases, it was the droids that performed the majority of the work. While they were not true AI like Nirann, each one possessed highly sophisticated programming tailored specifically to diagnosing and treating organic beings. Their programming contained a full compendium of medical knowledge on every sapient species in the galaxy. One of the droids did have an appearance similar to a Rothian, but the rest were floating drones equipped with a wide array of specialized equipment. The medics wasted no time, with one of the droids moving over right away to perform its scans, starting with her head.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

The rest of the pack joined Janius, though they naturally made way for Janius to go in first. Ahnasha stayed close beside Fendros, while Lorag stayed in the back. It would be enough for him just to see how she was doing.

Ko’tanza guided Janius towards the tent Kaleeth had been moved to. “Kaleeth…she was very badly hurt. Very badly. She is the toughest patient this one has ever had, though. Such a strong soul. It’s just, well…we did everything we could for her, but…”

As they reached the tent, Ko’tanza pulled open one of the flaps for Janius. Just inside, Kaleeth was laying back on a cot. She was back into her Argonian form, with her body still bruised, and still scarred from wounds that were slow to heal. For a werecrocodile, all would heal in time, except for her formerly-mangled leg that had now been amputated from the knee down. She was slow to react in general, but between her shallow breaths, she turned her gaze towards Janius…and smiled.

The Cradle

There was not a moment of time wasted for Nirann. Freyr was still alive and still breathing, so she seemed to have knocked herself out in her confusion. In the moment, Nirann supposed that would just make it easier for him to get her back to safety without resistance. Somehow, he doubted that orbital strikes were a common part of Human concerts, so it would be best to get them all back to safety quickly. He was on full alert. His sensors were constantly scanning the area, and he had an array of cyberwarfare packages at the ready to deploy.

When he was motivated, it did not take Nirann long to push his way through the crowd. Most of the obstacles in his way he could deftly avoid, and anyone he could not was easy enough to push aside. As Nirann approached Wallace, he carried Freyr over his shoulder. Her clothing was soaked, she had a bloody nose, and she was unconscious, but she was at least alive and about to be safe.

“She ended up knocking herself out on a barrier. I’m assuming you have a med-bay somewhere on this ship?” Nirann messaged Wallace. He did not bother stopping, instead walking right past her up the ramp and into the ship.