EliteCommander

The Cradle

“Outremer may have traditionally preferred to keep to themselves, but our people have spent centuries forming connections with every species we meet, as much as possible.” Vreta interjected. “Even if we can’t rely exclusively on goodwill, we just have to be willing to give good enough deals to encourage cooperation. Still, with certain factions, I will admit it would be best if Outremer’s delegation did not…lead the way in negotiation.”

Marae felt somewhat hopeful. At least, the reaction so far had not been as negative as she feared it might be. As frightened or anxious as they might have been, there still seemed to be a will to accomplish their mission. “It is fair to worry about what other groups will do, I think. But, we have to make sure we are ready first. Each of us needs to be prepared and committed to see the project through.”

Artek’Qin, the xenoarcheologist, chimed in after a moment. “Do we have a solid lead on where we can find another one of these beings?”

The Cradle

“Whatever corruption is within the Cradle, it has been there long before the Navigator.” Vreta spoke up, from off to the side. “But if the Navigator is right, then it will not be enough just to avoid the Cradle. The threat may come for us in the real world, and if we are caught unprepared, we may not have a way to stop it.”

Marae nodded along with Vreta, then picked up quickly after him. “It isn’t just about curiosity, or even discovery anymore. It’s about protecting our people…both of our people. Our duty is to discover the truth about the Cradle, and this Navigator. Find out if it is telling the truth, and if so, find some way to help it stop the Hegemon. This isn’t a responsibility we can pass on to anyone else. There isn’t anyone more qualified than we are, because only understanding, only our research, is going to give us the answers we need.”

For the Rothian scientists, they were not terribly likely to refuse their mission, though there was selection bias in who was present. Each one was hand-picked by the Rahn’Saki, and under direct orders from them. Rothians did not have a tendency to disobey orders from the Rahn’Saki. Still, even if she was not expecting them to abandon the project, she had different problems she would have to deal with. Anxiety was going to become a persistent problem for her team. Rothians who were not trained for it did not tend to deal well with danger. After the attack on the surface, even Marae herself was medicated to deal with the stress, and she imagined others on her team would have it worse.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

“I already know the answers to these questions. When his life ended, he wished his remains buried according to his people’s custom in the sands near to his hometown. Quietly. The friends and family of his former life believed him dead long ago, and he had no wish to change that.” Yerig answered. Once again, he moved to bring himself up to his feet, though it looked like it was a struggle just for him to stand. His hands shook and he was visibly straining, but he did eventually manage to stand up straight under his own power.

There were a few, heavy breaths before Yerig continued. “I have fulfilled my promise to him. If you could, please, take me back to Tamriel. This unnatural place is no world for me. I wish to look up and see Kyne’s domain above, not these false stars.”

Halo: Aegis Team

Vael 'Virisusai

---

There was no immediate response from Grikgar, so with the platform cleared, Vael rushed to the edge to try to get a line of sight on the ground below. He had heard the sound of plasma fire echoing up from below, so he took aim down beneath him as soon as he reached the edge. However, by the time he arrived, he found no target to shoot. He spotted Grik climbing up the side of the ridge, leaving behind a dead Sangheili beneath him.

Vael joined soon in storming the barracks, though there ended up being no one left inside for them to fight. Once they had started their attack, all of the warriors garrisoned inside had joined the fight. After they confirmed that the barracks were clear, that marked the last objective they needed to complete while they were here. The cannon was too damaged to be used, and there was no one left alive to report back to the keep. As long as the Human AI’s communication jamming had been successful, then they now had a window to begin their attack on the keep.

”The area has been cleared. Have we sustained injuries?” Vael asked succinctly.

The Cradle

Not all on the team had yet been told of the particulars of what the Navigator had told them, so for some, this would be a potentially uncomfortable revelation. For Marae, it was bringing up fears that had been gnawing at her. It had been many centuries since she felt like she had been in anywhere close to the kind of danger she was in now. For many Rothians, that kind of danger would be something entirely new. The risk of death was something they tended to keep at a healthy distance away from their daily lives. Marae had been hatched at a time when they did not have the luxury of guaranteed safety, but that did not mean this feeling was anything but an unwelcome one.

For a moment, Marae lost focus. Her gaze wandered, to the slowly flowing water, to the sky, to the pleasant heat on her scales. It was tempting to get lost in the much more pleasant memories of her and Nirann’s last vacation to Anskaria. The future was no more certain then than it was now, but there was no reason to be frightened about it. The mysteries she studied at that time were only about expanding knowledge, not staving off disaster.

Marae soon felt a hand move across her back and rest on her shoulder as Nirann pulled her in close. The new frame he had chosen was substantially taller than her, so he had to lean down somewhat to nestle his head against hers. Out of everyone present, Nirann was likely the hardest to read. Not only did he lack an organic body, but his friendliness, humor, and apparent confidence was something he could always keep up no matter how he really felt. He was not any more immune to fear than any other Rothian, he could just leverage custom programming to hide it…but not from her. She knew him too well, and she knew he needed her. Nirann’s frame was nothing more than thick metal and polymer, and Marae was cold-blooded, but that did not stop both of them from feeling the warmth of the other’s support.

Marae took in a long, slow breath. This was a conversation she knew had been coming, and one that had been on her mind for a while. She could not count how many times she had gone through in her head what she might say, when the time came. Fortunately, she was not alone. Freyr, it seemed, was ready to talk about what lay ahead, and Marae knew she needed to help. For this, all of them needed to be working as a single team, and they needed to feel like they were one team. But, Marae still knew how to talk to her own people in a way they would respond to, and she expected Freyr would as well for the Humans. As Freyr paused, Marae stepped up alongside her to join her. “She is right. This is something new and…frightening for all of us. We are not unaccustomed to mysteries. Indeed, I think I can speak for most of us here when I say that mystery is something we can all embrace. The challenges of the unknown, the thrill of discovery, I don’t think any of us would be here if that was not something we had a passion to pursue. But this…is different. It isn’t just discovery now, it’s…duty. What we have learned of, potentially, is an entity, exceptionally advanced, and without peaceful intention. Something we have feared for a long time may have now been found: a threat to our future. Maybe even to our Eternity.”

Among the Rothians in particular, her final words brought about a clear and visible reaction. For some fear, some anxiety, some anger. The Rothian idea of Eternity was something that clearly held strong meaning to them, and Marae did not speak about it lightly.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Yerig did not move from his position, and there was still a tiredness to his voice as he responded to Sabine. “You had a noble goal, but peace was never yours to give him, young one. All that you, I, or anyone else could do was to support him on his journey to claim it for himself. You wanted to give him the peace of a life outside this war, but for Do’rhajul, there was no longer any peace in life. For him, peace in life would have been a return to the life he had before he was infected, but even a cure would not have given him that now. When he came to me all those many years ago, he had not accepted that. When I told him I could not give him what he desired, he turned to someone who convinced him he could, and he found the snake Clavicus Vile.”

The old Nord gave a long sigh. He started to seem like he wanted to stand up, but he stopped after just a brief, strained effort. “Vile and Hircine both had claim over his soul. He did not know where his eternity would lie when his life ended, but with his sacrifice, he claimed that answer by his own hand. Clavicus Vile, weakened as he is now, will have no ability to enforce his claim on Do’rhajul.”

The Cradle

After Freyr’s answer, Vreta silently messaged Marae to get the rest of the team together. Most of the science team was in and around the atrium, but there were some who were elsewhere in the ship, including Marae herself. They did have to wait a few minutes for the stragglers to trickle in and join them. It did not take long for Nirann to join them. Rather than repair the damage to his body, he had moved to an entirely new frame. He seemed to have moved to a different model of military droid. It was still a Rothian-like droid, though this one was noticeably taller with plating that seemed thicker. Whatever else might have been different from the previous droid was not visible from the outside.

Marae had been in a different part of the ship when Freyr awoke, so she was one of the last to join them in the tent. Pretty much right away as she saw Freyr, she rushed up to her arms outstretched. She seemed to be all smiles and excitement as she pulled her into a tight hug. Whatever the rest of the team might have been feeling, she was certainly in a good mood in the moment. “Ah, I was so glad when I heard you had woke up. I trust our doctors of course, but it’s nice to see in person that their diagnosis was correct. I see you got the outfit I gave you; do you like it? Did I do a good job on it?”

The Cradle

Given the scale of the atrium, it was not surprising that the team had been able to set up where they pleased. There was enough space for every living person on the ship to live in the atrium full-time, if they needed to. Indeed, some emergency plans involved moving the crew to the atrium to allow them to power down other parts of the ship. Regardless, the Human team had seemed to have settled in well enough. The tent they were using was of Rothian make, and was designed for rapid, but effective shelter in any environment. It was made from a smart polymer that could be flexible like cloth to be arranged into any needed shape, then, when activated, could harden into a tough, rigid plastic. The polymer could be shifted manually, or automatically with programmable presets. Currently, it seemed like their tent was simply arranged into an open area with plenty of space for whatever equipment they wanted to have with them.

The location they had chosen had what Vreta would consider a certain, idyllic charm. It was open, on a gentle hill near a river. Somewhat closeby, Vreta could see one of the waterfalls from one of the atrium walls. Like much of the rest of the chamber, the walls were intended to blend seamlessly with the environment it presented, so they had the appearance of natural barriers, rather than artificial ones. This waterfall had the appearance of flowing down from a short, but steep rock cliff face. Personally, Vreta felt like he might end up getting distracted if he were to try to work “outside” like this, but he could see how it could help the team to cope with all the stress they had been through.

Vreta did not want to interrupt Freyr or her team, but he did shoot her a message to respond to what she had said to him. ”I understand how you feel, and I know the pressure you’re under, being the leader of all these people. Especially now, with all they’ve been through. Not a lot of Rothians are comfortable with danger, and I can’t imagine it’s ‘that’ much easier for Humans. Still, though, you do need to remember to look out for yourself, too. Your well-being is just as important as theirs. If you decide to accept it, whenever you are feeling ready, we can get you the help you need. Whatever we might find, we’ll be ready to face it.”

Vreta gave a look around the area, taking in a deep breath and speaking out loud this time. “After all this chaos, I do think it would be good for your team to hear from you. Maybe we should get everyone together, your team and Marae’s. This is a perfect place, just rest by the river, sit in the sand. Talk. Air out concerns, grievances, and figure out our path going forward.”

The Cradle

Vreta tilted his head with a frown. “No, the atrium is quite real. I don’t know if I would call these experiences ‘dreams’ if you are awake when you receive them, though. The way you stood there, you looked like you were petrified. Given the nature of the Cradle and what it takes for a person to enter it, I don’t think this is something we should just ignore.”

After a moment, Vreta sat down in the grass alongside Freyr. It was more than common enough for people to relax in the “natural” environment of the atrium that they were not going to be drawing any particular attention to themselves, unless someone had witnessed Freyr’s episode to begin with. “You said you’ve had these experiences before? You might be in a position to get some answers about them now, though. Those sensor nodes you have on you, they are recording everything that happens with your body. That includes recording neural activity. If these hallucinations have a neurological origin, that data might help to pinpoint it.”

Vreta leaned in somewhat, seemingly staring rather intently into Freyr’s eyes. Though, it started to seem more like he was staring past her eyes. “It could be that it’s not neurological, though. May I ask, what kinds of implants do you have? Neural? Ocular? Both could be vectors for malicious code from the Cradle.”

Halo: Aegis Team

Vael 'Virisusai

---

The Sangheili stalking Grik had little trouble avoiding the grenade’s detonation, but it did disrupt him momentarily from being able to track the Unggoy’s movements. Still, there was no hesitation from the Elite to rush forward after his prey. His camouflage faded as he ran through the dissipating plasma, but he soon stopped in his tracks. He growled when he found that his target had slipped away. When he had started tracking Grik, he had seen only a Grunt. An easy kill on the way to more dangerous foes. For Grik to be able to evade him caught him off guard. He had not approached with any cover in mind, so he was currently in the open, his eyes scanning around for Grik. When he spotted a shimmer, he quickly opened fire in its direction with his plasma rifle.

---

On the platform, Aegis team’s aggressive attack had broken the enemy’s defense. Between their snipers still on the ridge and those that had advanced to the platform, the major threats had been eliminated. Most of what remained were fleeing Unggoy, though for the success of their mission, there could be no mercy for any of them. ”Stay focused. Kill the last of them quickly.” Vael ordered, though he was still quick to try to contact their Unggoy squadmate. ”Grikgar, what is your status?”