As much time as they had to prepare for it, the moment ended up being a painful one for many in the pack. They had the time to show their children all the affection they wanted, but ultimately, they still had to get to the portal and get into position to start the final battle of the war. Despite her confident attitude, Ahnasha hugged Rhazii for about a minute longer than it took to become awkward, and Kaleeth almost forgot her own strength when embracing Julan. Lorag, while he did not show any physical affection, did actually give Narsi a look that betrayed his pride in her before they all finally had to leave. 

Once they did finally part ways, there was no one who immediately demanded that they head back to Tamriel, but they were all certainly aware that they would be shepherded back if they did not do so on their own soon enough. Still, for Julan, it was a hard step to take. Heading back through the portal made their departure seem all the more...final, and in his current form, emotion held a much stronger weight within his mind. At the very least, it was not anger and rage being pushed to the forefront of his mind, which would have agitated his beast in a way he might not have been able to control. As it stood, it was just his tears that he could not control. 

Julan stepped up between Rhazii and Narsi. He could not think of what he could or should say, and even if he had, he was not sure he would be able to articulate it. Finally, he decided to reach his arms out around them and pull both of them in close. In his current form, neither of them were particularly able to resist. 

[hr]

Even for Meesei, being gathered by the portal was getting her heart beating just a bit faster. All of the armies had their troops gathered and arranged into the formations they would take through the portal. Even with such a large gate, it would take time to move their armies through, so they would have to send in troops to clear the area around the destination portal, then send supplies to build fortifications for a defensive perimeter while they moved in the bulk of their armies. It was the stage of their invasion where they would probably be the most vulnerable, but thanks to Hal-Neesa's work on the Dwemer device, they were not going in blind. They would have the element of surprise, so there likely would not be much resistance around the portal, and they had been able to select a defensible position as their destination for their great gate. Meesei's pack would be the first ones through the portal, but they would not be alone, and it would not be the most difficult task ahead of them. 

While the portal was having varla stones, and other sources of magical energy, arranged around it to power its activation, Meesei's pack was gathered with the rest of their leadership around their best map of Vile's realm to go over their plans one last time. Legate General gro-Tagnud and Teroiah were, of course, present, as well as Hal-Neesa and Ri'vashi. Once they had their foothold, the majority of their forces would take a direct path towards the source of power their map had revealed, including Hal-Neesa. Meesei's pack, meanwhile, would move with a smaller force through a mountain pass along the northern side of the battlefield, with the support of some of their more elite warriors. Not only were there watchtowers in the mountains that would be beneficial to capture, or at least deny to Vile's forces, but the vampire lord insisted that her power would overshadow the real threat of the empowered Rueful Axe, and Vile would not sense it until it was too late. If all went to plan, the majority of Vile's forces would be distracted fighting the main bulk of their combined army, leaving less resistance for Meesei's force. Even if Hal-Neesa and the others were held up in the center, the mountain pass would bring Meesei's pack into striking distance of the source of power, and hopefully Vile himself. They would also be deploying part of their forces along the southern edge of the battlefield, though their purpose would mostly just be to prevent flanking attempts to the center. Of course, they [i]all[/i] had to be ready to improvise if events did not quite proceed according to plan. 

The final meeting of their leadership was interrupted by a brief commotion nearby, followed by a tall, black-furred Khajiit shoving past two Aldmeri soldiers. It was the lycan who had confronted them upon their first arrival, Vykosa "the Ascendant". She slammed her staff down against the ground, keeping her eyes firmly on Meesei, though seemingly speaking to them all. "So you seek to make your plans without Vykosa. Do you intend to force them upon the Moon Hunter Pack as well?"