EliteCommander

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"Hmm, that is not a name I know." Do'rhajul replied. "I do recall the presence of a Cathay commander at the fortress in Elsweyr, from the reports afterwards. But, getting specifics on your command structure has always been difficult with the hidden nature of your clans. We had to generalize based on the average structure of the clans we did know about. If this Ri'vashi wishes to see me dead, well, then I am afraid you will have to be the one to argue against her. I have no right to disagree with her if I have wronged her. Even if I did, I doubt my word would matter."

Do'rhajul laid himself back in the water, staring up at the steadily-darkening sky above them. It would not be long before the sun set over the horizon. "Whether or not your allies are willing to listen to me in terms of strategy, I do hope that I can at least lead you to something useful. Gold, weapons, powerful artifacts; I know where caches of such resources were being held that could be useful for your clans. Though, I suspect that, once they realize I am helping you, they will move as much as they can, and shift their operational tactics from the ones I created. Even that alone will be disruptive to them."

After a moment, Do'rhajul's expression became curious towards Sabine. "Would it be necessary to convince the other leaders of your clan? You are a member of the Champion's pack and one of the highest ranking lycans in Tamriel, are you not? Could you command a force of warriors yourself?"

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Do'rhajul had been just as alert to the dragon's roar, but like Sabine, had calmed when it was clear that it was not approaching. Being a Khajiit werewolf, he would have certainly heard Sabine step up on the beach and cast her spell, but he did seem to pay her too much attention. It was only once she started to walk out onto the water that he turned his head to look at her. He observed the glow on her feet with something of an uncertain expression, but did not say anything to protest her approaching him.

Do'rhajul did not seem like he was going to speak at all until Sabine directly questioned him. "I have? Hmm, how long has it been? I must have become distracted. Forgive me, if you want to bathe yourself and finally wash away that blood, I can give you some privacy." He offered.

Taking his eyes off of Sabine, Do'rhajul returned his gaze out to the waves. "I would not call my thoughts complex. Well, they may be somewhat complicated, but the goal is straightforward. I am merely trying to determine the most effective ways you can allocate your resources to damage Clavicus Vile. I know you said that you intend to invade his realm, but it may still be valuable to cripple his efforts in Tamriel in the meantime. I know a great deal about their operations, and while that information will become increasingly out-of-date as time goes on, it still could be useful. You merely need to decide what strikes would be the most valuable to you. For instance, part of our organization devoted themselves to recovering artifacts of great power to help turn the tide in the war. At first, they sought artifacts directly related to Hircine in the hopes of being able to study them to gain some sort of advantage over Hircine. As far as I know, they were never successful in learning anything of value, but we did recover a few relics, like the Spear of Bitter Mercy and the Savior's Hide. I know where they are holding them."

Blood Act I~ Ghosts of the Past

Ssarak Dyreackthanose

---

As the thieves started to make their escape, Ssarak’s priorities shifted. The fire was a serious concern, and not one he was going to take lightly. They needed to get out of the warehouse just as quickly as the thieves were. As quickly as he could, Ssarak sent a telepathic message to all of his allies. ”A fire is spreading; secure that package and evacuate the warehouse as quickly as you can!”

As he scanned the minds of his allies to get a sense of their status, Ssarak heard Lyn’s thoughts, and the apparent danger that “they” were in. Whoever “they” might be; he seemed to remember both he and Keri leaving the roof.

Getting as much of a run up as he could, Ssarak ran forward, jumped, and flapped his wings as hard as he could to get as much distance off of the ground as he could. The interior of the warehouse was cluttered, so an actual “flight” was not possible, but he was able to use his wings to essentially jump to the top of some of the higher stacked crates, then jump again to the roof hatch he had dropped through initially.

Ssarak climbed up through the hatch as quickly as he could, but his general bulk still made that take a few moments. In that time, he saw a large Orc woman throw another stranger to the ground, then flee off of the roof. Lyn, meanwhile, looked drained from the all-too-recognizable signs of blood sickness. Ssarak himself was feeling fatigued from his own magical exertions, so if she had been fighting someone, he could only imagine that she had pushed herself to her limits.

Quickly, Ssarak peered into the surface thoughts of the stranger on the ground. Naturally, there was aggression towards the Orc he had just been fighting, but none of the thoughts towards Lyn were similarly hostile. Whoever he was, he was obviously not with the thieves, so Ssarak set his sights back on the Orc.

Once again, Ssarak took to the skies, leaping off of the roof in the same direction as the Orc. He needed to act quickly, but he could not risk using his magic for any significant spells. He had exerted himself heavily during the fight in the warehouse, so trying to use more magic now could just end up debilitating him. But, he was still more than capable of fighting through more traditional means, and he wanted a prisoner. If he could spot the Orc, he would swoop down upon her full force with his mace. He intended to disable her, even if it meant breaking some bones, but more than that, he wanted to see if he could quickly find and remove her rune as well so that she did not also burst into flames.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Yerig climbed into his tent while Sabine went around the area to forage. The flora on the island did not seem to be terribly different from that on the mainland of High Rock, so Sabine would know roughly what she could expect to find. She would eventually spot Do'rhajul, who had simply gone to bathe himself in the sea. From a distance, he did not seem to be doing much more than sitting in the water, staring absently out over the waves. Without knowing his thoughts, it would be difficult for Sabine to tell how much her advice and encouragement had been affecting him. He was obviously deep in thought, but whether those thoughts were constructive or destructive to himself, she could not determine.

Shortly afterwards, Sabine would be able to hear a distant echo of an unmistakable sound: a dragon's roar. It was distinct and easy for her ears to detect, but the source was obviously far from their location. It sounded like it could be near the center of the island. It placed their group in no immediate danger, but it did confirm both that they were in the right place, and the dragon was not yet dead. If the axe's wielder was still alive, he had certainly not collected his bounty.

Star Wars - Lawless Galaxy

Circumtore

Sirka growled under her breath following Sol’id quite thoroughly ruining her plan with what she saw as an impatient attack. Though, she supposed that she should not have expected anything different when fighting with Mandalorians.

The pirates had arranged as many crates and other object as they could into makeshift defensive fortifications, so most of those around the E-Web had been covered from the blast. In particular, a Devaronian man was quick to start rallying his allies after the rocket strike. “Spread out! Watch those wrist rockets!”

The pirates had not been too clustered to begin with, but several of them quickly dashed for other cover, while still maintaining a distinct defensive line. Those in the middle were still suppressed by Sol’id, but others could still return fire. Regardless, Sirka sprinted in through the entryway as quickly as her legs could carry her. Although, she still could not move too close to the enemy. The best she could do was to sprint across diagonally across the entryway and into cover behind a piece of lifting machinery just to the left of the entrance. She took a shot to her thigh on the way and stumbled, but still made it into cover. From there, she propped her weapon up on the machine and began joining Sol’id in trying to keep the enemy suppressed. Unfortunately, that was not nearly as effective as they would have liked. Even with both her and Sol’id firing as fast as they could, it was still just two sources of blaster fire. The pirates had many more, and they were too spread out to threaten many of them at once.

Sirka kept up fire on the enemies closest to Elias for as long as she could, but she suddenly had to jerk back into cover as a blaster bolt struck her in the hand. She growled curses under her breath and started shaking her hand in the air. That one hurt. The heat burned some of the flesh in at least one finger, having found its way past her scales through her claw. “I’ve got too many angles to cover here. We need something better here than just ‘charge the gates’. Anyone have smoke grenades?”

The Devaronian officer was effectively coordinating his men, directing their fire on both Sol’id and Elias. As for himself, he was in full combat armor, though they could not determine the material just by looking. He had several devices on his belt, and a full-looking backpack. He carried only a small blaster pistol, but he was not a bad shot. It fired in quick, four round bursts, and at least one of the shots found its mark on Elias’ armor while he was moving. The Devaronian was keeping himself in as good of cover as he was able, and was constantly checking on Sol’id and Sirka’s positions between firing bursts at Elias.

Star Wars - Lawless Galaxy

Sirka and Elias were able to meet up with his other Mandalorian friend at the docking bay, and to Sirka, it quickly became clear that whatever these people were trying to claim was valuable. Seeing the E-Web, Sirka stayed in cover behind the wall next to one of the entrances leading into the docking bay. That was a kind of firepower that Sirka did not exactly want to be jumping into.

Since a surprise attack seemed to be out of the picture, Sirka quickly glanced into the docking bay to try and figure out their options. Though, she could not leave her head exposed for more than a second. Elias exchanged some fire with them, but it was clear that it was going to take much more than some ranged pot shots to deal with these pirates.

Sirka grunted at Elias through their comms. "Take out that gun, and I might be able to keep them pinned, but it won't be easy. There are a lot of them, though, and they're spread out in defensive positions, not clustered." She said, giving another glance towards the E-Web. "Hmm, disable that gun, though...maybe take out its tripod without breaking the gun, help me push in and take over that position, and I'll do more than just 'suppress'."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Yerig was starting to climb into his tent, but he stopped and turned when Sabine questioned him. "Hmm? Oh, well, I do keep myself in the best shape I can. Most probably would have retired long before me, but I still have purpose. In the middle of a fight, with your blood pumping and your mind focused, it's not too hard to ignore how sore it will all make me in a few hours. When I'm not fighting anyone, I'm free to take it easy, and to complain as much as I feel like."

Slowly, Yerig sat himself down in front of his tent. "Also helped that Arinette gave me some potions in preparation for the ambush. Stamina, agility, things to help be get around a bit better. If you have anything like that, or could make anything like that, for me before we potentially fight a dragon, I'd appreciate it." He added.

Star Wars - Lawless Galaxy

Ques

In the midst of Lez’s arrival, Ken Neumann’s communications officer received a message from the Believers’ leadership: one that took priority over just about anything else that could have been happening short of a direct attack on their own camp. It was a heavily encrypted audio message, which, even with the proper encryption key, took a short while to decode due to the complexity of the algorithm.

High-level communications were meant to be secure, but as Ken was the commander of his cell, it was entirely up to his judgment who would and would not be present to hear the message. Upon beginning the playback, it would become immediately apparent that this was no ordinary status update or request, as the electronically-modified voice which played was that of none other than Cinder himself.

”Freeman. Commander, I have a mission for you and your cell, should you choose to accept it. Our agents have recently intercepted communications suggesting that a terrible tragedy has taken place on the planet Vodran. A large number of Vodrans were recently captured, and we believe they are currently being taken to be sold into slavery. We do not wish to let this injustice stand. I would like for you to find a way to free as many of these people as possible. Included in this message is all of the information we have on the capture, and the upcoming deal. Times, coordinates, and all other results of my agents’ investigations. We believe the captives are being taken to, or at least near, the neutral zone on the station known as Paradise, where the deal will take place. I have heard much good about you, agent Freeman, and I trust that you know well the capabilities of yourself and your men. I leave it to you and your judgment to decide on the approach you shall take using this information. Your primary objective will be to free as many of these poor souls as possible; however, should you have the opportunity, I would also like for you to make a statement. Show these slavers, these villains, that they are not to be feared so as long as there are True Believers to stand against them. Show them that the wrath of the Believers is every bit as strong as our mercy for the innocent.” Even through the distorted voice, the passion that Cinder carried with his public statements was just as strong in this message.

The message continued in a softer, but more severe tone. ”But, be sure to remain cautious. These slavers belong to an organization known as GORT company. They are numerous, well-armed, and are completely ruthless. And of course, open violence on Paradise would be met with overwhelming force. However, I have faith in your abilities, agent Freeman. Free those people.”

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Yerig shook his head. "I don't think that would have the effect you would want it to have. You need to be the leader and the hero for this; the last thing you want your clan to start seeing us as is 'dangerous'. If we do kill a dragon, I don't think you should be afraid of the accomplishment. If anything, it might make your word hold more weight with your clan."

After a few moments, Yerig slowly pushed himself up to his feet with a groan, and a few popping bones. He stepped over to his tent and found a safe place to put his greatsword that would be within his reach in the middle of the night. "Unfortunately, I don't think I can stay up too much longer. I don't quite have your energy. Don't worry about disturbing me, though. I sleep like a rock. You might have to shake me a bit when it's my turn to go on watch." He chuckled. "Just try not to let your thoughts harass you too much, okay? Forcing that much stress on yourself just is not healthy."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Yerig gave Sabine a single pat on the back. "Okay, but remember what I said. Don't let yourself suffer alone."

The Nord moved a few feet away, though he still remained close to Sabine. He took a moment to glance towards the beach, but Do'rhajul was still nowhere within sight, and Yerig was not precisely sure where he had gone. With the current state of his two companions, Yerig had a hard time determining if every little action had some kind of terrible cause to it, or if it was nothing to be concerned about.

Once more, there was an extended, awkward silence between them. The fact that he did not know if Sabine was normally sociable or not did not help Yerig. At least with Do'rhajul, he knew for sure that he was acting unusually. "So...if we have to kill a dragon, what do you think your clan will think about that. I mean, you're hunters, right? I can't think of more impressive prey than that. Not to mention that, if we're successful, you'll also be coming back with that axe you've been looking for. They would have to admire those kinds of accomplishments."