EliteCommander

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Though it was a secret to a majority of their people, the relationship that the clans had with the Empire and Dominion was known to the leadership of each of the clans, which meant that most of those at the table at least knew of Marod or Lunise if they had not met them in person. Although, no one would be mentioning their allegiances aloud, given the very public setting.

Ciinriel could not help but to give a chuckle. "Exhausting. I don't think I slept for a week after she was born. Her name is Telawen, and she is, well, she is my entire life. Being a mother...well, imagine it like having someone who demands all your attention all the time, screams at you for everything she wants with no patience whatsoever, and will quite literally vomit on you without a second thought, then gets mad when you put her down to clean yourself up. But, no matter what she does, or what she managed to cover herself in, she is still the most beautiful and precious thing you could ever imagine. And you will do everything she wants and more because there is no part of your mind that could even entertain the thought of not loving her. I think that somewhat describes it."

Being that they were now at the table, their conversation was now a bit less private. Just across from Sabine, a few of her pack were seated, including Ahnasha and Rhazii beside one another. Given the topic, Ahnasha grinned along with her comment. "I'd say that's completely right. And it never goes away either. Rhazii here will always be my cute little cub." She said in a quite intentionally exaggerated tone as she reached up and ruffled up the fur on top of Rhazii's head. She did indeed enjoy embarrassing Rhazii with her "motherly affection" from time to time.

For a few brief seconds, Ciinriel looked visibly surprised. "That's little Rhazii? I knew you were a Cathay, but...last time I saw you, I could've held you in my arms. You've grown like a graht-oak. Do you remember me? Ciinriel?"

At this point, people from the city were being directed to their seats, and Meesei soon took hers. As soon as she was given the signal from the organizers that they were ready, she would stand and call for everyone's attention. It was difficult to speak intelligibly to such a large group, though they had prepared as best as possible. They had set up some enchanted gems on pedestals around the clearing to help her voice to echo farther, though it would still require some shouting on her part.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Since their relationship with the Empire and Dominion is still a secret to those not in leadership positions, Marod probably wouldn't be in uniform.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Say, are either Lunise or Marod present?

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Ciinriel and La'khay had their seats with the rest of their pride, near Ri'kalesh, but they were still close enough to be able to talk to Sabine. La'khay tapped a finger to her chin in thought as she figured out how to word her answer. "Oh, La'khay loves La'tahne greatly. But neither of us have wanted to be mates like you would think of them. We will be together until our deaths, but not...exclusively together. We do not wish to keep our love to ourselves, you understand. And we do so enjoy mating with anyone who wants to share in our love."

Meanwhile, Meesei was taking some time to greet several of the other clan alphas, or their representatives. Most of Tamriel's clans had sent at least someone to attend, often more, which made for quite a crowded and diverse table. It seemed like pretty much every cultural group in Tamriel was represented by someone among them. There were some that likely would have been at odds with one another, or at least in more conflict, were it not for their lycanthropy to unite them.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Ciinriel kept a bright smile. "Married with children, actually. His name is Lenuin; he moved all the way from his home in the Arenthia clan just so he could stay with me. Our daughter was born just a few months ago. I wanted to take her with us, but we still think she might be a bit too young to take her to faraway places. La'tahne is watching her right now."

Around them, people were starting to come in from the city. Given the size of the event, the Council had assigned organizers to direct people to the feast in groups, so the crowds would not become too large at once. Meesei moved over to the head of one of the tables to take her seat. As the Champion, she was naturally given the most prominent place of honor, but Sabine had her seat right beside her for this announcement. Being members of Ri'kalesh's pride, Ciinriel and the others would at least be seated at the same table, though.

Seeing that people were beginning to gather, Ciinriel started to move towards the table as she continued. "What about you, Sabine? Have you found a new mate? Colors talked about you in one of his letters a while back. Such a coincidence that you happened to run into him. He mentioned that you were no longer with Peiter, right?"

La'khay, following nearby, laughed and waved a hand. "Oh, she certainly has. Just look at her. Such a beautiful and powerful woman; she is irresistible! The only real question is who he is. So, what's his name? What does he look like? How good is he in bed?"

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Ciinriel smiled and gave a light tug on her own dress. "Thank you. La'khay made my dress for me; she thought everyone should look their best for today's feast."

"You always deserve to look your best." La'khay commented. "Both of you do. La'khay will not be taking no for an answer. She is sure we will be able to make the time after the feast to catch up. No matter how busy you are, it's always worth it to make time for friends."

Ciinriel looked away briefly towards the City, and the people that were starting to walk down the tall stairway and towards the clearing. "I'm not sure how much longer we have before the feast, but hopefully we will be able to get everyone together afterwards. I know my husband is dying to meet you. Don't tell him I said it, but I think he's always been a bit jealous of the fact that we got to know you and your pack. He is very devoted to Hircine."

Star Wars - Lawless Galaxy

In orbit above Vontor, the carrier craft launched its missiles from outside the range of the shipyards’ weapons. It focused the missiles on a few of the docked ships, particularly the smaller ones. The shields of its targets could hold for a short time, but it would force their crews to either abandon their vessels, or quickly move them to safety. Meanwhile, the fighters surrounding the carrier spread out into their formations, though they did not yet range far from the carrier itself.

Of course, the Cartel’s defensive forces were not simply for show, and they were neither unprepared for, nor appreciative of a sudden surprise attack. Even if many ships had been taken for the counterattack on Kintan, there was still more than enough of a defensive fleet to deal with a carrier ship. Most of the warships that were not already in defensive positions undocked from the shipyards and moved into formation with their battle groups. Their quick corvettes were the first to react, moving themselves into position to screen for the larger vessels. Several corvettes positioned close enough to the path of the carrier’s missile barrage to use their point-defense systems to intercept as many of the missiles as they could. Some could get through, but not enough to dent the shipyard’s shields. They launched fighters to deal with the Believers’ strike craft, and a few wings of bombers to attempt to disable the carrier itself. Then, the fleet headed full speed ahead towards the carrier, keeping their larger ships in a tight formation with their corvettes to reduce the effect of any bombing runs from the carrier.

The formation did take some time to create, and it could only move as fast as its slowest ships, but it was, nevertheless, completely effective. The carrier tried to weave its missiles between the fleet to hit the shipyards, but it was a fruitless effort. As the defenders’ fleet drew closer, the carrier made a turn away from the shipyards, and scans would show that its hyperdrive was charging. The Starfighters surrounding it moved to form a defensive shield against incoming bombers as the carrier itself accelerated away from the approaching fleet. However, the large and bulky carrier vessel was not a particularly fast or agile ship, and it could not outrun even the larger frigates chasing it, at least not over distance. They were in full retreat…but there was nothing that was not going to plan.

Had their more accomplished fleet commander been present, instead of at Kintan, the Cartel’s defending fleet may have recognized the deception sooner. They might have noticed the peculiar fact that the carrier was not actually launching additional fighters, despite that being the express purpose of that class of vessel. The reason for this was simple: there were no fighters inside for it to launch. As well, all of the fighters which had dropped out of hyperspace around it were interceptor craft, with not a bomber among them. Instead of starfighters, virtually all of the hanger space inside the carrier had been refitted to serve a different purpose specifically for this mission. All of that space was now being used for power and shield generation, making the carrier into an exceptionally well-defended distraction.

Once the defensive fleet had been drawn suitably far from the shipyards, another vessel dropped out of hyperspace on the direct opposite side of the shipyards, and much closer to it. It was also a carrier, much smaller than the sizable Imperial vessel currently occupying the fleet, but unlike their distraction, this one was actually carrying its starfighters. Immediately, the carrier launched its waves of fighters and bombers. As might have been expected for the believers, they had no single style of ship in their fleet. Their fighters consisted of whatever collection of battle-worthy spacecraft they could get their hands on. Some were converted civilian ships, others were made by the same manufacturers that tended to supply Hutt and pirate fleets. The best among them were salvaged military vessels from the Empire, Rebel Alliance, and even the Republic. They had launched two full flight groups of TIE bombers, and flying closest above them were five X-Wings in seemingly perfect condition. They had all been custom-painted with the emblem of the Believers, as well as all bearing markings on their nose depicting some variation of a growling, canid-like creature.

Inside the cockpit of the lead X-Wing was a Bothan man, middle-aged, in a dark brown flight suit. His helmet had a worn insignia of the Rebel Alliance on its right side, and a more freshly-painted Believer symbol on the left. “Vornskr Squadron standing by and ready for our attack run.”

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

La'khay kept her hands on Sabine's shoulders, still observing all the fine details of Sabine's appearance as she answered. "Oh, this is all La'khay's own artistry. This one has had so much more time with the clan being stable and secure again. She can see you have also been keeping yourself in good shape, though..." She began, taking on a somewhat critical expression as she narrowed her eyes and placed her hand gently on Sabine's cheek to turn her head slightly. "You look stressed too. La'khay can see it in your eyes. This one thinks you are probably working too hard. Before La'khay leaves, we should definitely get together and see if we can banish all that stress away from your beautiful face. Maybe give you a fresh new look too; something to surprise your mate."

Once she finally had the opportunity, Ciinriel enthusiastically gave Sabine a cheerful hug. Upon getting closer, Sabine might notice that Ciinriel had a much smaller, more conservative tattoo on her neck consisting of swirling lines, like smoke rising from a fire. She wore a bit more substantial clothing than La'khay in the form of a dress that had the appearance of being made of alternating layers of wrapped animal hides from different kinds of creatures, with a gap over her stomach and lower back. "It's really great to see you again, Sabine. And you too, Meesei. I'm glad we're finally allowed to come here. This place is...hard to describe in words."

In contrast to the last time they spoke, Ciinriel did not show any of the reclusive personality she had once possessed.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"Indeed, I do not think you will be disappointed in the news." Meesei added. "I believe that the situation shall improve for your clan, and Elsweyr as a whole."

Ri'kalesh grinned and nodded. "Well, this one is looking forward to it. You have never disappointed us, Champion. None of you have." He said. Giving a glance over his shoulder, back towards the others gathered around the clearing, he looked back and motioned for the pair to follow him. Near the council's table, several of the others were gathered. Namely, Ciinriel and La'khay looked to already be catching up with Janius and Kaleeth. Although, they were hardly halfway over when La'khay took notice and came rushing at them with her arms outstretched.

"Ah, there you are! Meesei, Sabine! It has been far, far too long since La'khay has had the pleasure of seeing you both. And you are just as beautiful as ever." She said enthusiastically. It seemed clear that little had changed about La'khay in their time apart, except now she evidently had more time to devote to her appearance. The only actual clothing she was wearing was an elaborately embroidered loincloth, woven with vine-like patterns reminiscent of Kaleeth's tattoos. Speaking of which, she now had a few tattoos of her own, or perhaps just dyed fur. Once again, it was a nature-inspired pattern of leaves connected by flowing lines on her chest, arms, and a small part of her stomach. She had piercings and jewelry seemingly anywhere she could put them, and wore thin violet ribbons draped around her neck and loosely over her arms. Very little of it was practical, particularly the piercings, but it unquestionably made her stand out in a crowd.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Ri'kalesh returned Sabine's smile, patting her back through their hug. "Ri'kalesh suggests you ask them yourself. They are here too. Well, his pride is, at least. Your friend Tzirret is back home in the clan. This one cannot say he has kept a close eye on him, but he seems to be doing well. Ri'kalesh has not heard of any trouble from him. Khajiit seems to remember seeing him among those helping the survivors we received from the Orcrest clan a while back."

Pulling back from the hug, Ri'kalesh kept his hands on Sabine's shoulders. "But Ri'kalesh is also curious about you. He only just arrived here last night, but already he has heard some almost fantastic-sounding rumors floating around. Something about a teleporting Dragon, of all things. Would that be just a fantasy, or is this feast going to be even more interesting than this one thought?"