EliteCommander

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Ahnasha gave a smile, looking towards the inactive portal. "Yes, well, it's not every day you get to visit your own afterlife. And if we end up in the presence of Hircine himself, I...hope I am prepared for that. Still, I do have to say I am proud to be the one bringing us there. Not to diminish the contributions all the others had on the portal, of course." She grinned. "Let's just hope that no one ends up picking a fight with anyone else. Imperials, Thalmor, and the spirits of lycans all in one place...let's hope their training and discipline is as good as they say it is."

Just as Meesei had announced, it only required a few minutes for their messenger to return to the Silent City and rush up to Darahil. The sigil stone was situated high in the cavern, on a balcony overlooking the Dwemer "sun." The light from the sun did somewhat obscure it, but the intense red glow of the now-active sigil stone was still intense enough to be noticed from the portal.

Within moments, magicka began to surge through the portal, collecting a level of power in the stones that few witnessing it had likely ever seen in person. The stones gave off the same, brilliant red glow as the sigil stone until the portal finally formed in its entirety between them. Although the stones they had used to form the gate had a different appearance from the Oblivion gates of old, the fact that they were using a sigil stone to power it meant that the portal itself appeared identically to the gates that had opened across Tamriel during the Oblivion Crisis. For those who had been alive at that time, it was not likely to bring back fond memories.

As impressive of a sight as it was, and as much pride as Ahnasha was obviously taking in it, Meesei did not intend to allow everyone to stand around to admire it. They needed to get to work quickly once in the Hunting Grounds, and Meesei did not want the laborers to be too distracted about where they were to work efficiently. So, as was common, she took the approach of leading by example.

"First group, through the portal." Meesei announced clearly and loudly. Of her pack, she was the first to step forward, and the first to walk through the portal. Despite its appearance, traversal through the portal was not as unpleasant as one might have expected. In fact, it felt no different than the portals that Meesei and Sabine could create. The destination was far more distant, if not somewhat less exotic than some might have been expecting. Meesei, and anyone else properly educated on such matters, would have already known what to expect, but it was simply a forest. They stepped from the hard stone of the cavern floor onto soft grass and dirt. There was life all around them in the form of trees, ferns, bushes, and even the sounds of birds. There was the constant sound of a small brook flowing downhill just off to their right. The trees and other plants seemed familiar, or at least, would not have looked out of place in any forest in Tamriel. The sky, at least at this moment, looked no different from the sky above Nirn. Although, it did seem to be the middle of the day here, while they had left Tamriel before sunrise. Indeed, without the discrepancy in time, one could reasonably make the mistake that they were still somewhere else in Tamriel. Of course, they had not yet seen any of the wildlife.

Star Wars - Galaxies at War[MULTIVERSE SPACESHIP RP]

I finally put up my introduction.

Also, I added a few images to notable crew in the character tab.

Star Wars - Galaxies at War[MULTIVERSE SPACESHIP RP]

The Immaculate Aegis

---

Shipmaster Falul was on the bridge of his vessel, the Immaculate Aegis. He was sat in his chair, hovering in front of a view screen showing an image of the outside of their ship. Though, there was little to see beyond the planet they were orbiting. It was a frontier colony called Khael'mothka. Falul had his crew had fought here before, when it had been embroiled in a civil war, like so many other Sangheili colonies in the aftermath of the Battle of the Ark. The fighting was all but over by this point, however, with only the embers of dissent remaining to be stomped out. Their reason for being here was simply as a part of their normal patrol of Sangheili space, searching for pirates or any of the other meager threats that still needed to be snuffed out in their territory. The only event that was even somewhat out of their routine was that they had taken aboard an artisan-armorer for transport to Sanghelios, though that was hardly the sort of excitement that he knew some of his crew longed for.

There were those among the Shipmaster's crew who resented the fact that their vessel was no longer taking an active role in the destruction of Jul 'Mdama's Covenant. The Immaculate Aegis had not so much as entered combat in months, but Falul understood his role. As much of a threat as Covenant still was, they could not simply leave their territory undefended. There needed to be ships at the ready to defend any world under the protection of the Swords of Sanghelios. It was a role just as important as any assault ship, and for this task, Falul fully intended for his vessel to live up to its name.

Having already completed their scan of the system and found nothing out of the ordinary, it was time to make their return to Sanghelios. Falul gave the order and the slipspace jump was quickly calculated. A brilliant blue glow filled the view screen as the slipspace portal opened just ahead of the ship's bow, their engines pushing them through into the portal itself. A slipspace jump between stars was routine, and unremarkable. It was a journey this vessel had made countless times during its service, yet, this time, they were not destined to arrive at their intended destination.

---

Entry into the portal had gone just as smoothly as usual, but as soon as the portal had collapsed in real space behind them, the whole of the ship seemed to shake violently, and they dropped out of slipspace mere seconds after entering. Even the Shipmaster's chair had shaken, though he had managed to right it before he could be thrown from it.

Most of those on the bridge were of at least major rank, all wearing the crimson armor of the Swords of Sanghelios. Most were Sangheili, though two consoles were operated by Unggoy, and one by a Kig-Yar. All of the Kig-Yar aboard the vessel were mercenaries, which did not sit well with all of the crew in terms of their loyalty, but Falul knew their leader and found them useful enough to continue to continue to employ them since just after the fall of the Covenant.

"Report!" Falul shouted, to which his officers needed only a few moments to read the errors flashing on their consoles. Although, interpreting the actual meaning behind them was an entirely different matter.

The Sangheili at the console just to Falul's right swapped rapidly between the screens in front of him, trying to make sense of the readings being presented to him. "We dropped from slipspace, shipmaster. I am not sure why, these readings are...confusing. The spirit is still piecing it together."

"Then give me the information. What is unusual?" Falul instructed. The Immaculate Aegis operated with a far more advanced AI than it ever would have possessed under the restrictions of the Covenant; however, it was still not as complex as the artificial lifeforms regularly used by Humanity, and it did not serve as a replacement for the reasoning and judgment of the crew.

The officer took just another moment to collect his thoughts and gather the information in front of him. "The computer cannot identify where we are. We were in slipspace for only a moment, but we are no longer above Khael'mothka...or in the same system, either. And there are no readings on our sensors to explain why we dropped from slipspace. The borer shows no errors."

"That would be a rare slipspace anomaly, but not impossible. How far outside the system are we?" Falul asked.

The officer seemed to be having a difficult time believing the readings in front of him, but nevertheless relayed them to his shipmaster. "We...are not outside the system either. The spirit confirms that we are in a galaxy, but the star positions do not match any possible configuration in our galaxy."

Falul did not have time to express his own doubts before a Sangheili at another console interjected. "Shipmaster, our sensors are detecting multiple vessels in range. All unknown patterns. Five are smaller ships, but one is larger than our carrier, and it appears organic."

The Shipmaster leaned forward in his chair, his concern showing through his sharp gaze. "The parasite?"

There was hesitation from the officer as he double-checked his console. "No, it does not resemble the signature of the parasite. It does not resemble any lifeform we have seen."

Falul gave a low growl as he turned his chair back around towards the view screen. "Show me." He ordered. After a moment, the screen switched to show the organic vessel, as well as the other, smaller ship in proximity to it. Just as the signatures their sensors were detecting were entirely foreign, it also did not have the appearance of any Flood ship he had seen. This was not an artificial vessel overgrown by a parasite, but rather an entirely organic being. "Have we sustained damage? Are our shields active?"

"Our shields are active, shipmaster. The spirit is not reporting damage." One of his officers answered.

"Then target the organic ship, but do not power weapons. If we are fired upon by any ship, then return fire immediately. Do not wait for my order. Scan for any signals, and broadcast on all communication frequencies." Falul instructed. With a few presses of holographic buttons on the arm of his chair, Falul readied his message to be broadcast. "This is the carrier, Immaculate Aegis. We have entered this space unintentionally, without hostile intent, but we will destroy any ship that fires upon us. All vessels, identify yourselves."

It was a demanding message, but as Sangheili diplomacy went, it was a tempered response to an uncertain situation. While they could not identify any of the vessels, that did not mean that none of them were Human in origin. Their Arbiter had given his word of allegiance to Humanity, and Falul was not intent on breaking it.

Star Wars - Galaxies at War[MULTIVERSE SPACESHIP RP]

Immaculate Aegis

Name of Ship: Immaculate Aegis
Home Universe/Name of Franchise: Halo (https://www.halopedia.org/Main_Page)
Ship Class: CAS-class Assault Carrier
Role: Ship-to-ship combat, Fighter/interceptor deployment, Atmospheric fire support, Command and control
Physical Description/Image:

CAS

Physical Size (roughly): Length: 5,347m, Width: 2,118m, Height: 700m, Mass: 2.7 billion tonnes.
Armament/Complement (roughly):
Armament: 1× Infernus-pattern superheavy excavation beam, 2× Urpeon-pattern superheavy plasma lances, 8× Luxor-pattern heavy plasma beam emitters, 24× Mictix-pattern heavy plasma torpedo silos, 700× Ferriel-pattern pulse lasers, Multiple Plasma cannons.

Complement: The Immaculate Aegis possesses a full complement of strikecraft and transports (Banshee Fighter strikecraft, Seraphs, Phantoms, Tick boarding craft). However, it has a quarter of its usual crew (under 10,000), and a quarter of its usual ground attack vehicles (Wraiths, Ghosts, Shadows, Revenants, Banshee flyers, one Scarab).

Crew:
The crew of the vessel are primarily Sangheili and Unggoy, with some Kig-Yar and Lekgolo. Additionally, as one of the heavy defense vessels of Sangheili space, the ship possesses three Huragok. While it is only a fraction of the number of engineers such a vessel would have possessed during the height of the Covenant, the rarity and value of Huragok among the Swords of Sanghelios limit the number that can be assigned to any individual ship.

Notable Crew:
Shipmaster Falul 'Taham-

Shipmaster

Falul is a long-serving veteran, first in the Covenant military, and now for the Swords of Sanghelios. Though a mere Seraph pilot early in his service during the Human-Covenant war, he showed himself to be gifted in his understanding of space combat, even going as far as to disobey orders when he saw flaws in the tactics of his superiors. While an insubordinate attitude may have stifled his advancement, his success still earned his command of squadrons and smaller vessels.

It was not until the Great Schism that Falul earned his command of the Immaculate Aegis...by force. He was a part of the assault team that captured the vessel, and among the chaos of the fighting with no certain command structure, Falul took charge of the vessel and proved his worth as shipmaster in the battle to follow. Although his ship was unable to join in the Battle of the Ark, his performance during the preceding battle elevated his rank and allowed him to retain command of his ship. He and his vessel have since served in multiple battles in defense of the Swords of Sanghelios.

Field Commander Vael 'Virisusai-

Commander Vael

In contrast to his shipmaster, Vael was not a gifted warrior in his youth, nor did he have any particular skill nor ability that made him stand out. He entered the Covenant military in just the same way as most other Sangheili as an average warrior. He has earned his rank not through some exceptional latent ability, but rather, earned his skill through pure training and raw experience. Although his early accomplishments in the Human-Covenant war are now stained in his mind by the lies of the Prophets, he fought in battle after battle, taking more lives by his own hand than he can count. He fought against the Flood from the second of the holy rings, then against the Jiralhanae during the Great Schism.

Vael did participate in the battle against the parasite on Earth, then against the Covenant on the Ark. Throughout his long and bloody career, Vael earned a respect for his Human opponents, who showed resilience and ingenuity despite a severe technological disadvantage. Although, he did not admit that respect to himself or others until after the betrayal of the Prophets.

Eri 'Moram -

Eri

Eri is the vessel's Special Operations Officer, and is one of the more recent officers to be assigned to the Immaculate Aegis. After the Arbiter lifted the restriction on female Sangheili serving in the military, she joined immediately, having longed since she was a child to join the ranks of the heroes her elders so revered. She is young, compared to many of the other officers on the ship, but dedicated, capable, and wholly devoted to improving herself. She has risen through the ranks by serving in battles against the remains of the Covenant and other threats, but often finds herself dissatisfied that she was denied the chance to prove herself against the Flood, or the deceiver Truth.

Narak 'Chorna - As an artisan-engineer, Narak is the closest thing to a technology expert that exists among the Sangheili. He is experienced in the operation of assembly forges, though in recent years, has been assigned to coordinate with their Human allies on special projects to gain a better understanding of Covenant technology. He is not a member of the Immaculate Aegis' crew, but rather is simply on board the ship for transport back to Sanghelios from Earth, after having been taken to the edges of Sangheili space by a Human vessel.

Dr. Fiona O'Connell - Dr. O'Connell is a graduate of Koletre-Browning University on Circumstance, and specializes in xenotechnology. She is an ONI scientist who has, for the past few years, worked on multiple joint Human-Sangheili projects to reverse engineer both Covenant and Forerunner technology. She is currently working as a part of a team with Narak 'Chorna and was aboard the Immaculate Aegis for transport from an outer Sangheili colony to Sanghelios.

History of the Ship: The Immaculate Aegis itself began its service as simply a ship within the High Charity defense fleet and did not see any major combat until the Great Schism itself. Amidst the fighting, the ship was captured by Sangheili forces, and commandeered by Shipmaster Falul 'Taham.

It took time, and a great deal of fighting against Jiralhanae forces, but the Immaculate Aegis survived to join the Fleet of Retribution, commanded by Rtas 'Vadum. Unfortunately, the vessel never made it to Earth in the pursuit of the Flood, as its slipspace borer was too damaged in the previous battle to be repaired in time. So, it was unable to join in the Battle of the Ark. However, in the years since, it has served in multiple battles and skirmishes against the remains of the Covenant, Jiralhanae factions, and pirates. At present, it serves a largely defensive role patrolling Sangheili space and protecting Sangheilios and its colonies.

Faction Owner: Swords of Sanghelios

Star Wars - Galaxies at War[MULTIVERSE SPACESHIP RP]

Name of Ship: Immaculate Aegis
Home Universe/Name of Franchise: Halo (https://www.halopedia.org/Main_Page)
Ship Class: CAS-class Assault Carrier
Role: Ship-to-ship combat, Fighter/interceptor deployment, Atmospheric fire support, Command and control
Physical Description/Image:

CAS

Physical Size (roughly): Length: 5,347m, Width: 2,118m, Height: 700m, Mass: 2.7 billion tonnes.
Armament/Complement (roughly):
Armament: 1× Infernus-pattern superheavy excavation beam, 2× Urpeon-pattern superheavy plasma lances, 8× Luxor-pattern heavy plasma beam emitters, 24× Mictix-pattern heavy plasma torpedo silos, 700× Ferriel-pattern pulse lasers, Multiple Plasma cannons.

Complement: The Immaculate Aegis possesses a full complement of strikecraft and transports (Banshee Fighter strikecraft, Seraphs, Phantoms, Tick boarding craft). However, it has a quarter of its usual crew (under 10,000), and a quarter of its usual ground attack vehicles (Wraiths, Ghosts, Shadows, Revenants, Banshee flyers, one Scarab).

Crew:
The crew of the vessel are primarily Sangheili and Unggoy, with some Kig-Yar and Lekgolo. Additionally, as one of the heavy defense vessels of Sangheili space, the ship possesses three Huragok. While it is only a fraction of the number of engineers such a vessel would have possessed during the height of the Covenant, the rarity and value of Huragok among the Swords of Sanghelios limit the number that can be assigned to any individual ship.

Notable Crew:
Shipmaster Falul 'Taham- Falul is a long-serving veteran, first in the Covenant military, and now for the Swords of Sanghelios. Though a mere Seraph pilot early in his service during the Human-Covenant war, he showed himself to be gifted in his understanding of space combat, even going as far as to disobey orders when he saw flaws in the tactics of his superiors. While an insubordinate attitude may have stifled his advancement, his success still earned his command of squadrons and smaller vessels.

It was not until the Great Schism that Falul earned his command of the Immaculate Aegis...by force. He was a part of the assault team that captured the vessel, and among the chaos of the fighting with no certain command structure, Falul took charge of the vessel and proved his worth as shipmaster in the battle to follow. Although his ship was unable to join in the Battle of the Ark, his performance during the preceding battle elevated his rank and allowed him to retain command of his ship. He and his vessel have since served in multiple battles in defense of the Swords of Sanghelios.

Field Commander Vael 'Virisus- In contrast to his shipmaster, Vael was not a gifted warrior in his youth, nor did he have any particular skill nor ability that made him stand out. He entered the Covenant military in just the same way as most other Sangheili as an average warrior. He has earned his rank not through some exceptional latent ability, but rather, earned his skill through pure training and raw experience. Although his early accomplishments in the Human-Covenant war are now stained in his mind by the lies of the Prophets, he fought in battle after battle, taking more lives by his own hand than he can count. He fought against the Flood on the second of the holy rings, then against the Jiralhanae during the Great Schism.

Vael did participate in the battle against the parasite on Earth, then against the Covenant on the Ark. Throughout his long and bloody career, Vael earned a respect for his Human opponents, who showed resilience and ingenuity despite a severe technological disadvantage. Although, he did not admit that respect to himself or others until after the betrayal of the Prophets.

Eri 'Moram - Eri is the vessel's Special Operations Officer, and is one of the more recent officers to be assigned to the Immaculate Aegis. After the Arbiter lifted the restriction on female Sangheili serving in the military, she joined immediately, having longed since she was a child to join the ranks of the heroes her elders so revered. She is young, compared to many of the other officers on the ship, but dedicated, capable, and wholly devoted to improving herself. She has risen through the ranks by serving in battles against the remains of the Covenant and other threats, but often finds herself dissatisfied that she was denied the chance to prove herself against the Flood, or the deceiver Truth.

Narak 'Chorna - As an artisan-engineer, Narak is the closest thing to a technology expert that exists among the Sangheili. He is experienced in the operation of assembly forges, though in recent years, has been assigned to coordinate with their Human allies on special projects to gain a better understanding of Covenant technology. He is not a member of the Immaculate Aegis' crew, but rather is simply on board the ship for transport back to Sanghelios from Earth, after having been taken to the edges of Sangheili space by a Human vessel.

History of the Ship: The Immaculate Aegis itself began its service as simply a ship within the High Charity defense fleet and did not see any major combat until the Great Schism itself. Amidst the fighting, the ship was captured by Sangheili forces, and commandeered by Shipmaster Falul 'Taham.

It took time, and a great deal of fighting against Jiralhanae forces, but the Immaculate Aegis survived to join the Fleet of Retribution, commanded by Rtas 'Vadum. Unfortunately, the vessel never made it to Earth in the pursuit of the Flood, as its slipspace borer was too damaged in the previous battle to be repaired in time. So, it was unable to join in the Battle of the Ark. However, in the years since, it has served in multiple battles and skirmishes against the remains of the Covenant, Jiralhanae factions, and pirates. At present, it serves a largely defensive role patrolling Sangheili space and protecting Sangheilios and its colonies.

Faction Owner: Swords of Sanghelios

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Meesei lightly smiled. "Yes, I suppose you would have. Apologies, I have just been...distracted recently, as I'm sure you can understand. But yes, I would like to see Ariel, I think. Honestly, I would very much like to see the families and loved ones of all our pack before the invasion, but your sister is essentially the only one that enjoys such a unique position among our clans. She would be welcome among any and all of the clans under my leadership."

It was not long before Ahnasha approached from the direction of the portal. Like most of the others present, she was anxious and on-edge, though also excited to see all of her work finally coming to fruition. "The Imperials are finally done with their pointless 'tests'. We can do this whenever you are ready, Meesei."

Meesei paused, though again, she saw no reason to delay, giving a nod to Ahnasha before glancing to Sabine. "If you do decide you want to offer her the chance to visit, I suppose we can do it later this evening. For now...the Hunting Grounds await."

Grabbing the attention of a messenger, Meesei sent him off back to the Silent City to tell Darahil that it was time to activate the sigil stone, at which point the portal would activate immediately, if all went well. This type of portal did rely upon Hircine himself willingly allowing it to pierce into his realm, though Meesei had already communed with him. Hirine was aware of and gave his approval to the plan they had concocted.

Stepping up closer to the portal, Meesei started to shout loudly enough to grab the attention of everyone present from whatever they might be doing. "First group, move to the portal! It will activate in a few minutes!"

Most of the laborers moved out away from the portal and moved over closer to the carts carrying their supplies. On the part of the lycans, the first group they were sending through was fairly small. It just included every adult member of Meesei's pack, Vera, and anyone that Vera had selected to help choose a location for their camp. Meesei had not been involved in choosing who would be the first among the Dominion or Imperials to step through, but she did not particularly care what approach they decided to take. Meesei did not expect any danger in the Hunting Grounds, and both of the other armies had already been warned how to tell their soldiers how to behave. It was true that the Hunting Grounds were not a safe place, but in these circumstances, anyone who remained within a reasonable distance from the portals would be under the protection of Hircine and would not be targeted by any of the creatures in his realm. They were not to stray too far from the portals, nor was anyone to issue a challenge to a lycan spirit under any circumstance, even in jest.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

The hesitation from Meesei would likely only fuel Sabine's worry. It was, indeed, quite unlike Meesei to be unable to hide her feelings, but, at the same time, she had never been in this kind of situation before. She stared into the portal for several more seconds before finally giving a calm answer. "You are right. There is nothing wrong with the portal; I certainly trust Ahnasha's abilities, and everyone else who played their part. But, once it is active, there will be no going back. Our path will be set, and our timeframe...fixed. There will be a few days, the second portal will be built, then it will be activated. Just a few days..."

While Meesei was obviously upset, her worry could have been reasonably coming from any number of sources, and without context, her next question might have seemed sudden. "Tell me, Sabine, do you want to allow your sister to visit, for those few days? I understand if you do not want your sister learning about the invasion and leaving her to worry about you, but...I feel we should take the best advantage of these last few days as we possibly can. This is no normal battle we are approaching, no normal mission. It would be easy enough to let her stay for just a few days."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"My officers will trust me, and they will follow my orders. That is all that matters." Meesei remarked. After a moment, she stood from the bed and walked up to Lunise, embracing her without hesitation. She leaned into Lunise, nestling her head into the nape of her neck and closing her eyes. "Not only will you be protecting the sigil stone, but also the camp itself, and all of the wounded that make it back through the portal from all three armies. There is no one I would trust more to protect them."

---

With as much as had happened over, to Meesei, what had been several days, it was somewhat jarring to be back with her clan. She now had a new mountain of worries tearing at her thoughts, but the invasion was still looming. Meesei still had duties to carry out, people to speak to and coordinate, last-minute plans to refine. And she could not simply ignore those responsibilities, regardless of any new turmoil in her life. So, she had no choice but to keep quiet on her concerns for the rest of the day and just focus on her duties. She would just have to take what time she could to speak to her pack, Hal-Neesa, and anyone else she might find to help her in the small handful of days it would take to build their second portal in the Hunting Grounds.

The next day began early for most of the clan. Even if the sun had somehow been visible from within the cavern, they were up well-before it would have risen. The area around the portal had been cleared of any mushroom trees or any other potential obstacles, just to allow them to gather their supplies more conveniently close to the portal, as well as to give them a clear path to cart in the massive enchanted stones that would be constructed into their second portal. These stones were far larger than the ones that comprised their current portal, and when brought together, they would form a portal comparable to a great gate from the Oblivion Crisis. Without such a sizable portal, they would not be able to bring their forces into Vile's realm near quickly enough.

For now, however, they had to focus on establishing their forward camp in the Hunting Grounds. Meesei's pack was gathered at the portal for its first activation, and they would be among the first stepping through once it was active. Being that they were not heading into battle, they were no more armed nor armored than usual, which held true for most of the other lycans present. The Imperials and Dominion personnel might have been on-edge, but the lycans had no reason to fear Hircine's realm. In addition to the mages that were already working on the final preparations activate the portal, they also had a multitude of laborers that would start work on their forward camp as soon as they were cleared to step through. Being that it would be far too impractical to establish three entire, separate temporary camps any meaningful distance from one another, the lycans, Dominion, and Imperials would essentially be sharing the same camp over the next few days. At the very least, they were going to be forced to be much closer to one another for a few days than they had been for the last few months. From her clan, Meesei had selected Vera to take on the responsibility of overseeing the construction and administration of their forward camp, for several reasons. Not only had she been the clan alpha since before they migrated from Bruma, but Meesei knew she was a patient and level-headed woman, which would almost certainly be necessary if she was going to have to coordinate with both the Imperials and Dominion.

Meesei, on her part, had little left to do but to wait for Ahnasha to signal her that they were ready to open the portal, then send a messenger back to the city. The sigil stone that would be powering this portal was being kept nearby inside the Silent City itself, as there was no reason to keep it physically near the portal. The magical connection between them would not weaken unless the stone was brought much farther away. Darahil was the one who was tasked with activating and monitoring the sigil stone. Meesei's pack might have noticed that she seemed distracted the entire morning, though that might have been understandable given that they were about to journey to the Hunting Grounds itself. She had not yet told them about her visit to Artaeum or what she had learned about herself, though she did intend to. She did not feel it would be right to keep it from them. For now, though, she stood staring at the inactive portal, unable to hide her worry.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Once they were safely in private, Meesei began to focus on forming a portal back home. It felt almost bizarre to think about, but even after their stay in Artaeum and their visit to Pircalmo, they were still heading back to the clan early. The Psijics' influence over time was truly spectacular, and now, Meesei found herself wondering what other kind of Psijic spells were just waiting to be unlocked within her mind.

Given the nature of Lunise's concerns, Meesei decided to open the portal directly into Lunise's quarters so they could have a guarantee of privacy. As soon as they had stepped through, Meesei allowed herself to sit down and rest at the foot of Lunise's bed. "I understand. I would have a difficult time keeping out of it as well, in your position. Neither of us are the type to simply stand by and do nothing when we are needed. I wish you could be right there alongside me for the entire battle, but your mother may still be correct. Still, I do want to give you the chance to help. Perhaps you might help coordinate the defense of our forward camp in the Hunting Grounds? You are a Justiciar, you are qualified, and I could request your help specifically to serve as a liaison between my forces and any Dominion soldiers that remain in the defense. It is much the same job as you have been performing since you were assigned here, so it would hardly seem unusual. And it is important. If you recall from the Oblivion Crisis, the primary strategy for destroying an Oblivion Gate was to enter Oblivion through it and remove the sigil stone on the other side. In this case, we are going to be the invaders, and that strategy would work against us. If our portal closes, then everyone who went through it would be sent back to the Hunting Grounds immediately. Our invasion would be over, just like that. Hal-Neesa does not seem to think that the Daedra will attempt that sort of cleverness. According to her, the Skaafin, like the Dremora, are far more direct in their approach. If they see a problem, they try to kill that problem, in her words. Still, I do not want to leave our portal without a good defense."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

I gave a summary of Meesei's answer.

I think we can move on to the activation of the first portal, if you want. I imagine there would be a lot of people there, since they would need to start right away on establishing their base camp and beginning the construction of the second portal in the Hunting Grounds. However, I don't think the whole of their armies would be deployed at that point. The Imperials and Dominion might be on-edge, but the lycans would not be worried about entering the Hunting Grounds.

I could do the skip as well, if you want. Meesei and Lunise might need to first decide what exact role Lunise is going to play in the invasion.