EliteCommander

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

The return of Hal-Neesa was one that did bring some attention with it, not the least reason being that she was carrying a stack of thick tomes telekinetically alongside her. Even besides that, the way she dressed and carried herself, along with the fact that she made no effort to hide her vampiric nature, made her far from subtle. As soon as she approached, she practically shoved the tomes into Meesei's arms. Neesa briefly acknowledged Ahnasha and Ariel when they all gathered together, though not with any sort of polite greeting.

"Here are the tomes. We likely will not have time to review them all, but they may yet be of some use. In the interest of not wasting time, I am going to assume the Breton you recruited has some actual degree of competence. I am also going to assume that, between all of you, you have already reasoned out the basic approaches we could take. That much should be obvious, though I think the solution itself will be anything but. Even in all my years, I cannot claim to have dealt with this issue before. I have never known the Hist to craft such a soul, though I suppose I also have not searched for one like you. Now, to begin, we should not bother considering any long-term solutions. If you manage to survive this suicide mission you have volunteered for, then you may think about them. We should focus on finding an answer that can be implemented in the next few days." Hal-Neesa recommended.

---

There was some delay to Ko'tanza's answer as she took the time to, carefully and quietly, take Miruza from Tzirret's arms into her own. With no sudden or unnecessary movements, she managed to sit down next to the fire as Tzirret had been without waking her. Regardless of how young Miruza was, it seems that was a skill that the couple had learned quickly.

Ko'tanza resumed gently rocking Miruza in her arms, just as Tzirret had been. "She is three weeks old, and she is going to be Suthay-raht, just like us. She is just so precious and wonderful and...loud, and exhausting..." Ko'tanza answered, giving a light, amused sigh. "...but still wonderful."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Ko'tanza was, by this point, grinning widely. "Our daughter's name is Miruza, and she is just the most precious little thing with the cutest green eyes you have ever seen. You simply have to come see her. As Khajiit said, Tzirret should be somewhere in this group of tents. We could look for him together...if you do not have anything else you are doing, of course."

Meesei stood to her feet, her smile mirroring the mood that Ko'tanza had brought with her. "I will stay and speak with Neesa when she returns. You can feel free to catch up with old friends if you like. Ariel, I will make sure to have quarters arranged for you, if you want to take the opportunity to spend some more time with your sister in a more...relaxed setting."

In any case, Ko'tanza was eager to go find Tzirret. Though, the others might have been surprised to see that the Khajiit girl that Tzirret was looking after was very much a little one. Their daughter, wrapped up snugly in her blanket, was still an infant, no more than a few weeks old. It made it rather more surprising that Ko'tanza was already up, moving around, and working so soon after giving birth. Even with a lycanthrope's robust vitality, she had to still be recovering from it.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

After getting over her initial surprise, Ko'tanza gladly shook Ariel's hand. Although, after just a moment's hesitation, she gave into giving Ariel a tight hug as well. "You do not need to be humble, Ariel Montgrave. Just look around you. Without your antidote, there is a good chance half of the people you see would not be alive today. Ko'tanza included. She has breathed deeply of the soul-tearing gas before, and was saved only by the fruits of your brilliance."

For Meesei, she simply chuckled to herself for the moment. She supposed she should have expected some sort of reaction should anyone actually recognize Ariel. Given the importance and life-saving nature of Ariel's antidote, she now had a reputation that spread across nearly every lycan clan in Tamriel, whether she wanted it or not.

Eventually, Ko'tanza did pull back from Ariel. She had a few hints of tears in her eyes and seemed partially choked up, as she had to clear her throat before answering Sabine. "But, anyways...things in the clan have been getting steadily better and better. We used to be pretty much on the front line of the war against Vile, but his followers' presence in Pelletine has waned almost completely. Khajiit hears there is even talk of maybe establishing a new clan in Anequina once again. That will probably be a few years off, though. For now, there are plenty of us from Pelletine here, ready do help however we can. We have been closest to the war for so long, a lot of us are tired of the fighting, but also oh so eager to finally end it once and for all. If you want to catch up with some of the others too, Ko'tanza might be able to help find some of them. She was actually looking for Tzirret when she saw you. He has become a healer too. He was just looking after the little one while I took my shift working on the infirmary."

Star Wars - Galaxies at War[MULTIVERSE SPACESHIP RP]

Dr. Fiona O'Connell and Narak 'Chorna - The Immaculate Aegis

---

"Are you...truly able to make that determination after such a short look through it?" Dr. O'Connell remarked, obviously skeptical. Still, she did not dwell on it, and instead just opened up her own copy of the software to reference as well. "I have looked through it myself as well, but like I said, slipspace travel has not been the focus of my research. Fortunately, we do have Floats Easily to help. I know at least one of our most advanced warships, the Infinity, received highly advanced slipspace drive upgrades with the assistance of a Huragok. We will just have to replicate their success."

Floats was hovering around behind McKay, seeming to alternate between curiously looking at his datapad, and even more curiously looking at Mckay himself. O'Connell, meanwhile, was showing a degree of frustration, and perhaps dread as she looked through the code. "There are a massive number of commands here, though. We really need to find a way to narrow down our focus onto what will give us the most improvement most quickly. I think that is what we should question Floats about first, though...what would be even more helpful would be an AI. A true AI, that is. The Aegis' AI is quite advanced and very effective, but it is not a 'smart' AI. It's not truly thinking or independently creative. Personally, I was hoping the Captain of the Unbroken Hope would take the opportunity to send his AI to help. I am not sure how advanced artificial intelligence is in your universe, but a UNSC shipboard AI is created with a digital framework from scanning the neural structure of a Human brain. They are fully thinking and capable of learning, and would be something I would be very appreciative of right now. One of them could make changes in seconds that would take us hours or days. And that's not to mention the increased capacity to simulate the effects of any changes we want to make."

Eventually, O'Connell let out a sigh and stood to her feet. "You know what? We're just going to have to be bold here. I'm not going to waste weeks or months on this when we could get this done in days. The Shipmaster is just going to have to push for this...hopefully politely." She explained, walking over to a console in the corner of the room to contact the Shipmaster.

---

Falul 'Taham - The Immaculate Aegis

---

In contrast to her open frustration before, Dr. O'Connell had been calm and respectful in giving her request to Falul. She described, clearly, the benefit an AI would be likely to have and why it would be helpful to secure one's aid. Both she and Falul were well-aware of the, admittedly, reasonable justifications the crew of the Unbroken Hope had to distrust the Sangheili, and despite no longer following the religion of the Covenant, Falul himself was still distrustful of the very idea of fully thinking machines. Regardless, the benefits were still simply too substantial to ignore, and making the attempt would be worth a potentially uncomfortable conversation.

After taking a few minutes to make his decision, Falul opened a communications channel to the Unbroken Hope. "This is Shipmaster Falul 'Taham. I am seeking to speak to the Human Admiral Marcus Oliver." He said simply. Given that they were from the same universe and the Aegis AI was already familiar with UNSC communication protocols, the Admiral would be able to see Falul on his view screen, in addition to hearing his voice.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

For a few moments, Ma'tanza appeared slightly embarrassed. "This one is doing quite well, though...she does not go by that name any longer. She finished her apprenticeship. This one is Ko'tanza, now. She is a healer, which is why Ko'tanza is here now, actually. Khajiit just finished up her first shift working on setting up our infirmary."

As she finished explaining, Ko'tanza started to give an even longer, more curious look towards Ariel. She smiled and bowed her head in response, but slowly started to look more and more like she was becoming nervous. "And you are Sabine's sister? That means...well, that means you are the Ariel, yes? The alchemical genius and savior of our kind? Ko'tanza is sorry, it is just such an honor to meet you. You are a true heroine."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

The werelion looked briefly confused, but gave a sound similar to a laugh after a few seconds. "Oh, apologies. This one doesn't think she ever actually transformed in front of you back then. One moment."

Taking a step back, the werelion shifted herself back into her Khajiit form. Even then, with all the years that had passed, it might have taken a few seconds to recognize her face, but Sabine would inevitably be able to recognize her as Ma'tanza. Meesei, during their time in Elsweyr, had not had much of a chance to get to know the friends that Sabine had made, but she still recognized her regardless. Meesei was not sure that it was the best time for reunions with the issues they were struggling with, but the fact that they had been keeping quiet and trying to be subtle likely meant that she did not notice Sabine's mood from a distance. Although, being closer now, the signs were more obvious. Still, perhaps some old, friendly faces would do something to improve Sabine's mood.

"Sorry, is this a, um, bad time? Khajiit was just excited to see you; she wasn't sure she would get to speak to you again." Ma'tanza asked.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"I wish I could say with honesty that there is no reason to have that fear, but I fear what might happen as well. But, you are wrong about your power. You are closer to me than you think, Sabine. If there is one fault I can say you have, it is that you are too quick to underestimate yourself. Your sister is exactly right: we can overcome." Meesei remarked, pulling Sabine into a quick hug. "And besides, this is not over yet. You, Ariel, Ahnasha, myself, Hal-Neesa, we will all be lending our skills to finding a solution before the invasion. I know it may only be a few days, but could we truly ask for a more qualified group to try and meet that challenge?"

While it was mostly the rest of the pack around them, they were not entirely in private. There were plenty of others in sight, and several moving to and from their group of tents. Meesei was not paying too close of attention to them, until one quite obviously took notice of them. There was a female werelion that stopped nearby, staring curiously for a few seconds before her eyes seemed to light up. "Champion? Sabine? This one thought that was you; it's so good to see you again!" She exclaimed. The werelion started to approach with arms outstretched, looking as if she wanted to hug Sabine in particular. For Meesei, there were far too many people around to discern any scent in particular, and she did not quite recognize who this person was in her transformed state.

Star Wars - Galaxies at War[MULTIVERSE SPACESHIP RP]

Eri 'Moram - Dxun

---

"Unless it is no longer flesh and bone, it is still a living creature. Enough heat, enough force, and it will be damaged. Using the environment to our advantage, as you suggest, may be helpful." Eri remarked. As they continued along, Eri traded her plasma rifle for one of the Unggoy's needlers, as well as taking a concussion rifle for her own use. Even if the Tarentatek's hide was durable and heat resistant enough to not be pierced by an explosion against its flesh, that would not stop the pressure wave from pushing into the body, damaging organs and stressing bones. She had little doubt that it would still be resilient, but it would be a good method to consistently apply damage to the creature.

Eventually, the group came within sight of the tomb, though they waited for a few minutes for the rest of Eri's team to arrive with their extra equipment. She took a few extra grenades and made sure to grab as much concussion rifle ammo as she could carry, and she would be able to exchange her armor ability module for another, if she felt there would be a better option than active camouflage.

"How many of us would these Mandalorians expect to participate in this hunt?" Eri asked Jerius.

The Tower Chapter 1: A New Dawn

Taylor gave another long, silent look around the clinic. Even though it had never been to this specific place before, it still stirred up memories that Taylor thought it had abandoned long ago. In truth, it was something that it was not sure it even wanted to return to anymore. "My humanity." It answered.

Taylor's delay did not last long. It stepped up just in front of William's chair, looking him over closely. He was not being readily forthcoming on whether or not he had other symptoms, though Taylor could, for the moment, give him the benefit of the doubt that his condition might be influencing his mental state. "I need to perform some tests on you. We don't know what your abilities did to you, what...injuries it might cause." Taylor extended a limb forward, its tendrils forming into a hand that it placed on his neck to check his pulse. "You have a very high body temperature. Is that normal for you? I want you to come with me. If you are not going to tell me your symptoms, then I'm going to take some blood tests, x-rays, and every other test this clinic has access to."

Taylor turned its head briefly towards Darkspire. "How long can we stay here?"

Star Wars - Galaxies at War[MULTIVERSE SPACESHIP RP]

Thaz - Nal Hutta

---

Thaz gave a good look at the wall that Samus pointed out. She was more agile than Samus seemed to think, and she was reasonably certain she would be able to get up on the wall by herself...though it would probably be difficult to do with the weight of her beam rifle on her back. Thinking about it, it would probably be best to get help with it, rather than risk drawing attention by falling back down on a stack of crates.

"Hmm...okay, got it. Let's just try not to draw too much attention on the way over." Thaz answered.

Thaz stuck close beside Samus as they moved towards the wall. As odd as Thaz assumed the pair looked, most people seemed to keep to themselves. Regardless, they did wait until they felt they were not being watched before Samus boosted Thaz up on top of the wall. As soon as she was up and had her footing, Thaz looked back down to Samus, gave a nod, then activated her active camouflage.

"Okay, there seems to be a lot of places I can get to from up here." Thaz said through their comms. "You should probably scout out where the target is going to be, and I'll make sure I have a line-of-sight on it. Timing seems to be the big thing for this job, though. We're going to have to wait until Jerus has his target dead before I can take my shot, which means you're probably going to have to keep the target in my sights until he does. Then not die to his bodyguards. That's important."