EliteCommander

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Vykosa snapped her gaze onto Teroiah. “Hircine is not changing your precious plans. He will be saving his strength for the final battle with Vile himself. It is our role to crush his minions within our claws.”

Shortly afterwards, there was movement in the sky that drew eyes upwards. Werevultures and werebats, just a few at first, but their numbers were steadily growing. Some of the smaller and lighter ones landed in trees, while others moved to any open space on the ground they could find. The lycan spirits were quickly filling up any space they happened to be able to find in view of the portal, landing in between formations, perhaps uncomfortably close to the Legionnaires and Dominion soldiers. And this was just the flying werecreatures. “Every lycan that has ever lived and died” was not a precise number, but already, its scale was coming into view. They were in a largely forested area, beyond their clearing, so they could not see off to the horizon. How many lycan spirits were converging onto their portal?

“It seems our hunters are nearly here. You may choose when we advance through your portal, but do not keep these lycans waiting too long. They thirst for blood, and may not appreciate having to be idle for too long.” Vykosa remarked.

Ri’vashi saw their new arrivals, but she kept her eyes on the map between her and the other commanders. This was a surprise, a last-minute disruption to their plans, but at least it was a good surprise. “There are places we can use this.” Ri’vashi began, glancing up to Teroiah and gro-Tagnud. “Between the first and second waves, after we clear the area around the portal, but before we start constructing our fortifications, we can send in a wave of lycan spirits. They will spread out, engage the enemy, disrupt them from forming ranks, and slow down their response. They do not need to have organization or training to accomplish that much. We can treat them as skirmishers.”

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Vykosa scoffed at Fendros. “Do you always bend so easily in the face of resistance? It is good that it is not you this one seeks.”

The Khajiit stepped up closer to Meesei, though she did not make any moves that would necessarily be considered “aggressive”. To any onlookers, Meesei, in her werewolf form clad in dragon armor, was the more imposing figure between the two, though Vykosa, of course, did not show any signs of being intimidated. “Vykosa has no interest in being ‘led’ by you, lizard. You have your warriors dressing up in armor and playing soldier like these weak mortals.” She growled, gesturing a hand towards Teroiah and gro-Tagnud. “…but we will not interfere with you. If you want to line up in formations and pretend to be soldiers, you may, but we will storm Vile’s realm and lay waste to any resistance he dares to throw at us.”

“On one condition.” A voice sounded out nearby, though it was not Meesei. Ri’vashi turned away from the map and set her stern gaze upon Vykosa. She wore newly-forged and enchanted ebony armor, with an ebony sword on her hip in the same Akaviri style as her father’s blade. “You and your warriors can do whatever you want once you are through the portal, but our plans require timing, and only so many can pass through the portal at once. We will decide when you go through.”

Fortunately, Vykosa did not seem to take offense at the demand. “Very well. You have created this portal, so Vykosa will grant you that much.”

Ri’vashi returned her attention to the map. “How many lycans will we be sending through?”

“All of them.” Vykosa replied.

Ri’vashi grunted in annoyance. “I mean, what is the size of your pack?”

“I mean all lycans.” Vykosa answered again. “The Moon Hunter pack is the strongest, but every lycanthrope that has ever lived and died will be joining Hircine on this hunt.”

Star Wars - Galaxies at War[MULTIVERSE SPACESHIP RP]

Falul 'Taham - Aboard the Tantive IV

---

While many of those present, especially the Alderaanians on the ship, were still focused on the devastation of the planet, Falul’s thoughts pushed forward to the war ahead of them. In the immediate future, the message that Anakin was soon to deliver to the galaxy could have an impact on how much resistance they could inspire against the Empire, but there would still be a war to fight beyond the inspirational words. However, Falul could not help but to feel out of his element. Without question, he could lead in battle and was confident in doing so. He knew how to arrange and deploy fleets, devise strategies in ship-to-ship combat, and exploit the mistakes of his enemies, but the grand strategy of this sort of war was different from anything he had done before. During the Human-Covenant war, he had been in a position more comparable to the Imperials. The Covenant was the dominant, near-unstoppable force in the galaxy. Even since the end of the war, Jul ‘Mdama’s Covenant has not been stronger than the Swords of Sanghelios. In this war, though, they would have to face an opponent with a far larger military force, and far greater manufacturing capabilities. Still…Falul was not without resources. There were those in his crew with potentially more relevant experience, and with whom he could take counsel. He also had access to extensive historical records from the Human-Covenant war, which he could study to his hearts’ content.

Of course, his own preparations would have to come later. For now, Falul focused his attention on Jason. “I can think of many more than one. Once we are back to our fleet, we will need to gather everything we know about our capabilities, and those of our allies, and everything we know about our enemy. Then we will need to decide, conclusively, what strategy we indent to take in this war. Now what are the concerns that you have?”

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

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.

---

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 all 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?"

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Ahnasha tried to hide her tears as best as she could, again putting her focus on staying positive and keeping their parting words lighthearted. “Yes…the hunt of an era, isn’t it? And while we are hunting with Hircine himself, I think I will task you, son, with finding a good spot on the wall to mount the head of a god.”

For Julan, he felt almost desperate to avoid separating from his parents. He was old enough to understand the kind of danger they would be in, but not quite old enough to be completely rational about why he could not join them. He just wanted to be able to know what was happening with them, so he would not be spending the entire time during the battle worrying about them. In his werecrocodile form, he felt powerful, almost invincible. He was already as big as a werewolf, though Kaleeth’s approach did give perspective on how much more growing he had left to do. Especially in this armor, she was imposing enough to make him feel small.

For a brief moment, Julan instinctively recoiled at Janius’ touch, but he quickly wrestled back control of his mind. Kaleeth, meanwhile, moved up alongside Janius and put her arm around his back, pulling him in close to her. Her words came much more clearly than Julan’s, and she seemed even more comfortable speaking in this form than usual. “Your day will come eventually, Julan, but right now, you have to keep yourself safe. The war against Vile is the battle we’ve been fighting, and the one we are supposed to finish. Your challenges are still ahead of you.”

Julan was silent and contemplative before Narsi’s display quickly grabbed everyone’s attention. Like her, Lorag paid little attention to the others. There was something to be proud of in her spirit, he supposed. Relative to his total strength, it hardly took any effort for him to interrupt her striking by simply reaching a hand out and pushing her, knocking her onto her rear. “Bold words. I expect you to live up to them.” He replied, though soon enough, he ended up kneeling down in front of her and letting out a sigh. “There’s a lot of ways things could have been different in your life. Different for you, different for me…but the past doesn’t change. No point in dreaming that it will. The future can change, though, and right now, you have a chance to do something with yours. To be better, and stronger, than most Orcs could ever hope to be. Even if I failed to be a father, I at least want to give you that chance. If I die, then that’s what I’ll be leaving you with, so don’t waste it.”

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Ahnasha enthusiastically joined in the embrace with Fendros and Rhazii, and since she wore an open helm, she could still stand up on her toes and kiss Rhazii’s cheek. It would have been easy for her to just stay in a loving embrace with her family until they were dragged away to the battle, but she was not going to leave him without a few words of her own. She had actually spent hours thinking of what she wanted to say to Rhazii before they left, but all of that planning quickly gave way to just saying what came to her mind.

“I love you, son. You’ve already made the both of us proud, and I’m sure that’s not going to stop anytime soon. Now, I know that nothing I could possibly say is going to stop you from worrying today, but I feel like I would be disappointing you if I didn’t at least try to tell you that you don’t need to. Sure, we’re going to be invading Oblivion itself, but I can command Daedra to my will. By the time we’re done, I’ll have Vile’s armies bowing down to me.” Ahnasha grinned. It might have been an obvious exaggeration of her abilities, but she did not want everything in their last talk before the battle to be serious and foreboding.

Julan ran his hands down across the dragonbone plates. In truth, they did not feel too different to the touch than most other bones, but the difference would be made clear once something tried to actually break through it. In many ways, the fact that his parents were even wearing the armor at all in their current forms was impressive. Even if they could be calm enough to allow themselves to be equipped with armor, most lycans would not be able to use it effectively. The animal instincts of their beast spirits would make them agitated to be so encumbered and end up detracting from their focus, or even make them lose control. It took experienced, well-trained lycans to be able to do what his parents were doing. Kaleeth in particular had not even been sure she would be able to wear the full set, but at the moment, she was demonstrating a remarkable amount of control, as if her mind was not clouded in the slightest.

After a few moments of looking anxiously at the armor, Julan finally replied. “I…wish we didn’t have to split up.”

Quickly, Julan decided to throw off what he was wearing and make his own transformation into his werecrocodile form. At his age, he was still not at full size, which was easy to see when comparing him to his mother. Though, as a crocodile, he still stood as tall as his father in werewolf form, and looked to be about as physically strong. His fear and anxiety was more difficult to read in the expression of his beast form, but they had no reason to believe it had diminished. His words came more slowly and intentionally through his crocodilian snout, since he had to put a more deliberate effort into speaking, but he was still clearly speaking with his own mind. “I’ve been…practicing a lot in this form. Control, I…control it a lot better now, see? Are you sure I can’t help you?”

Lorag’s stance mirrored Narsi’s, and it was not until she spoke up that he turned his head to look at her. “Hey, you better not come up with any excuses to give up. If I die out there, I expect you to keep trainin’ here, got it? I’ve given you all you need. I trained half the warriors in this clan, so if my teaching is worth a damn, then they can train you too. If the Daedra kill me and you end up gettin’ lazy, I swear my ghost will haunt you.”

Star Wars - Galaxies at War[MULTIVERSE SPACESHIP RP]

Falul 'Taham - Aboard the Tantive IV

---

Falul considered Yiithrin’s suggestion. He was not as opposed to the idea as some of the others present, but they did make arguments against the deception that Falul could not dispute. In truth, this felt more like politics to him than warfare, and that was not where his strengths could be found. He had approached the idea of giving a message to the galaxy from the perspective of a commander inspiring the morale of his troops, but he was not sure of how to convince this galaxy to resist Anubis to begin with.

Nevertheless, Falul could still follow the points the others were making, and ultimately, he agreed that a lie was too risky at this point. “Such deception could be useful to us in the future, but only when our enemy does not have the means to disprove our lie. If the galaxy fails to believe his first attempt, Anubis may simply destroy another planet.”

Falul cast his gaze towards Anakin. He was not sure what most of the locals present knew about the Sangheili, or the rest of the fleet. Coordinating the evacuation had been such a constant effort that they had not yet had the change to brief everyone present on the full situation. “I do not know what you have learned about my people, and our fleet, but just as Anubis has crossed the boundaries of universes to conquer your galaxy, we have been brought here by one of his enemies to help destroy him. He has not, and could not have planned for us, and though we do not have the numbers to defeat his Empire openly, we have other advantages we can press. Our fleet is more than a match for his strongest ships, and we have already claimed victories in open combat. We can win battles, achieve important objectives. We should not underestimate the overwhelming force of our enemy, but if we need to convince your galaxy to fight back, we can do so with actions as well as words. If we are to give a message to inspire resistance among your people, then we should be confident in that fact. Now, who shall deliver it? I have no talent for politics, but I do know that a strong leader can be a more powerful weapon than the greatest warship. The face they see trying to rally them should be one they are familiar with, and one they believe is strong enough to succeed.”

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Ahnasha stayed close by Fendros’ side, grinning up at Rhazii. Of course, even though she was trying to keep up the appearance of an upbeat, confident attitude, there was no avoiding the reality of where they were right now, and what they were doing. Rhazii and the other children had already been allowed to stay in the Hunting Grounds longer than most before the battle, and after they were done here, there would be no choice but for them to go back home. Once they parted ways here, they would only see each other again after the battle.

“It’s alright, you can take it, Rhazii. It’s not like he is going to need an extra sword taking up space on his belt during the battle.” Ahnasha remarked.

Although Julan had no apprehension about his parents’ beast forms themselves, seeing them fully armored as they were did make it somewhat harder for him to approach them. Given their roles in the clan, he knew that he was not supposed to bother them when they were doing “important” things. Consciously, he knew the situation was a bit different right now, but it still took seeing Rhazii with his own parents for him to finally approach them. Of course, even if he had not, they certainly would have called him over soon enough in any case. As for actually knowing what to say, however, Julan quickly ended up stumbling over his words. “I, um, that armor looks very…neat. Is it true that it’s better than steel and, um…metal?”

If Lorag was being honest with himself, this was a moment that he was more nervous about than the actual battle ahead. Rhazii and Julan were speaking with their parents, so Narsi was alone, and Lorag had no excuses he could use to fill his time at the moment. Giving the girl the training she deserved as both a lycan and an Orc, he could handle that, but “emotional” situations were far from being one of his strengths. He honestly was not sure if Narsi cared in the slightest about him, if she should care, or if he should even want her to care. Contrary what some might think about them, Orcs, even Lorag, were not entirely heartless, but he knew that he was no father to her. Not in the way he should have been. Lorag did start to obviously give her his attention, but he mostly just ended up staring in silence for a while. “So…” He finally uttered.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"There was just enough usable bone left for one weapon. I may have created it, but its name should be yours to choose. You're the hero that will be wielding it, after all." The Forgemaster replied. Ahnasha, naturally, took interest in what was happening now that she was equipped and ready. Especially with the comments she overheard from Fendros. She moved up alongside Fendros and immediately set her eyes onto the sword. Reaching out, she ran her fingers down the flat of the blade, though she found it somewhat annoying that she could not feel it directly through her gauntlet. She did not care quite enough to go through the trouble of removing it, though.

Ahnasha chuckled and nudged Fendros' side. "Figures that you would get the one thing that could make me feel jealous while having a Daedric sword on my belt." She remarked, calling attention to her new sword of, what would usually be, unrivaled quality. "I'm surprised you didn't choose to give it to the Champion herself, Forgemaster."

The Nord laughed, shifting somewhat in place. "Yeah, I, uh, did try to present it to her last week." He answered, shooting a glance over to Meesei, who was watching the whole exchange from nearby.

"As honored as I was by the gesture, a sword like that should go to someone who will use it." Meesei commented.

The Forgemaster nodded in response. "Aye. That blade does deserve to taste Daedric blood. Once the Champion turned it down, I had it enchanted to the specifications you gave me the last time we spoke Fendros."

As they were speaking, they would be able to hear some heavy footsteps approaching behind them, followed by a Bosmer woman's voice. "You can also have a mount fit for a hero." She said as she guided Leaps-On-Elves up to the group. Much like the rest of them, Leaps had received some improved equipment for the upcoming battle. The Bosmer, and a few other handlers, had spent the last hours carefully fitting his new saddle and additional armor. For such a massive creature as a wamasu, it was not made from anything so expensive as ebony, but he did now have plates of Dwarven metal situated strategically over his body to give him the most protection possible, without making him too agitated or encumbered to tolerate it. He did not particularly like having his joints restricted in their movement, so armor there was light, but most of his head and other vital areas were protected. Naturally, the saddle was also enchanted to protect the rider from the wamasu's own lightning.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Regardless of what form they were in, the members of Meesei’s pack serves as inspirations to their warriors, and their new armor only made that morale boost even stronger. Lorag, for this battle, was taking on his werewolf form, with dragonplate armor just as heavy as Meesei’s. For such powerful creatures as they were in their lycan forms, the weight itself meant almost nothing, and for Lorag, one of his enchantments enhanced his physical strength even farther. Between the plates of dragon bone and scales, and the ebony chainmail underneath, there was hardly a part of him that was unprotected. Since the blacksmiths only had two dragon skeletons to work with to begin with, his helmet was not made from the actual skull of the dragon as Meesei’s was, though it had been shaped with a similar visage. Aside from his strength enchantment, the rest of the magic bound to his armor focused on magical defense, making him more resistant to nearly every form of destructive magic. It would not confer complete immunity, but it would make him nearly as resilient against arcane threats as physical ones. Lorag did not have a blade integrated into his armor as Janius did, but each of the fingers on his gauntlets were tipped with a dragonbone spike to essentially serve as his claws, and to allow him to fight as he normally would in this form. One hand was even given shock enchantments, which were particularly effective against most Daedra.

Ahnasha, meanwhile, had kept her normal form, and much like Sabine, was equipped in light dragonscale armor. Normally, she was not one to wear armor at all, instead preferring to rely on magical protection, but the craftsmanship of this set was superb enough that she was practically excited to wear it into battle. Like Meesei, she did have enchantments to enhance her own magical capabilities, but instead of defense, the remainder of her enchantments focused on maneuverability. Not only did the feather enchantments make the armor seem pretty much weightless when worn, but they also quickened her movements and overall agility. The muffle enchantment also made her steps unnaturally silent, so stealth would still be an option for her. She had a matching bow to Fendros, and two blades crafted from Daedric metal. The longer of the two was a curved blade, like a saber, with a shock enchantment, while the other was shorter and straighter with a paralysis enchantment.

Of course, among the most impressive sights out of any of them was Kaleeth, transformed, and in her full armor. The largest portion of the dragon bones were used in her armor, as there was simply much more of her to protect. She was more massive than a daedroth, and with the dragonbone plates covering her from nose to tail, it was hard to imagine what could possibly even hurt her. She did not worry too much about agility, since she did not have much to begin with. She had worried that, more than most, her beast spirit would not be too accepting of wearing any parts that might restrict her movement, but Meesei had pulled her aside privately before they had gone to be equipped and gave her something to help in that regard. Now, she was wearing the full suit, which even provided some protection for her long, muscular tail, though that was mostly flexible dragon scales and chainmail, rather than plate armor. Her helmet was even tougher than Meesei’s, as the blacksmiths had essentially been able to use the other dragon skull as the helmet with only few modifications, so it retained nearly all of its natural strength. Only her lower jaw was not armored, as her bite strength was too important to her in battle to restrict it. Her enchantments were almost identical to Lorag’s, with one enhancing her already overwhelming physical strength, and the rest giving her more resistance to magic.

Kaj-Julan was not sure whether or not to be impressed or frightened of his mother. Not only did she tower over everyone else, but between that armor and the skull she was wearing on her head, she almost looked like a dragon. When Rhazii spoke up, though, he grinned, nudged him in the side, and pointed at Kaleeth. “No, she’s why they’re coming back.”

While the Forgemaster’s assistants were working on getting Kaleeth into her armor, the Forgemaster himself took a sword from a crate that had been separated from the rest. From afar, it was hard to tell if there was anything special about it, but the Nord clearly looked nervous holding it. The scabbard was finely made from polished wood and leather, but obscured the blade within.

Taking a deep breath, the Forgemaster approached Fendros directly. He held out the blade across both palms and bowed as he presented it to the Dunmer. “Fendros Avarul, it is my greatest honor to present my…finest creation to you. You will find no greater blade in Tamriel, or any plane of Oblivion.”

Upon drawing the sword from its scabbard, Fendros would find that it was not made from ebony, nor even Daedric metal, but dragonbone.