EliteCommander

The Cradle

“Damn it…” Vreta muttered as his gaze quickly jumped between the border and the trucks. He did not come from this direction originally, but he was fairly certain the border was not supposed to be here. He could hardly see through the “weather” that had rather suddenly manifested, but like everyone else, he was able to make out what happened to the soldier that emerged from beyond the border. Vreta certainly did not require the sergeant’s order to start running. One way or another, he was going to get out of here.

Just based off of his biology, Vreta probably could have been the first to the trucks, but he doubted it would go well for him if he tried to drive one away on his own, in the long run. He needed to make sure they left as quickly as possible, which meant speeding up the slowest among them. The Human woman, Freyr, was trying to push the injured soldier to the trucks, and that was something Vreta could speed up.

Freyr would hardly have gone a few meters before Vreta ran up alongside her, grabbing a hold of the stretcher as well. He was larger with much longer legs, and frankly, was in better shape than her, so he could get the stretcher to the trucks faster than she could. “Just run!” He shouted to Freyr.

The Cradle

Vreta kept his quite alert the entire time they were walking. Though, the gunfire did leave little question as to where this creature was going. He could at least take some comfort in the fact that they were getting farther away from the sounds. Hopefully, the vehicles were close, and they would be able to get out before the beast could possibly catch up to them.

While he did give a quick glance to the woman when she questioned him, Vreta still mostly kept his eyes on their surroundings. “Yes, when I saw that thing in the warehouse, it was doing something to that device in there. As soon as it saw me, it let out this scream and did something that knocked out the lights. It did talk to me, but it didn’t make a great deal of sense. At first it used a child’s voice, but that changed by the time you came in. I’m willing to talk about it after we get out of here. Surviving is my priority right now.”

In this case, Vreta was in complete agreement with the sergeant and started to rush along with the others. Once they got to the vehicles, they could probably outrun it and get away.

The Cradle

Vreta gladly let the other soldiers take charge of the injured woman. As long as they were somewhat competent, they would remove her from the Cradle as quickly as they could, which was exactly what Vreta wanted for himself as well. He was sure there was a great deal more he could learn about the Cradle from this creature, but it was far too much of a risk to stay without proper armaments.

Wiping away some of the blood from his mouth, Vreta answered the soldier. “Right now, I’m trying to get out of the Cradle as fast as I can, which is exactly what you soldiers should be doing too. Before that creature crushed this woman’s chest cavity, I saw her empty a dozen or more shots from her rifle into it, then I caught it on fire with some tools that were laying around, and all of that just seemed to make it angrier. Unless you want more people to end up like her, or worse…” He said, pointing to the Major. “…then you need to evacuate this area. Come back with heavier ordinance if you really want to kill it, but that rifle of hers wasn’t very effective. Now, my name is Vreta’Sori, official representative of the Zuraxi’Synkuur corporation to all of its business partners on Outremer. I’ll gladly answer any of your questions about what I saw once we’re out of the Cradle. I’m a guest of the Synastar Hotel, and I will stay there to wait for you.”

The Cradle

Vreta did his best to duck down as the creature tossed the door at him, though it did strike him on his back. It was more of a glancing blow, though it still knocked him flat on his face. He slammed his snout on the ground hard enough to knock out a few front teeth. He likely would have been shouting obscenities, were it not for the fact that the impact also knocked his breath away. Regardless, he was not hurt badly enough that he could not push himself back up to his feet, especially as he could remind himself that none of the injuries were actually “real.”

By the time Vreta had collected himself, the creature was already running away, and it sounded like the other soldiers were dealing with it…or at least attempting to. At any rate, for him and the other two Humans, he felt that their part in this fight was firmly over.

Vreta staggered over to the pair of Humans, approaching the wounded soldier from the opposite side as the other woman. “Come on, we just need to get out of here. If we get her out of the Cradle, she’ll be fine. Just help me lift her up. We’ll take her to your other soldier friends outside, then we’ll all get out of this nightmare.”

Halo: Aegis Team

Vael 'Virisusai

---

Under the cloak of his active camouflage, Vael moved along with the other two towards the base of the central structure. There were a few ramps leading up to the roof of the structure, which was where they would be regrouping with the rest of the team. Ideally, they would be able to remain undetected until their team could be dropped in. It was about when Vael reached the ramp that the battle group dropped out of slipspace in the sky above them, and for a moment, Vael’s gaze went upwards.

As planned, their battle group included far more ships than were necessary to deal with the small Brute fleet, so as to guarantee there would be no losses. Two Autumn-class heavy cruisers, including the Chorus of Thunder at the very front, three Strident-class frigates, as well as a CCS-class battlecruiser and three SDV-class corvettes from the Swords. An alarm sounded across the compound and the rebels started to mobilize right away, but for the Brutes in their ships far above, it was already too late. The Chorus already had its MAC cannon charged and ready. Meanwhile, the Brute ships were in such a state of disrepair that most did not even have shields.

The firing of the Chorus’ MAC certainly gave meaning to its name. The near-deafening sound echoed across the landscape, and the pressure wave that accompanied it allowed one to feel the power behind it in their very bones. Without shields, the Brute cruiser on the receiving end did not stand a chance. The round ripped straight through the ship’s hull like paper, tearing the ship in half. When the two halves fell to the ground outside the structure, the ground itself shook and a massive cloud of dust was kicked up over the whole area, sweeping over the compound like a sandstorm.

Visibility had dropped rapidly, but since he knew where to look, Vael was able to spot the vague silhouette of a phantom descending on the mesa with the rest of the team. ”It is time. Detonate the charges.”

The Cradle

At the moment, it seemed like Vreta was the only one in a position to actually react. He regained his footing quickly after freeing the first Human woman, so he could still do something. The soldier took a hard hit. Vreta did not know if she still lived and was just incapacitated, but he could at least make the effort to save her.

Vreta’s own saving grace was the fact that the creature did not immediately shift its attention to him. He kept low and rushed to the soldier, putting one arm around her to help drag her back away from the beast while its attention was on the door. In his other hand, he grabbed her rifle, but focused mostly on putting some distance between the beast and the two of them, though that only lasted a few seconds.

When the Human shouted at the creature, Vreta had to make a choice. Ideally, he would just want to let the thing run away and leave them alone, but if one soldier had found them, then there were probably even more outside. They would likely shoot on sight, and the creature would duck back indoors, even if it did get the door open. This was probably not going to be as easy as just letting it run away, so Vreta had to act.

Vreta removed his arm from around the soldier, then threw the cutting torch he had been holding at the creature’s feet. As it flew through the air, he quickly transitioned to taking aim with the rifle with practiced speed. The weapon itself was small and somewhat awkward in his hands, but he still held it as one with familiarity with firearms. As the cutter hit the ground, he opened fire on its fuel tank, turning it into a makeshift incendiary bomb and coating the creature’s underside in a layer of burning liquid fuel.

The Cradle

Everything started happening quickly, especially after the Human started shouting. The monster Vreta had been trying to escape grabbed the woman with its tendrils. It might have been a good distraction for him to slip out unseen, but it was just an instant later that a soldier barged in, with likely more outside. That was a complication that he had no easy answer to, and one that would force his hand more than even this nightmare of a creature before them. With the soldiers knowing he was there, just getting away would not be enough.

“Damn it…” Vreta muttered under his breath. The only choices he saw in front of him seemed rather stupid in his eyes, but he did not have time to hesitate. Just as the Human woman was starting to get dragged away, Vreta leaped into action. He kept low to stay out of the line of fire and grabbed a hold of her leg with his free hand to try and keep her from being dragged away. Then, he smashed the metal object in his other hand, which seemed to be a hand-held cutting torch, against the tendril as hard as he could, crushing it between the torch and the hard floor. Hopefully, this thing actually felt pain enough that it could be “convinced” to let her go.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

“Ri’vashi has no plan to die, but she will certainly not be coming back here before the battle’s end. The push through the pass, getting the Champion to Vile…it’s all that really matters. Everything else is just a distraction. You may command Ri’vashi’s warriors for the time that is left. You have earned that trust.” She replied before moving towards her company with Teroiah’s bodyguards in tow. “You can trust that Ri’vashi will get our Champion to that tower.”

---

Back in the pass, Ahnasha’s command of the titan had rather decisively turned the favor of the battle against the Daedra. Plumes of cold flames swept across the Daedric ranks on the right flank at first, then soon enough it spread its attacks to the others. Meesei and Sabine’s forces both had pushed the Daedra back to their final barricades keeping them in the chokepoints. The Daedra had been fighting hard, and when the titan came flying overhead, it might have been seen for a moment as a turning point to push back the mortal armies, but all that came was a swift end to any of the Daedra’s hopes of winning the fight. On all three flanks, the mortal frontline pushed forward, lycan shock troops broke into the enemy ranks, and their Senche cavalry moved around the flanks to strike down opponents that were seemingly routing. Indeed, it was strange to see any form of retreat from Daedra, but whatever leader was commanding them seemed to value saving at least some of their number for a future fight, rather than allow them to fight to the death.

In the wake of the fight, Meesei’s pack reunited with one another, as well as the other leaders, in front of their regrouping forces. Even Meesei herself was giving uncertain glances up to the titan circling above them, but its attacks on the Daedra had made rather obvious its current allegiance. “Just…keep an eye on that thing.” Meesei remarked with a look towards Sabine in particular. Should it turn on them, she and her staff would be the one most able to protect them all. “I suppose this is what you had in mind when you said you knew how to deal with the titan, Ahnasha?”

Ahnasha’s pride easily came through most every aspect of her attitude. “Yes, I command its will now. The titan was the Daedra’s weapon to show their supposed dominance over us, and now it’s mine. I say we hurry and use it to crush them before they can regroup. As tough as it is, I’d rather not give them the chance to come up with a response.”

As Ahnasha had been speaking, Lorag was looking over their forces regrouping behind them, and he grimaced at seeing their numbers. “I don’t know. Looks like we lost a lot more people in that fight than I’d have liked.”

The Cradle

Vreta was a claw’s tip away from striking the creature in the head with whatever it was he had grabbed in his hand when it shrieked, though it was quickly apparent that its scream was not directed at him. In fact, the beast rather quickly lost any semblance of interest in him once the Human woman made her presence known.

The words the creature had spoke were just as vague as before. It spoke of knowing him, which was almost certainly not literal, but it was hardly the time for him to introspectively ponder their meaning. He needed to get out. The Human was providing an ample distraction for him, but unfortunately he did not know his way around this warehouse, and he was not about to stumble around blindly in the darkness looking for a way out. The only exit he could see was the one he came in, and both the woman and the creature were between him and it.

Inwardly, Vreta felt that he was about to make perhaps the stupidest choice of his life, but nevertheless, he saw no other option. He needed to at least get closer to the exit. He kept the metal object in his hand, though also kept it hidden behind his back, as he moved forward in the direction of the creature. He remained close to the wall while trying to avoid appearing aggressive. “I’ve been talking with our…friend here too. It mentioned wanting to find its toys, so maybe we should take our leave here and go…look for them? To help our friend here.”

The Cradle

Vreta soon found himself with little room to move, and the creature hovering over him. He had hoped to be able to back away towards the door, but the being was not really giving him that option. He kept his hand around the metal object behind him, but he did make sure to keep that out of sight. With this thing right in front of his face, he did not want to show any possible aggression until it was necessary.

For just a moment, Vreta thought about what this beast could possibly be. It had a Human face and was talking in a child’s voice, about toys of all things. Was it a creation of the simulation, or even worse, some corruption of a person that had entered it? Either way, he needed to think quickly. The thing spoke as a child, so he could lean on that. “I…think that if we left together, the people in that building over there would find us. If we want to get away, we need to sneak away, quietly, and probably separately. But…these ‘toys’ you were talking about. Tell me about them. Maybe I can help find them?”