EliteCommander

The Cradle

Rareth turned back briefly with a look towards the Agent and the soldiers. “Do your suits not protect you from falls? I doubt we are going to be leaving ourselves helpless here. Just be ready to speak up and ask for help should anything go wrong.” She recommended.

After double-checking that all of her equipment was secured, Rareth stepped out onto an open area on the cliff to wait for the creatures. “If this being intended to attack us, it likely would have already done so. I do not think I need to remind you that this is the best chance you have had in your history to receive direct answers about the Cradle.”

Nirann let out a simulated sigh, then walked forward onto the cliffs as well. “I guess these things are better than nothing. I’ll guide the bots on remote. If they can keep up with Rothian military transports, then I’m pretty sure they’ll do fine following these…things.”

The Cradle

Once again, the responses of the Humans and Rareth were drastically different. While their weapons were raised, Rareth holstered hers on her back and approached the edge of the cliff with the avian creature. Regardless of how many steps she took forward, the beast did not react aggressively, nor defensively. “Lower your weapons. You heard what it said. These creatures do look strong enough to carry us. We may finally be able to reach this meeting.”

“You…sure about this, Rareth? I don’t know how high up I trust these things to take me.” Nirann commented hesitantly as he stepped out of the cave within sight of the avians.

Rareth reached out one hand and placed it gently upon the creature’s chest. “Nirann, that body can insert from orbit. You’ll be fine.”

Nirann shrugged. “Yeah, yeah, I know. But then I can’t be so dramatic. I guess as the Humans say, don’t…look at a gifted horse’s teeth. Is that right? I don’t have my databank with me.”

The Cradle

This time, Rareth did not give 595 a straight answer. Her only, brief response was: “My equipment loadout is classified.” She had intended to avoid using her experimental hardware if she could help it, but it had become necessary. She had no more equipment remaining that she had not already used, but she had no motivation to provide that information. For their trek through the caves, she allowed the Human soldiers to lead, as she wanted to stay near the back and protect from anything that might attack from their flank.

The typical aggression of the Humans was growing to be an irritant for Rareth. They likely could have passed by the creature they encountered without conflict, considering that it was not near to their nest. Indeed, she did not have a favorable judgement of much of their behavior during this expedition, but she still had to press on. What mattered was getting to that beacon and finding the answers they needed.

It was at the far end of the caves where Rareth took the lead once again. She did know that the cave emerged into a waterfall on the other side, but she had not scouted beyond that before. “Wait a moment. Let me see if I can find an easy way down.” Rareth remarked as she stepped out of the cave onto the cliffs. In particular, she worried about the creatures nesting just outside. There was a possibility they could be dangerous, or at least defensive of their nest, so she prioritized keeping a respectful distance while searching for a way down.

Halo: Aegis Team

With the Chieftain’s shields overloaded, what would have been the lethal shot from Rex deflected off of the energy barrier unceremoniously, and with no one else to slow down the Brute, Rex found himself in a poor position. The swing he gave in return was both quick and brutal, and even Rex did not have the ability to avoid it.

The bladed edge of the gravity hammer struck Rex square in his chestpiece. Even MJOLNIR could not stand up against such force, as it was bent inward while Rex himself was smashed a meter or so back against the wall behind him.

Of course, after landing his blow, the Chieftain’s blood frenzy had him moving on quickly to the next prey. Tar was straight in his path, and the next obvious target. Her shields had already been depleted, and she was not in a position to run away nearly as quickly as the Chieftain could charge. He raised his hammer high and lunged forward, but among the chaos of gunfire that still filled the chamber, another shotgun shell was fired. Rex, though beaten down and struggling for breath, still fired from the ground. The Brute’s shield did perfectly protect him, but that protection did not extend to the hammer he was holding. The well-aimed shot from Rex sent buckshot tearing through the hammer’s mechanisms. When the Brute brought the hammer down on the ground at Tar’s feet, the gravity impulse malfunctioned and failed to trigger.

The invincibility module had saved the Chieftain, but it was short-lived. The overcharge ended shortly afterwards, leaving the Brute once again vulnerable with his weapon damaged. Although, it was still a hammer, and he was still a Brute. The danger he presented was still far from over, and as his normal shields had been replenished, it was not as if he would fall easily.

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Vael ‘Virisusai and Tasuma

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Overall, Vael’s team had managed to claim their needed positioning in the chamber. With the aid of Tasuma’s smoke, they had forced the Rebels out of their entrenched central position, and Ryker and Grik had claimed the high ground on the right. The remainder of the Rebels had retreated out of the smoke to the far side of the room, and all that was left was to finish them.

Despite their dire situation, the Rebels were still not going to give up without a fight. Vael had already slain the strays in the smoke cloud, so those that remained had no hesitation to fire on any movement. On the far right flank, a Rebel with a SAW was suppressing Ryker’s position, while another beside him tossed up a frag grenade.

”We must strike together. Tasuma, force them to hide and we shall descend upon them.” Vael ordered. Tasuma stayed within the smoke for cover, instead using the sound of the SAW firing to guide its aim. Just the sound of its arm cannon charging sent some Rebels to cover, and when it did fire, the Rebel with the SAW was caught in the edge of the fuel rod blast, relieving some of the pressure on Ryker and Grik.

The Cradle

Rareth took just a moment to catch her breath as she lay on the stone ground. Her readouts for her suit integrity and her personal health were…acceptable. She had been forced to detonate that missile uncomfortably close, and the pressure wave had certainly rattled her. Still, she had no serious alerts to worry about. Her implants were already handling treatment, so after a moment, she slowly pushed herself up to her feet.

Rareth did recognize that the loss of the Humans’ team member was fresh on their minds. She knew that Humans viewed death differently from her own people, but it was still not an easy thing to face. Even among Rothian soldiers, though, there was the necessity to be able to move on with a clear head in such situations.

“The Agent is right; we need to keep moving. I already scouted the path, so we need only follow the map. We may have wounded that creature, but there is no guarantee it has given up on us.” Rareth commented.

The Cradle

Rareth turned back at the mouth of the cave when her sensors picked up on what happened to Memnon. The creature’s massive spike pierced through even his armor and caused critical injury, but she could still attempt to save him. Or at least, she could have if there was no one else for her to protect. She had the tools within her to reach him, and bring him back. In the milliseconds before she made her decision, her neural implant had already powered on the immensely powerful antimatter reactor within her body, which was dedicated solely to a single, experimental device. However, before she made her move, she spotted another threat.

Even as the creature was weakened from the detonations and the shelf was collapsing away, the swarm seemed desperate for their blood. Multiple tendrils coalesced to form another massive spike, which was aimed to pierce through the heart of the cave entrance. Even if Memnon could be grabbed, there was no guarantee he would survive, and others could die if she did nothing to stop the creature.

Rareth fired one more micro-missile straight at the spike just as the creature stabbed it forward. The creature could move its limbs remarkably quickly, but a missile was still fast enough to find its mark in time. The explosive detonated halfway up the limb to split it in half, though the explosion was also danger close to Rareth. It shattered her shields and crumbled the stone underneath her. She started to fall as well, but as she turned onto her back and looked up at the sky, her neural implant painted another set of destination coordinates on her HUD.

The amount of power that flowed into the device situated in Rareth’s chest far eclipsed every other weapon and tool at her disposal…combined. From the outside, one might see light bending in a sphere around her, following the path of the increasingly warped spacetime she was shaping. At the same time, right at her destination at the cave entrance in front of the others, the same kind of warped sphere of spacetime could be seen. From Rareth’s perspective, she was falling straight down until she passed through the wormhole and flew out the other side, her momentum sending her rolling across the cavern floor towards the others.

Nirann nearly had to dive out of the way to avoid Rareth tumbling in to him. He was more than knowledgeable, and observant, enough to recognize the physics at play in what he witnessed, but even he had trouble believing that technology was possible in such a small frame. “Did…she just teleport?”

The Cradle

The others had reached the cave and were making it inside, but Rareth kept her eyes on the approaching swarm. Would the cavern truly provide safety against this beast? Not only was it massive in scale, but she could not be sure of its capabilities. If they wanted to put some distance between themselves and the creature, just running might not be enough.

Rareth was close to the cavern entrance, but did not yet step inside. Instead, she turned back and stared down the encroaching swarm. She loaded each of the six launcher tubes on her weapon with micro-missiles while her neural implant painted target locations across its mass. When she fired, she let loose the whole volley of six missiles at once, spiraling through the air towards their designated targets. Rareth did not have enough information from her scans to know its exact weak points, so she simply spread out the targets to cause as much damage as possible over a wide area. The missiles themselves were set to trigger on a timer from first impact to allow them to penetrate into the creature and detonate within.

Rareth did not know how much damage this being could withstand, but if it did not die, it was Rareth’s hope that the equivalent of six heavy artillery shells exploding within its body would be enough to at least slow it down. As the explosives started to detonate, Rareth rushed towards the cave with the others as quickly as she could.

The Cradle

Rareth had never stopped firing when they fell back, and when it was time for them to move, she sprinted forward to place herself halfway between their camp and the cave entrance. It was only a short run between the two, but they still needed to provide as much cover as they could to get the civilians, and their equipment, across that gap safely.

Even as the ground shook, it did not meaningfully impact Rareth’s aim. With the targeting software assisting her, she could adjust immediately. First and foremost, she focused her fire on any creatures close enough to possibly intercept the others as they made their run.

Nirann ran alongside the Human scientists, though he did draw his carbine to defend them against anything that might get in their way. It was not his job to fight, in this situation, but rather just to make sure they got to safety. He controlled their cargo bots remotely, and so he also had access to all of their sensors as they moved.

The Cradle

The aid from the others did weaken the creature, though it did prove a difficult one to kill. She pushed outwards against the tendrils trying to crush her torso, and despite its size, she held her own. She could not quite pry its vines away from her, but as it was also taking fire from the outside, it changed its approach quickly. It formed several of its amorphous appendages into spikes and began striking at her armor from several angles to try and pierce through. There was a loud clanging with every strike, but the lessened crushing pressure did give her the opportunity to retaliate.

From her left arm, Rareth’s plasma blade deployed, immediately cutting through several of the vines. She swung in a wide arm while spinning around her body at the same time to throw off the wounded creature. Her sword cleaved straight through the center of its mass, though she was spared a spray of ichor by the cauterizing effect of the high intensity heat.

After quickly recovering her weapon, Rareth fell back with the others towards their camp, her fusion cannon firing non-stop to keep their attackers at a distance. In particular, she focused on keeping the path between them and the cave clear. Nirann had the transit station disassembled at this point; it just needed to be loaded on to the cargo bots. “We’ll move into the cave once everything is loaded up. Thebes, have a few of your people move slightly ahead along the path I’ve marked, while the rest of us cover our flank. There are creatures that inhabit this cave, but as long as we stay distant from their nest, they may leave us be.”

The Cradle

“Already on it!” Nirann shouted back as he closed up the panel on his chest. For him, it was trivial to connect to each of the cargo drones and run their startup sequences simultaneously. It barely took a small subroutine for him to control each of them remotely, moving them in position to be loaded up with their equipment. More time consuming would be the process of actually disassembling the mast and transit station. The Humans were taking care of the comms mast, so Nirann went ahead on getting transit station disassembled and loaded up. Their deployable cover was hooked into their new power source and still active. For obvious reasons, he felt it best to take it down last.

Rareth had her neural implant run a few calculations on the kinetic forces Memnon’s shields had been exposed to. She knew exactly how much her own shields could handle before being depleted, within a small margin of error. While a few of the other soldiers were dealing with a creature that made it over the ridge, Rareth tried to make sure no more could follow it quickly. She peered over the edge of the ridge only quickly enough to fire a single, explosive plasma burst at a time before backing up, changing positions, and doing the same elsewhere. Under such circumstances, even she could not land a kill with every shot, but the large plasma explosions could still injure from near-misses and slow their approach. However, what she really needed to do was to take care of the priority targets keeping them pinned.

Once the hostile behind them was dealt with and the soldiers could return their attention to the front, Rareth set her sights on a ballista being set up. These strange creatures were truly otherworldly to be able to take on such forms, but she could not deny that they were effective. Instead of peeking out quickly, Rareth leaned over the ridge long enough to take solid aim on one of their ranged threats. She was certainly quick on the trigger, as she was able to fire her shot before the creature could shift its aim. The explosive energy blast his square in the center of its body to essentially incinerate nearly every part of it. A second ballista, however, did have plenty of time to send a projectile towards her. It struck her shields and shattered, causing the energized bubble around her to flare up bright white, far more than at any point before. There was a great deal of kinetic force for the barrier to handle, but it did hold. The delay before the ballista’s next shot was more than enough for her to fire another well-aimed shot to blast it apart.

Rareth ducked back into cover, intent on allowing her shields to regenerate before engaging again. However, the creatures seemed as clever as they were quick. Some of the dust and debris kicked up by the battle so far obscured the approach of one of the creatures enough to put it in striking range of the ridge. Just as Rareth was retreating back, the creature leaped over the top and pounced on her from above. Its many appendages whipped against her shields and depleted them entirely, then it wrapped itself around her in an attempt to crush her armor.