EliteCommander

The Cradle

“What your ‘remote collaboration’ will accomplish is to slow us down unnecessarily.” Rareth replied, still staring firmly at the Captain. “I don’t think you appreciate how efficient Marae’s team can become if allowed to reach an optimal workflow. Many members of both science teams will still be working outside the simulation, and there is no reason for them to remain separate. Those entering the simulation you can leave on your ship if you must, but I am going to have to insist that the rest work as a part of our collective team.”

Neither Rareth nor Freyr could communicate their true intentions to one another, but regardless of what Freyr was trying to do, Rareth felt she could get what she wanted out of this exchange. She had to be firm, but not too firm. Compromise would be the key here. As for the matter of their protection in the simulation, that was a matter that Rareth could speak on without ulterior motives. It was in the best interest of all groups involved that they could ensure their safety within the simulation. “And if we need to remain conscious of the number of people we send inside, then we should send one of my teams in for protection. We can achieve sufficient protection with fewer soldiers.”

Halo: Aegis Team

Vael 'Virisusai

---

The enemy commander was, naturally, the priority, though Vael still had no intention of being trapped in tunnel vision on the target. Running out onto the platform, they were exposed to a lot of angles. While there was cover, and many of the rebels were more concerned with rushing to their evacuation than turning around to attack, there were some soldiers turning their attention turning towards the team. ”Tasuma, cover our flank!” He ordered. The Mgalekgolo would certainly not be able to reach their objective before someone else on Aegis could, so his focus would be more useful on protecting the others.

The rebel leader did not slow his pace as the shots started to ring out around him. Ryker’s attempt to stop him might have worked, but he had more than just Human equipment to rely on. Before Ryker could take his third shot, the bright blue energy field of a Kig-Yar point defense gauntlet powered on to take the bullet, which protected him for the rest of his short run to the pelican. The leader did make it into the troop hold of the dropship, but he did not order takeoff immediately. Other rebels were still rushing in behind him to evacuate, and he did not seem intent on leaving them. Shortly after making into the pelican, he leaned out to give cover to his allies, keeping in cover behind his gauntlet while angling an M319 grenade launcher to fire over it. The grenade came in quick towards the center of the group, then airburst over them. It did not detonate close enough to make any kills, but the EMP effect could effectively drain shields.

The Cradle

Rareth, of course, had been briefed by Roth’Orsa, though Freyr could not have known that. Granted, even if Rareth had not been informed beforehand, she likely would have seen Freyr’s sudden shift in position to be strange. Before, she had been eager to get to work with the Rothian science team and had expressed no reservations about working in their hybrid lab. Now, right after negotiating full cooperation the Human science team was being pulled from shared spaces, forcing them to work almost exclusively remotely. It was quite easy for Rareth to latch on to the issue, and indeed, it would be strange if she did not.

When the Captain came into view, Rareth was stern in her tone. Not angry, specifically, but she wanted there to be no question that she was taking the matter seriously. “Before we can even begin to discuss personnel assignments, we have a problem to deal with. I have no intention to allow my people to be pushed aside. I have questions from my science team wondering why your team has seemingly abandoned the lab. Our peoples have agreed upon full cooperation in this project, yet the first thing that the Human team has done after that negotiation is to refuse to work from anywhere except the one place you fully control. Interestingly, prior to this negotiation, Dr. Lang and her team were quite eager to work together with us on the object, so I would find it rather strange and out-of-character for her to have made this decision on her own. I will say it now that driving a wedge between our respective teams is unacceptable, and is not in-line with our agreements. Now, I do not know that you, specifically, are responsible for this, Captain Andersen, so I would ask if you know who aboard your ship would be responsible for this resistance to our cooperation?”

The Cradle

“The equipment is already set up and ready in the field laboratory. To bring the scanning equipment up to your ship requires keep a constant presence aboard your ship. We still have to protect our technology, after all. It will need to stay under armed guard, which means negotiating for the constant presence of an armed guard with your Captain. It would be much easier for your team to come to the surface.” Rareth replied.

There was a slight tinge of irritation in Rareth’s voice, though it was hard to tell at exactly whom it was directed. She did not look directly at Freyr when she growled under her breath. “And for that matter, why are you operating on the Barbarossa at all? The lab we constructed above the object contains the full array of necessary equipment, both yours and ours. It was constructed fully cooperatively between our two people, it contains facilities and equipment that are comfortable for both of us. Having our science teams move to constantly work separately will be to the detriment of our efficiency. Now that we have negotiated full cooperation between our people on this project, it would be quite a strange time to move away from having our teams work together in a hybrid lab.”

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Do’rhajul did not speak his answer aloud. He simply stood alongside Sabine and readied his shield. His service to Sabine could not end until Vile’s defeat, and he would not leave her side until Vile’s threat had ended. Ahnasha, meanwhile, stepped aside to give a look over Leaps. It was hard to tell at a glance if he was hurt, as spells could leave injuries that would not be visible through his armor, but he did not act as if he was hurt. Though, Ahnasha still frowned as she looked up at the tower. “I don’t think Leaps is going to do too well in a tower like that, at his size.” She mentioned to Fendros. Her first thought would be to let Ri’vashi make use of him, but since she was quite insistent on joining them in their assault on the tower, she turned to Saras instead. “You should take Leaps. I’m sure his lightning will be helpful holding the pass, just…take care of him.”

---

The pack could not afford to delay for long. The majority of their forces had to move quickly to defend the pass, though Ri’vashi did gather a force of some of their reinforcements to join them in assaulting the tower. She made sure not to take too much away from the defense in the pass, and rather just brought enough to comfortably fight within the tower.

The hill leading up to the tower was somewhat steep, but rather open. It would have been easy to get surrounded, had there been anything to resist them. All of the Daedra seemed to be behind them, as there was nothing to so much as slow them down during their march up to the tower.

As they drew nearer, more details came into focus. Even from a distance, they had been able to see that there were three columns consisting of immense amounts of energy spiraling up towards the top of the tower. Meesei could now feel that they were made from pure magicka, and they were coming together at a focal point at the very top of the tower. It was a power that was almost blinding to her senses. Though, the tower itself was also notable. Meesei could see cracks running all up the structure, as if it had been fractured into a thousand pieces, then put back together.

“This tower, it looks almost…familiar.” Meesei commented. “It reminds me of descriptions of the Crystal Tower in Summerset. The one that fell during the Oblivion Crisis.”

Halo: Aegis Team

Moving down through the structure, the team kept their pace as quick as possible. It was vital to their mission that the enemy leader not be allowed to escape. As per their mission parameters, capture was preferable, but even killing him would be acceptable should capture not be an option. The only outcome that would be considered a failure would be if he were to escape.

There was some resistance as they moved down into the tunnels, though nothing like what they had encountered in the chambers above. With how swiftly the team had made their attack, the Insurrectionists had not had the time nor resources to organize more than their initial defense. A good portion of them were likely still caught up in the battle above ground. The few rebels they did encounter tried to set up ambushes, but against a team like Aegis, they did not so much as slow them down.

Near the bottom of the structure, Shih guided the team into an elevator leading down deeper into Sarcophagus’ superstructure. The rebels had tried to lock it down, but fortunately, they did not seem to have any special understanding of Forerunner systems, so Shih was able to easily override it. After reaching the bottom, it was only a short run through the halls to reach the rebels’ underground landing platform. The hallway opened up into a large, flat platform in the middle of a massive, hexagonal tunnel, though it was cluttered with crates and equipment. The hallway exited out near the middle of the platform, so there were multiple dropships on either side of them. Most of them were of different models with different appearances and loadouts, ranging from fully-armed UNSC pelicans, to police and civilian transports.

Making full use of every sensor at her disposal, Shih started scanning area as soon as they stepped through the door. Based on the information she had recovered from the rebels’ network, she was able to identify and mark the leader on their HUDs before any of the team had even set foot on the platform. The enemy commander was off to their left, about a hundred meters away near the edge of the platform. He was equipped in what appeared to be ODST combat armor, though it was heavily modified. He had been coordinating the evacuation, though the moment he saw Aegis team arrive, he and the soldiers around him made a run for the nearest pelican on the platform. Unfortunately, he was close enough that he would certainly reach it before anyone on Aegis could.

The Cradle

Given the true motivations of her actions, Rareth’s first attempt in negotiating was to try and convince the Humans to allow the civilian scientists to go ahead and get to work while they worked out a deal for the military personnel. She stressed the short timetable they had and pointed out that the civilians did not have the same issues with the scans as Andersen was concerned with for their soldiers. However, Human pride did come to the Institute’s aid in this case. Despite the fact that Rothian forces were even more capable of protecting the scientists than the Humans were, they would only be satisfied with a Human presence.

Rareth was not afraid to chastise them for obstructing the project for matters of pride; however, she did not argue for any longer than was necessary to keep up appearances. In the end, she agreed to allow the project to proceed without full scans, under the condition that anyone affected would sign a rather comprehensive waiver before being allowed to proceed, in addition to the Captain signing a formal agreement between herself and the Datius. For the most part, the paperwork was a formal acknowledgement that the Captain understood the health risks involved, and that the Humans were knowingly proceeding against the recommendations of Rothian medical personnel. It also waived any legal liability on the part of the Rothians for any future health issues among Human personnel as a result of the decision.

Eventually, the project did get back on-track to start. The Rothian science team had been ready to begin for hours, and indeed likely would have entered the simulation themselves had the delay lasted too much longer. They had only to wait for the Human team to be ready to start, and to that end, Rareth contacted Freyr directly shortly after her meeting with the Captain concluded.

“Dr. Lang, I am sending you a copy of some paperwork that some of your team may need to sign. It waives liability for us in case any of your team decide not to follow our medical advice. Though, for civilians like yourself, you do have a choice. I still highly recommend that you allow us to perform these scans. Having before-and-after imaging of the brain could be highly valuable in identifying and treating any neurological issues, and it would be best to have data points from both of our species.” Rareth recommended.

The Cradle

Marae nodded. “Agreed. We do have such a limited time to carry out our work. I’m sure a simple talk with Rareth will be enough to clear up any problems you have. If there is anyone on your ship, or team, with experience in neuroscience, they are more than welcome to assist in analyzing the data from the scans. Once they can see the data themselves, they may be able to explain to your people the advantage of using our devices.”

Though they were all clearly in a hurry, Marae still had one more matter to bring up to Freyr. Based on the smile she had, it was something she was particularly excited to share. “Now, there is one more thing.” She added. “I have a project of my own I intend to take on, based on the data from our first insertion. Much of the interaction we have with the object pertains to a mix of artificial intelligence, computer science, and neuroscience. All of that falls quite squarely into my area of expertise. Some…work I have done in the past has inspired me with an idea. Don’t set expectations too high, I am only just beginning to explore the idea, but I believe I could develop a method to prevent ‘Cradle death’, as you call it. A way to prevent the neural shock in the real world that comes with expiring in the simulation.”

The Cradle

Marae frowned, or at least gave the Rothian equivalent. “I know you brought your best for this expedition, but Rareth doesn’t want to take any chances. Brain damage is a serious concern, especially with the symptoms Agent 595 was exhibiting. No offense, but our equipment can map a brain in far greater detail than yours, and will be much more likely to catch the problem. Besides, more detailed scans means more data points for determining what could have caused the issue in the first place. If there are any problems, you’ll have to talk to Rareth about it. She’s the one who made the decision.”

For a few moments, Marae took the time to to review what information she had on Cradle terraforming. What Freyr described was not inaccurate, but Marae was not convinced that they had the complete picture. “As for terraforming, it is not dangerous to us, yes, but can we truly say for sure that the same is true for the environment itself? So much is unknown about the Cradle and similar objects. Humanity has terraformed the Cradle for centuries, and now, the Cradle itself is becoming hostile to outsiders. It is true that we cannot simply assume that the two are related, but neither can we rule it out. The deeper mechanisms that control these objects are still an unknown. Perhaps we can at least start by trying to contact the being again? Then, we can ask directly if such processes harm the simulation.”

The Cradle

Marae tilted her head, exhaling slowly as she considered what Freyr was suggesting. “Terraformer? We’re…going to have to get together with Rareth and have a talk about that. This object is an inhabited space; it’s not ours to reshape as we please. Unless we have permission from that being, I really would not feel comfortable with that. For the mission today, I was just hoping to be able to make contact again. Perhaps brief the being on our plan, and ask questions if we can? Though, given the way the last encounter went, that may be an optimistic hope.”

“At any rate…” Marae continued. “…speaking of injuries, Rareth is mandating a few safety regulations based on what happened last time. She wants full medical scans with our best equipment on anyone who had entered the object before she will approve them to enter again. She’s particularly worried about the possibility of neurological damage with repeated entries. The problem might not come up again now that we’ve fixed the language issue, but that doesn’t help anyone who has already been in.”