EliteCommander

The Cradle

The glances Nirann and Marae shared suggested they were both quite interested in Wallace’s suggestions. They did not need to speak so much as a word to come to agreement on that. Though, Wallace’s last suggestion did get a laugh out of Nirann. “Heh, hide your face as much as you want, but I don’t think there’s any mask that’s going to keep a two plus meter tall metal lizard from sticking out like the sorest thumb in a crowd of Humans. Don’t take that as a ‘no’, though. This sounds like the most fun I’ve had in weeks.”

Marae had already stood to her feet and walked closer to the edge of the orb. The music was certainly entirely new to her, but she had not yet given much of a sign on whether or not she actually even liked it. Still, she seemed perhaps surprisingly eager to sneak into the concert of a niche band she had never heard of before. The experience was more important than the music.

Marae held up a hand against the orb. From where they were, she could see all the people both above and below the water line. Even being Rothian, there was so much activity that it would be easy to get lost within it. The crowd was mostly human, but not completely. In all likelihood, she would stand out as nothing more than a tourist. She was only famous in certain academic circles, after all. “Well, what are we waiting for, then? We could swim out to them right now.”

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

When Fendros charged forward, he did not charge alone. Each and every member of his pack would throw everything they had at their enemy to get him just a step closer. Ahnasha’s thralls kept the Daedra from getting in too quickly on their flanks, allowing them to focus most of their attention ahead. While Fendros attacked in a flurry of unrivaled speed and savagery, Kaleeth was to high right as a nigh unstoppable force. Smaller Daedra could do nothing but be crushed under her weight, and could bring to their knees even Daedra who were accustomed to having overwhelming power on their side. But, every step taken added more to the damage she had accumulated. Battle after battle, one attack after another, she had been at the front to face down the enemy ever since they had set foot in Vile’s realm. Hit after hit chipped and weakened her armor as much as it bruised and weakened her body. Blood dripped from several gaps in her armor. Still, no concern mattered more than bringing Fendros to his prey. She kept at his side, her claws rending every foe his own could not reach until, finally, something of hers broke under all the strain. The sharpened spike on the end of a frost atronach’s arm found its way past her guard and pierced through her weakened armor just below her right knee. The magical ice impaled clean through one side of her leg and out the other, pinning her to the ground.

At last, Kaleeth’s unstoppable charge had been brought to a halt. The atronach tried to plunge its other spike into her neck, but Kaleeth managed to lash out and dig her claws into its arm. Not only did she force the spike aside, but with a roar, she ripped its arm off of its body, killing it instantly. Its body fell apart as its essence was disrupted, though it still left Kaleeth crippled. She could not stand, and could not move near quickly enough to keep pace with Fendros. Lesser Daedra moved in and began to surround her, but without looking back, her struggle would fall outside of his view.

There was not a moment’s hesitation from the others. There was a shout behind Fendros with one distinct word: Tiid. Yerig moved to Fendros’ right, swinging his blade with speed and precision that seemed impossible with the fatigue that gripped him. Do’rhajul remained close to Fendros’ left to be able to protect him at a moment’s notice. He was the warrior who had once brought Meesei a hair’s breadth from death, and despite all that had changed in that time, his skill and valor in battle had not. Fendros had all of the support he needed to get within striking distance of Vile.

With their combined efforts, they carved a path through most of the Daedra. As Fendros started to make his lunge towards Vile's hip, however, he would find himself struck by a creature even larger than himself and launched back a few feet. A four-armed ruinach, normally a Daedra in service of Mehrunes Dagon, had seemed to have fallen into the service of Vile. It wielded hammers in two of its hands, one of which it raised to try and finish Fendros off. Do’rhajul struck like lightning, with one precise swing, nearly severing the hand that held the weapon. However, with one of its lower hands, it struck hard to Do’rhajul’s center mass. He could raise his shield to intercept, but he could not avoid most of the force and was sent flying a few yards back, then tumbling a few more across the floor.

Fendros was not so injured that he could not fight the Daedric brute, but he did not have the time to waste with Vile’s underlings. So, it was Ahnasha that rushed forward. She had spent almost all the magicka she had left reanimating the bodies they had left behind. Even now, her thralls were holding back the flanks enough to keep them from being overwhelmed for a few more, precious moments. Still, even without spells to cast, she could fight all the same. An arrow flew over Fendros’ head to strike the ruinach in the chest, though it seemed like little more than a flesh wound to the brute. Dropping her bow, Ahnasha sprinted in with Daedric daggers drawn. She started a swing from her left, but then feinted and ducked under its hammer as she dashed to the right to get behind it. From there, she jumped up and stabbed both daggers into its back, using them to anchor her as she tried to climb up its back to get to its neck. Although, she could only barely hold on as the ruinach struggled to throw her off, until finally, it managed to reach one hand back and get a firm hold of her leg, then slammed her to the ground with a loud crack. Ahnasha had held on tightly to her daggers, so the ruinach bled profusely from the wounds after they were ripped out of its flesh, but anything that did not kill it just seemed to fuel its rage. She writhed in pain on the ground, though in silence as the breath had been knocked out of her. She clutched her daggers and bared her teeth up at the Daedra, issuing it a challenge through her gaze. Weakened as she was, she did not know how she would manage, but she had its attention, and in the midst of their fight, Fendros had plenty of opportunity to rush past.

The Daedra had still not closed off Fendros’ path to Vile…but Vile himself had found a chance to once again give Fendros his attention. As Hircine had been brought to his knees and was trying to recover, Vile held out his hand towards Fendros. Crimson magic swirled around the Daedric Prince’s, growing steadily in intensity. But, over the roar of the battle, Fendros would be able to hear a voice call to him.

“Fendros!” Do’rhajul shouted. He had not been fortunate when he took the hit, as his sword arm had twisted behind him and broken from the impact. He was cut off from the pack, Daedra closing to swarm him, but through it all, he knew what needed to be done. As he called out to Fendros, he threw Spellbreaker through the air, over the heads of the Daedra, and landed it within arm’s reach of his Champion.

The Cradle

The sound of the music was quite different from anything that was popular on Rothia, or even Outremer, for that matter. Even Nirann did not have the information available offhand, and had to perform a quick search to ascertain its origin. Knowing that was enough to give him a quick chuckle. “Well, this is not one I would have expected for a concert. It’s a real ancient one, isn’t it?”

Marae grinned over at Nirann. “We’re not the only ones who like to appreciate the classics.” She did not respond quite as obviously to the music as Freyr or Wallace, though one could at least see a claw tapping against her chair in time with the beat. “I would show you some of the classics from my childhood, but...uh, audio recording technology hadn’t been invented yet. Just imagine a lot of chanting, and something similar to a piano.”

After a few more moments, Marae leaned in a bit closer to Freyr. She was still grinning, but now with a look in her eyes not unlike Nirann tended to get from time to time whenever he was expressing himself as a holographic avatar. “Hmm, I’m curious. How would one dance to this? I don’t suppose you could show me?”

The Cradle

“Oh, I’m sure Rareth will have plenty of words for your colleagues. If I were a betting man, which I absolutely am, I would say they will mostly be about moving us to that Rothian cruiser in orbit. Since it’s, you know, actually the best option available to us by a long shot.” Nirann shrugged.

After a moment, Nirann tilted his head towards Marae. “Well, in any case, that’s Rareth’s job to deal with, not ours. What do you think, love? You done with work now too?”

Marae had been holding an empty cup of tea for a few minutes as she had been examining the hologram of the nanomachine, but as curious as she was, there was little else she could learn without more direct observations. For now, there was nothing more they could do here. “I think I would really like to have a change of scenery away from that black site. What exactly do you have in mind?”

“Does it involve as many hallucinogens as your last outing? Because I’ve got to warn you, my wife is a bit of a lightweight.” Nirann remarked, leaning back just as Marae jabbed her elbow into his side.

“Nirann! Now…” Marae started. At first, she seemed exasperated, but that slowly turned to a grin. “…you know that isn’t true.”

The Cradle

Nirann leaned forward with a slight chuckle, his body moving as if he had let out a breath. “I mean, I would say that a swarm of unknown nanites taking over some orbital factories warrants investigation pretty much by default, yeah? Now, should we be the ones investigating…I’d say it’s worth a shot. If we can get a close look at them, it shouldn’t be too hard to at least see if they are related to the Cradle. If not, we can pass it off to another agency to handle. Besides, it’s not like we’re doing much else, right now.” He shrugged.

Marae was taking a closer look at the hologram. Knowing they were nanites did change how she thought about them, but ultimately, she did agree with Nirann. “Nanites can be very dangerous, but we do have effective means of defending against them if they turn out to be truly hostile. Nanites would have taken over every aspect of warfare by now, if they could not be defeated. Still, probably best to keep our distance. If we get a Rothian ship at the planet, we can get some specialized sensors that can listen in on their communications, between each other and any external entities.”

“I can say with confidence, though, that Rareth isn’t going to have anyone lift a finger until we get the full story. We are partners in this, after all. You’re going to have to give her that context at some point.” Nirann added.

The Cradle

Nirann analyzed the hologram he was viewing within fractions of a second. Given the context of the conversation, he had already queued up all of the Cradle data he had on file to draw any comparisons he could to what Wallace was showing them. He had records for every Cradle being that had been observed since these troubles had started, but unfortunately, they did not contain as clear-cut of answers as he might have liked. “I can’t say I can identify it specifically, no. It’s a mechanical being, obviously, arthropod-inspired. But, it’s not a match for any observed Cradle entity.”

“From what we have seen, Cradle beings do have a history of creating insect-like creatures, moreso than other biological forms, but I wouldn’t say that alone is enough to cement a connection.” Marae added.

Nirann leaned back in his chair, carefully observing each of the details he could see in the hologram above them. “I think the most important part of them is the context surrounding them, really. Whose factories did they take over, and where did the initial machines come from? Have there been any other observations about them other than their appearance? Any communications? Hostility?”

Halo: Aegis Team

Vael 'Virisusai

---

Vael gave a glance down to the pit, but did not take much time at all to dwell on it. ”The dead matter no longer. Keep our focus on the mission ahead. The cannons still lie above us.”

Even for beings as agile as Sangheili or Spartans, the climb was not an easy one. While there were vines and some jagged rocks on the cliff to provide handholds, the stream flowing down from above made the climb precarious. Especially with the storm outside, there were few paths outside the path of the waterfall. Nevertheless, Vael did not intend to hesitate in pressing forward. Since Tar had been here before, he allowed her to take the lead and followed her path up, while the others kept an eye out for any signs of activity from the Tengmaa.

While it was not a quick climb, the first three up made steady progress to the top. Along the way, Vael used an energy dagger to make small cuts in the rock to mark his path for those behind him. Hopefully, it would make the task at least somewhat easier for his allies. After he, Ryker, and Tar made it to the top, Vael ordered the rest of the Humans to follow suit. It would be a more difficult task for the unaugmented Humans like Roy or Flint, but Vael had Aviza climb near them to give assistance if need be. Grik would have a harder time than the Spartans, but the oversized forearms of Unggoy did make them rather strong climbers.

At the end of the climb, making it to the top was ultimately not much of a relief, given that the storm was still raging at near the same strength as it had been when they found the cave. The terrain around them was rocky and uneven, the rain made it hard to see in much detail beyond a few meters, and the winds made it a challenge just to move around properly. Even just to communicate, they were dependent on their radios. ”Even in this storm, it should not take long to reach the cannon, and it will serve to mask our approach. It is vital that the Keep not learn of our presence, so we must either not be seen, or leave no survivors.”

The Cradle

Nirann was scanning even the smallest, involuntary twitches from Wallace, though everything about his body language still made him seem relaxed. The way he leaned back in his chair, arms crossed over his chest, or the small movements he made as if he was trying to get more “comfortable” all felt natural and organic. Absolutely none of it was at all necessary, or even helpful, to his robotic form, but the way he flawlessly mimicked organic mannerisms could make one question whether he was actually doing it subconsciously. “Fair warning, depending on what your ‘source’ wants, you may need to find Rareth and talk with her. If it’s anything major, she will have to approve it. I know she’s not nearly as fun as I am, but she is one of the few people around here who actually seems to be able to accomplish something, as of late.”

“How could anyone but your people or ours have found another one?” Marae questioned, mostly thinking out loud. “We’re the only ones who should know about them right now, so either Outremer or Rothians should be the only ones to know to look for them. These Cradle beings have remained undetected eons longer than either of our civilizations have even existed, so the odds of someone just stumbling upon them by chance now, of all times, are infinitesimal. Unless…well, unless it made itself known.”

The Cradle

“Well, my plans for my team still hasn’t changed.” Marae answered. “We need to improve our understanding of them. The one we have found has been frustratingly resistant to study, but we have still improved our knowledge of its technology, its communication, its behavior. Perhaps with a larger sample size, with more of these beings to study, we will be able to gleam more insight into their history and motivations. Understanding, above anything, will help us make our decisions.”

The more subtle implications of Wallace’s tone did end up going over Marae’s head, but Nirann’s software could analyze her body language and vocal patterns in great detail. He had spent countless hours observing Human visitors to Threria, generally for the purpose of safeguarding the city. “Our study of the Cradle being has given us information to work with. We have some understanding of what they are, and we believe we know where to look for more of them. Especially now that we know their signal profiles. I expect that we will be able to find more in time…but if you were to already have a lead we could work with, I’m sure that would save us some time and help the cause.”

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Ahnasha readied her bow, though beyond the Daedra, she could see the fight between Hircine and Vile unfolding. Hircine was trying to push forward, but even weakened as he was, Vile’s power was still immense. His magic struck at Hircine’s very being and steadily eroded his strength. “We have to be quick. If Hircine is defeated before we reach him, it won’t matter what we do.” She said as she loosed an arrow.

Per Fendros’ orders, Kaleeth and Lorag moved to the front as Sabine and Ahnasha were weakening the enemy at range. Do’rhajul moved in just behind them, shield at the ready to watch for enemy spellfire, but Yerig soon moved between them. He seemed more exhausted than any of them, no matter how much he might have wanted to hide it, but he stepped up nevertheless. “I will give us an opening, just…be ready.” He said, moving up between Kaleeth and Lorag. Naturally, it was a shout he used; one that was simple and direct for the situation: FUS RO DAH

The pure, unstoppable force of Yerig’s shout sent everything in its path flying off of their feet, straight down the middle of the Daedra’s loose formation. Everything, from scamp to daedroth, was sent back, slamming into the ground and one another. Those on the flanks were unaffected, but one could not ask for a better opening.

Kaleeth charged forward first to be the pack’s spearhead. The Skaafin spearmen that had been at the front were still on the ground, and Kaleeth did not even make the effort to slow down to handle them. They found their deaths as the werecrocodile simply trampled over them, crushing one body after another under her weight. A clannfear just behind came close to getting to its feet, but Kaleeth’s jaws snapped around its neck to separate its head from its body. The first form of resistance she faced was a Xivilai. It had lost its weapon and had only managed to get back up on one knee, but that was enough for it to land a fireball straight to her torso. The heat was intense, but it was hard to tell how much she felt through the enchantments on her dragonbone armor. If it did harm her, she did not so much as show a sign of pain. She continued to charge and met the Xivilai head on. It grabbed a hold of her head, pulling down with all its might to try and at least get her off of her feet, but Kaleeth grabbed the Xivilai in return. Her claws dug deep into its flesh around its shoulders. She squeezed tightly to the sounds of cracking bones, then yanked both outwards in opposite directions, tearing its arms from its body at the shoulder.

Lorag had advanced in support of Kaleeth. While she was the spearhead, he tried to make sure she did not get overwhelmed. While she fought the Xivilai, he pounced upon a Dremora to her left who was going for the axe he had dropped in the shout. Lorag was quick and efficient, slicing the fallen Dremora’s throat with a claw in one clean motion before shifting to his next target. Some Daedra were starting to make it in from the flank, but Lorag’s presence kept them from being able to rush Kaleeth all at once. Ahnasha too acted quickly through their advance, reanimating any Daedric corpses Kaleeth left behind which were not too damaged to be of use. She directed them to their right flank to provide at least some buffer to prevent them from being surrounded and overwhelmed as they pushed ever forward.

The pack’s advance was chaotic and frenzied, as was the clash between the gods before them. But, even amid their struggle, Vile felt something that, for a moment, drew his sole attention. From across the battlefield, Clavicus Vile’s eyes fixed upon Fendros, and to his axe. There might have even been surprise in his gaze, though it was quickly replaced by rage. “Oh, I see…do you think you’re clever? Do you think this borrowed power still makes you any more than an INSECT!”

Vile cast forth another crimson cloud of Daedric magic, this time firing over the heads of his Daedra straight towards Fendros. Do’rhajul was already in position, and there was not a moment of hesitation from him to act. Placing himself in front of Fendros with Spellbreaker raised, its ward took the full power of the spell. The Daedric artifact had been tested many times against mortal magic without a hint of difficulty, but not Do’rhajul, nor anyone else present knew if it could resist a god. Against the power it was absorbing, Spellbreaker’s ward glowed more brightly than it ever had before, its structure fluctuated and warped in the air in front of the shield…but it did not break.

Hircine did not waste Vile’s divided attention. As soon as he made his attack towards Fendros, Hircine managed to thrust his spear through Vile’s shoulder from behind. Of course, a Daedric Prince did not take injury the same way as lesser beings, but Hircine was still a threat that could simply not be ignored. A pulse of power from Vile launched the Great Huntsman back, and a wave of his hand conjured up yet more portals to bring more Daedra into the fight. This time, the portals appeared behind the pack, leaving them surrounded on all sides.

Lorag let out an enraged roar as he fell back from his position at the front. “I’ll cover our flank. Just get that axe to Vile.” He growled as he moved back past Fendros. As fierce of a fighter as Lorag was, he would be greatly outnumbered, and there would be no way to tell in battle how he was faring…not without looking back.