EliteCommander

The Cradle

Rareth pulled up a screen in front of her and quickly navigated through to her translator’s software. “I doubt your translators have the proper linguistic libraries to be able to interpret a dead Rothian language. One moment, I can pass you a software package to update them.”

There was a short delay while they addressed their communication issues. Even with updated language packages, the translation would not be seamless enough to make the conversation seem as natural as usual, but the software did at least stop throwing most of its translation warnings. They could still hear Brasikha’s natural voice somewhat muffled in the background after Rareth signaled him that they were ready. “If you can now understand our communication, I say that I understand why you wish to keep our secret from our possible allies. In the struggles of nations, truth and lies are valuable currencies both. So often, our diplomacy lives somewhere betwixt the two. It is…expected. Every nation keeps their own secrets and covets those of others, even their own allies. They do not…take offense at this reality.”

Brasikha’s voice was firm, though not quite aggressive. The voice that the Humans’ translators gave him was more even-toned, with less emotion and emphasis than what they could hear in the background from him. Perhaps it was more fitting to his body language, or lack thereof. There was no pacing, fidgeting, or even the smallest of movements, as he stood almost like a statue while he spoke. “But this lie holds far more weight than the usual games of politics and posturing. The truth we hold in our possession is a reason to fear not just for our lives, but for their lives as well. For our potential allies. It is true we do not have certainties; it could be that there is no true threat to us. But, there lies the possibility that all life in our galaxy will find its existence in jeopardy. That is not the common lie. The stakes are not political standing and economic advantage; the stakes are the continuity of civilization. To lie to them here would give them the right to take offense. We seek to build an alliance, scientifically, militarily, but to found that alliance on falsehoods here would be as to build a fortress on a foundation of sand.”

The Cradle

Naturally, Rareth was listening to every word the Humans said, but when they finally looked to her for a response, she was uncharacteristically slow to answer. The whole time they spoke, she had appeared somewhat distracted and frequently glanced off to a holographic screen at her side. “I understand. As I said, the Rahn’Saki wish to speak with you about this. Just give me…one moment…”

Rareth looked off to the side. “Is he ready?” She asked softly, not towards the Humans. An answer seemed to come through, then she finally looked back to the others. “I am going to patch through a secure line to Rothia.”

Rareth stepped back. Unlike almost every other time she had met with the Council, she would not be the one taking the lead in this meeting. Using the Faultless Spear as a relay for the signal, Rareth brought in to the meeting another participant from somewhere on Rothia. Within the virtual space, another Rothian appeared. He was tall, with scales that seemed rather unremarkable by appearance. As opposed to the modern trends of scale patterns portraying complex patterns, and even artwork at times, his scales were simple greens and browns in a natural, camouflaged pattern. Rothians did not age and he was no exception, but between scars and rough scales, he still seemed to wear the marks of many long years on his body. Even for those who could not recognize him by sight, his headdress marked who he was. It resembled a crown of silver bearing an insignia of an arrowhead. It would not take more than a quick search to identify him as Brasikha, one of the most prominent members of the Rahn’Saki. For most Rothians, when one mentioned the Rahn’Saki, it would usually be either he or Roth’Orsa who came to mind. He had earned many titles in his life: the Unifier, the All-Conqueror, the Eternal Guardian, and to any Rothian, meeting him would be like meeting a myth.

From the moment he spoke, Brasikha stood out from any other Rothian they had met. Most prominently, he spoke in a dead, pre-Unification Rothian language that their translators would struggle with. Right away, most of their translators would throw warnings about potential inaccuracies and approximations in their interpretations of his speech. The usual tricks translators used to create more natural conversations would not work with him, so they would still be able to hear his untranslated words faintly in the background, in addition to what the software gave them. “I give apology for any despair wrought by my ubiety, but the determination of the Rahn’Saki is to require our intervention to avoid a dark fate. It is the determination of the Rahn’Saki that a foundation of deceit to alliance in our most vital of circumstance would infect its roots and bring it to crumble, moreso than the banal and expected lie.”

The Cradle

“Nothing more or less than to guarantee the security of ourselves and our allies.” Rareth answered without hesitation. “Our efforts to investigate and address this new threat leads us to Psi-Helios.”

Taranik did her best to complement Rareth’s arguments, while keeping more of a diplomatic attitude. “Naturally, we are not expecting you to give us a final answer here and now. We know you do not even have the authority to unilaterally grant this request on the Tindrel’s behalf. We just want you to be informed, so you can convey the…importance of this request to your superiors.”

“The Rahn’Saki considers this a priority request.” Rareth emphasized. They were words which held weight, considering how rarely they were invoked. A priority request from the Rahn’Saki was not something most diplomats would ever hear, and not something one would ignore.

---

Through the day, the council gave similar requests to all the relevant parties to this decision. It was a demand on short notice for some, but Rareth was sure to thoroughly convey the importance of the meeting to each and every one of them. For the Rahn’Saki to take such direct interest in any matter meant that, whatever the subject was, it would have ramifications across an entire civilization. For them to call upon so many nations at once, simply put, was almost unprecedented. The last time this had happened had been long before the lifetimes of any of the other representatives.

The hour was getting late, but there would be no stopping until this matter was resolved. In the time they had been waiting, Rareth had been on her own calls back to Rothia, though even the other Rothians were not privy to the details of those meetings. It was an hour or so before the meeting was scheduled to begin that she sent a request (or polite demand, more accurately), to the other Outreman representatives to join her in a call. Taranik was the one who sent the request and, in as diplomatic of a way as possible, made sure to be clear that this meeting was not optional.

Rareth had stated before that Taranik would be joining her for negotiations, so her absence in the call was conspicuous. Given that this summit with the other nations was drawing ever closer, Rareth wasted no time in getting to business. “Before we bring this to the other species, the Rahn’Saki want to make sure we are all in clear agreement on how this is going to go.”

The Cradle

“A ‘courtesy’ this may be, but I would advise taking our warning more seriously than some…others are.” Rareth remarked. “It is much better to over-prepare for a minor threat than to under-prepare for a major one.”

Taranik spoke up quickly to steer the conversation towards their most pressing issue. The Outremans were hesitant about giving too much information away. Rareth was going to be negotiating in favor of further disclosure to their allies, but for now, Rareth was being patient enough to wait instead of proceeding without the Outremans' agreement. At the moment, Taranik would only give away some of what they knew. “Indeed, and part of that preparation is why we are contacting you first. We are attempting to get to the heart of this threat before it has a chance to cause any major damage. That investigation, from my understanding, is leading us to a system in which the Tindrel have a presence. Are you familiar with the Psi-Helios system? We require access to that system for the investigation to proceed.”

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

There was a wave of somber reflection that passed over the others. In general terms, their leadership already knew what happened, but to hear it in detail still carried a certain weight. This day had marked many endings, to the point that it would be hard to imagine what this next era for the clans would be like. Since the clans had been united, Meesei had been their Champion, so succession was just another of the challenges they would have to face ahead. But, right now, there was no challenge to Fendros’ claim. Even among the leaders of the other clans that could be present, there was only silent reverence for the accomplishments and sacrifices of those they had lost. Or not-so-silent.

“I can’t think of a more worthy end for the skalds to sing.” Hjergir spoke up. He had fresh scars and a few barely closed wounds. He definitely should have been resting, but was far too stubborn to obey his healers. “A Lizard and a Cat might be strange heroes for Nords to sing, but by Hircine did they have souls worthy for Sovngarde!” He shouted. At the very least, he certainly intended it as praise, and high praise at that.

Saras, of course, had a much more calm and collected response, though he still showed a measure of emotion that was uncommon for him. “Everyone in the valley saw the brilliant flash from the tower. That release of energy nearly reached us at the pass, but fortunately stopped short. Some of us thought it might have been a sign that we had won at first, though as the battle continued, some started to think it might have been the opposite. We only knew for sure once we were brought back to the Hunting Grounds. No one is going to forget what they did for us.”

Eventually, they did have to move on from their reflections. Darahil was the next to speak up. “There has also been another development, since you have been away. It seems some spirits have returned to us. Those that died in the battle still have not manifested in the Hunting Grounds, but others that were lost to us have. The souls that Vile stole in the war, with the soul-tearing gas and any other means, Hircine was able to reclaim them in Vile’s defeat. Some have made their way to our camp. No doubt, there are more than a few reunions happening as we speak.”

The Cradle

“Greetings, Ambassador.” Taranik’Nhet began. She paused a moment, taking in a long breath as she gave one more glance to her notes in front of her. “Unfortunately, as you can probably imagine, it is not good news that is bringing us together right now. Forgive me if we skip some pleasantries, but to avoid keeping you in suspense, I am going to get straight to the business at hand. We have recently become aware of a potential, military threat, not only to our nation, but possibly every nation in our galactic community. Datius Rareth, would you…” Her voice trailed off to become inaudible over the call as she gestured to Rareth.

The Datius stepped forward, serving as more of a “military” presence to state the facts about this threat they were describing. “Last week, Rothian space was attacked by a foe of unknown origin, with unknown capabilities. These ships were operated entirely by artificial lifeforms. They attacked, then self-destructed once disabled. There have been no friendly casualties thusfar, though we believe it likely that these were merely scouts, so the true capabilities of this foe are, as I said, still unknown. As of this moment, they have only been found in Rothian, or unclaimed space, but approach vectors for ships we have detected have placed them as moving towards the territory of other species as well. We have no reason to believe they will restrict their attentions to us.”

Taranik continued right away from where Rareth left off. “We are contacting you now to inform you of this threat, and to invite your people to join in our response to it.”

The Cradle

“You may want to let my people take the lead with negotiations. We have closer ties with both species.” Rareth remarked. In any case, she would be satisfied for them to actually be able to get to work. She already knew that the Rahn’Saki wanted to bring in as many allies as they could. Even she did not know why they had come to that decision, but she did have her guesses. Militarily speaking, the advantage of having more ships and soldiers at their disposal was obvious, even if it did not end up being strictly necessary. Aside from that, making the threat visible to other species would also put them in a position to show that they are willing and able to step up as protectors in the galaxy, if it is necessary.

There was a recess in the meeting as they took the time to reach out to the required participants. Rareth, too, made her own calls. She was comfortable dealing with the Committee herself, but she knew when to take advantage of the expertise of subordinates. She contacted the Rothian ambassador to Outremer, Taranik’Nhet. She had already been kept in the loop to a degree to allow her to assist in negotiations, and Rareth had time to fill her in on what else she needed to know while they were waiting on the other two ambassadors. The ambassadors moved in the same social circles here on Outremer, so Rareth had no issue taking advantage of that familiarity to help make the ambassadors more comfortable.

Taranik’Nhet appeared seated once she logged in to the meeting. She had dark green scales with black stripes, and an altogether much less intimidating demeanor than Rareth. She was a familiar presence, so she would take the lead over Rareth when speaking with the ambassadors. The Datius, of course, would not hesitate to intercede when necessary, and Taranik would ultimately advocate for whatever position Rareth instructed her to take.

The Cradle

“The potential danger posed by these machines far exceeds the economic benefit of a plant. I frankly am not interested in playing these pointless political games.” Rareth responded. Her gaze moved around the room across the meeting’s various participants. The kinds of debates this Committee invited were tedious and frustrating, but if there was one advantage here, it was that not all of them were in agreement. Certainly, some favored action, and if Rareth could deliver a reasonable path to taking that action, she could gain support.

Rareth took in a short, deep breath, followed by a light sigh. “These machines could threaten the Tindrel and Qualian-Vosh just as much as they could for us. If they are threatened as well, then the Rahn’Saki will want to inform them of the risk. They have a right to be able to defend themselves, and we certainly would not mind having the support of as many species as possible in a united defense against this threat. I believe you may be…overthinking your approach to this political situation. We can simply explain our involvement with the truth. We are being guided to Psi-Helios in pursuit of a potential threat to our galaxy’s safety. Our intrusion into this interspecies spat over a plant is pure coincidence. We will be taking no sides, and they need not know in what ways you may or may not have already been watching them. If you are still so concerned about political fallout, then let us take the lead. You can present yourselves as merely being dragged along our warpath in the interest of mutual defense, and my people can deal with the politics later.”

The Cradle

Rareth gave little in her reaction for the others to observe. After Marae and agent Vreta had alerted her to Wallace’s tip, she had received her own report on the situation from the Rahn’Masser. Unfortunately, even they lacked recent information on how the system’s situation had developed. Its location was far from Rothian territory and overall sphere of influence. The only reason they had justification to be involved at all was the presence of the primitives in the system. Pre-FTL civilizations were protected by international treaties from outside interference, even within sovereign territory. Of course, the amount of exceptions and conditions written into those treaties could fill out the space of entire novels. For the Tindrel and Qualian-Vosh, having any presence within the system skirted the edge of the law, but as of yet they had not provably violated it in any meaningful way. On occasion, the Rothian military could send stealth corvettes to carefully observe the situation from far outside any other species’ effective sensor range. They could determine if there were any signs of uncharacteristically advanced technology in too close of proximity to the planet, but their last observation was months ago.

“Bear in mind, we are the ones who would be substantiating the Plenipotentiary’s claim. If we had other, more likely leads, then I would suggest following them. But, as it stands, waiting around here debating on what to do next, as we have been for weeks, will end only with us doing nothing. The forces that may be arrayed against us will keep marching their plans forward regardless of whether or not we do anything to challenge them. I do not know many of you, nor what you value, but I prefer to have some say in my own fate.” She said, pausing a moment as her gaze moved slowly around the virtual room. “Again, I intend to authorize a division of corvettes to scout the system from outside sensor range ahead of our arrival to identify any potential points of danger. They will not be detected by the Tindrel, Qualian-Vosh, nor the natives.”

Halo: Aegis Team

Vael 'Virisusai

---

In the aftermath of the battle, the cannon was left sufficiently destroyed for their purposes. Certainly, it could not fire in its present condition, and while it could be sabotaged further, there was always the possibility that it could be repaired when the Keep was retaken. Shih was confident that she had been able to jam any attempt at communications during the attack, so the way had been cleared for the assault on the Keep. Following Tar’s guidance, they took an alternative path back down the mountain to their vehicles. While it would have been unusable during the storm, the worst of it had already passed. All that remained was comparatively light rain. Even on spectres, it took hours to get to a safe distance, but they were eventually able to extract back to the ship.

---

Vael spoke little to the others in the time before the assault was set to begin, apart from what was necessary. He did spend some time going over the plan for the assault itself. In short, their one and only goal for their attack was to reach the Kaidon himself. There was enough support for the Swords of Sanghelios among the Keep’s population, but they were honor-bound to follow their Kaidon. If he could be deposed and Tar claim the position of Scion, that would grant the citizens an excuse to stand down that would still satisfy their honor. Perhaps there might still be some Covenant zealots that would oppose them, but the battle would essentially be over as soon as the Kaidon fell, so as long as Tar survived. For that reason, their plan was to make a powerful, direct push straight to the Keep itself. They would cut through anything in their way, but they aimed not to fight any more than necessary. The less damage they did and the fewer casualties they inflicted, the stronger the city would be as an ally. Certainly, the plan was risky. If they did not properly secure and defend the territory they captured, then they opened themselves up to be surrounded once they were in the Keep. Should their plan fail and they were unable to depose the Kaidon, they could end up being trapped.

Standing before a wraith in the hangar, Vael observed as a pair of technicians gave it a last check before the battle, as others were with the rest of their vehicles. It would be more than Aegis team participating in this assault, but as Aegis was the spearhead, they had the full choice of how they wanted to proceed in the attack. They would have the choice of Human vehicles that had been brought aboard the Blockade Runner, or of its own stock of vehicles. Any class, from light to heavy armor, was available if they chose.