DeWinter interlinked her fingers and looked gravely at the gathered congregation. “It deeply concerns us that we’d be risking it all on this entity’s plan when it may not work. What if it disappears with the Cradle and this Hegemon still attacks us? You will know already that most of our military and our defensive infrastructure is coordinated indirectly through New Antioch. There is a good reason that - the Cradle has limitless computing power and is essentially impregnable. It means we’ve been punching above our weight for centuries.”

DeWinter reached for a glass of water and looked at someone off camera. Lord Hale took over from her. His voice was storied and gravelly. “That’s correct. And it pains me to say this, but without the Cradle, we will be reliant on Human instinct for months while we rebuild our entire system. Any hope of an optimised resistance against this unknown enemy will be thrown into complete disarray. Our Navy is one of the finest in the galaxy, but without the Cradle, our response will be scrappy and inefficient to start with, at best. We cannot risk it.”

DeWinter nodded, placing the glass back down again. “Dr Lang, is there any way we can [b]keep[/b] the Cradle in position on Outremer if we do return this creature to it?” Freyr blinked rapidly and sat up in her seat; she was starting to feel the strain of 36 hours with no sleep. “It’s hard to say, Madame President. We do not know the Cradle’s corporeal capabilities.” She thought for a moment, well aware of all the eyes on her. “It is possible we could convince this entity to stay with us if we agree to, um, join its cause. But we have to consider its other ‘comrades’ as well; something tells me it won't be well disposed to us if we don't retrieve them too.”