EliteCommander

Price of Life (EliteCommander and Cath)

“Ah, well, I wouldn’t go that far. I was just saying- hey!” Whatever thoughts were going through Senjen’s mind, Tanto’s sudden strike wiped them away in an instant. A far cry from his usual sparring matches, the attack was like a sucker punch, but even still, Senjen acted almost without thinking. It happened to be that Senjen had practiced against this sort of strike before, and those well-trained reflexes won out over panic. A sidestep while catching the wrist of Tanto’s leading arm, not to try to stop it, but to redirect the momentum. He pushed her swing not only away from hitting him, but also to block off any follow-through from her other baton.

In that position, many might have tried to counterattack in the opening Senjen had forced, but something told him not to. With how quick she moved and how precise she was, she just had to be ready for it. Instead, he took the opportunity to dash out of her reach and get them back to a neutral position. The stance he had adopted, without even thinking about it, was one common to Chekeri martial arts.

Price of Life (EliteCommander and Cath)

Senjen guessed that Rex was just being polite with his warning...hopefully. Tanto talked about some sort of gods he had never heard of, and her attitude did not change just because they were talking more. In fact, it felt like she was trying to be more intimidating. Or maybe that was just how she was naturally? Either way, she was proposing a fight, and despite both Rex’s warning and his own better judgment, he could not help but to feel curious. He would have to be...cautious with this.

“Well, I do tend to enjoy my sparring sessions. There’s always a lot to learn from talented fighters. We would just have to be careful to avoid any actual damage to each other; that wouldn’t be too good for our chances on the job. What do you say?” Senjen asked.

Price of Life (EliteCommander and Cath)

Okaaay, that was not what Senjen had been expecting. Rex was friendly and sociable, but that was no surprised based on their introduction. Tanto had been a mystery, and now, as he was thinking, maybe a little insane. Or maybe it was just an act meant to intimidate? He wondered if any of the other team members were close to her, or if Rex was the only one who was close to her in any respect? Either way, she was the one Senjen still needed to learn about.

Rex was easier to talk to, so it was him who Senjen responded to first. “Okay, I see. So you are someone who would be suited to being a scout and a sniper. Good at operating independently, I take it? And you, uh…” Senjen shifted his attention towards Tanto. He had tried not to show too much of a reaction, but it still took just a moment more for him to collect his thoughts. “...well I suppose I understood from the moment we were introduced what you do. Chekeri martial arts are as efficient as they are elegant. It takes a lot of strength and speed to be able to perform the techniques, but they are excellent for striking while keeping yourself protected. Do you use any of their disciplines?”

Price of Life (EliteCommander and Cath)

Okay, how to go about this? Senjen thought to himself. In retrospect, he probably should have thought a bit more on what to say before he actually came into the engine room. Tanto’s presence was still just as intimidating as he remembered, and given that Rex was the one speaking, he gravitated towards responding to him.

“Oh, no, quite the opposite. I think I’ve hardly seen you around the ship. I’ve taken some time to try to get to know some of the others in the team. You know, trying to learn what to expect from each other for the mission ahead. I suppose I’m just curious what your specialties are...if you don’t mind talking about it?” Senjen asked.

Price of Life (EliteCommander and Cath)

Senjen usually liked the openness of QV, though this time, he was having a surprisingly hard time understanding them. There might have been a metaphor or something he did not pick up on, but the conversation ended a bit awkwardly between them. Regardless, Senjen was glad to get some more context about the job ahead of them.

Senjen gave Light’s gelsuit a pat, vaguely near his back. “I’m sure when we all put our heads together, we’ll be able to handle whatever’s ahead. You need some rest, though. I can keep an eye on our course for a while.”

---

The ship was over halfway to its destination, and by this point, everyone had pretty much accepted the routines they had fallen into. Most everyone, at least. Senjen was a person who liked to mix things up, and so it was when he decided to take a chance on talking to someone he had only spoken a few words to thusfar. Tanto tended to stay in the engine room, along with Rex, and they were both there when he came floating into the doorway. “Hey, uh, how is everything going in here?” He asked, somewhat awkwardly.

Price of Life (EliteCommander and Cath)

“I think our goals do align well.” Senjen asserted. Both of them would still have to go out of their way to some extent to help one another, but not terribly so. At least, as far as he knew for now. “I’m glad for it, too. If all goes well, we’ll be able to help you, and the planet at the same time.”

Senjen was aware that he was making it sound simpler than it was probably going to be, but hopefully he was not completely off the mark. If Lady Trevelyan did not make herself known after their attempts at communication, then he did not expect finding those clues was going to be easy. It probably was not just the planet as a whole that was quarantined; people on the surface would certainly try to isolate the infected as well. This naval college might not be too accessible. “Just keep us updated if she ends up responding once we get close. I have a feeling that your objective is going to take more investigation once we’re on the ground.”

Senjen took a curious glance at Light, wondering if he had said everything he intended to say. Light had seemed all too eager to call Senjen over as soon as he saw him, and he had a feeling it was because Light had been nervous. Maybe now there had been enough time for him to gather his thoughts?

Price of Life (EliteCommander and Cath)

“Hmm, Myrmidon again.” Senjen said, his expression turning to something akin to a frown. “I guess there’s no getting away from the fact that Myrmidon is going to have a large presence on this planet. Still, I really hope to avoid any sort of confrontation with them. Not just because I’m still making payments on this thing, but because that’s not a wise enemy to make. If it ever becomes unavoidable, we should definitely do what we can to avoid being identified.”

Senjen took a moment to bring up the map of the planet for reference to try and find the place HOPE mentioned. He had what was publicly available, at least. “Let’s see...at least it’s outside the city. I’d rather not land anywhere populated. We need to make sure we have somewhere safe on the planet to work from. I don’t suppose you have any sort of subtle way to signal Lady Trevelyan, do you? Or will we need to begin the search ourselves to find her whereabouts?”

Price of Life (EliteCommander and Cath)

Senjen avoided showing his relief too openly. Unlike the QV, he had that luxury. They had not been told previously what the goal of Major’s team was, but Senjen had been quietly worried about what it might be. He had hoped it would not be something too objectionable, and that fortunately seemed to be the case. A rescue mission in exchange for their help: that was something he could get behind. Hopefully this Lady Trevelyan was not infected, but even if she was, finding a cure was the whole point of their job on the planet. Their interests were pretty neatly aligned here, so hopefully that would help things go smoother.

“Well, if you already have an inkling of where she might be, then I suppose that decides where we’re going to land. I don’t think it terribly matters where on the planet we go, as long as Seraphim can study the disease.” Senjen said, though even as he was speaking, he was already thinking about other possibilities. “Though...I imagine the locals are hard at work studying the disease too. It might speed things up to see what kind of progress they’ve made., if that’s possible. Where is it that you would expect to find Lady Trevelyan?”

Price of Life (EliteCommander and Cath)

Senjen was not sure if the answers HOPE gave made him more or less worried about Omega. Clearly, HOPE, and the rest of Major’s team, knew him well. They were content to be aboard a confined space with him, and they would willingly go into danger alongside him. From his impression of them, it felt like they would not be the type, as a whole, to accept having a liability with them. He seemed to have had a rough life, and so had HOPE, for that matter. Maybe that was why they seemed to be a pair? They could relate to one another, and that might have been comforting for the both of them. Still, for an outsider like him, it was even more difficult to associate with someone he could not properly communicate with. Senjen would just have to keep being mindful of what he said or did around him.

HOPE’s own curiosity was a relief to Senjen, as he was not sure what else he should say about Omega in the moment. It was far easier to talk about himself. “Oh, I won’t deny that. Not that Utaysi are really common anywhere, apart from our territory. I’m from Orostro, but I couldn’t be happy staying there. Meeting Light really just started out as a job for me. Protection, keeping him safe. That job got...crazy, to put it mildly. Light was the only one I felt I could trust through any of it, and on Korit, that means something. A lot of something, really. You could end up hating every facet of a person, but if you know you can trust them, then you’ll keep them close in that place, every time. After all was said and done, it just felt right to stick together.” He chuckled for a moment. “You know, I don’t remember if I even asked? I might have just stuck around.”

Price of Life (EliteCommander and Cath)

The transparency and directness that was common to QV was a trait that Senjen found refreshing. If anything, he wondered if he was a bad influence on Light; Senjen’s QV companion did have some unusual tendencies for one of his people. Seeing him now with HOPE for comparison did make that stand out. He tried to hide things that she probably would not. Her past, for one, was a startling one, but she let it in the open. It did make her easier to understand, and in his opinion, easier to approach.

“Well that does sound useful. It makes me think: it wouldn’t be a bad idea for me to get a sense of what you all can do in a fight, in case we get into one. Or at least, to know about unusual abilities like that. Can’t say I’ve ever heard of a gelsuit being able to do that. My frame is shielded, but it’s just meant to protect me.” Senjen said, shrugging slightly.

As for what HOPE described about Omega, Senjen felt a bit like he could relate. Senjen did not dislike space flight, or even cramped spaces, but the allure of the outdoors was far more appealing. He still remembered the ever-growing wildernesses of Orostro. They were steadily overtaking the wastelands, though the terraforming still had a ways to go. “Oh, does he have sensors that can feel through the ship, or something like that. I can imagine the vacuum would be...abrupt. If you don’t mind me asking, does Omega speak, or...well, what is he like? In normal times?”