EliteCommander

The Cradle

“Yes, I just finished my orientation to the ship.” Vreta answered Freyr. He stepped out into the hall out of the meeting room, though he stopped where he was until he knew for sure where he would be going next. “I had a meeting with the XO and gave him some starting advice on how to prepare the crew for Rothia. Customs always goes so much smoother when no one complains about the required medical treatments. I’m sure I’ll have plenty more to talk about with him before the trip is up, but I gave him plenty to do for now.”

“I know you’re on your way to the Captain, but perhaps after that, we might be able to finally get a meeting together?” Vreta continued. “Before the world around me started to turn into a living nightmare, I was going to suggest that we start laying the groundwork for how we are going to coordinate this venture. It would be best if we have a good understanding, beforehand, of how we are going to organize the Rothian and Human science teams. Would you like for us to meet somewhere?”

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

For Meesei, it did seem that the majority of her pack did favor advancing, and it was not without reason. There was uncertainty ahead, but they had gained a major advantage. The longer they waited to act on it, the more time their enemy would have to respond to it. Meesei could not deny Ahnasha’s logic in that. If the titan could be killed quickly by their enemy, it could be disastrous, but ultimately, there could never be any guarantees in battle, and Meesei had to make a decision.

“Then we move forward. Leave enough healers to stabilize the wounded we can save, but they should rejoin us as soon as they can. We will press on, and when we find the enemy, Ahnasha will send forward the titan to break through. All that matters is reaching the tower. Once we are there, once we stop Vile, all of us will be removed from this realm. Our soldiers don’t need to worry about retreating, just surviving until that point. Now, let’s hurry.” Meesei ordered.

Many of their warriors, regardless of the army of origin, were growing tired from the constant fighting. However, with their final goal so close ahead of them, it was hard to say that their warriors were not emboldened. They just had one more fight ahead of them. As they finally moved out of the pass, their ranks spread outward to accommodate the larger battlefield before them, and their remaining Senche cavalry formed up on their left and right flanks.

There were still mountains on their right flank, but the field opened up considerably to their front and left. They were on the side of the hill leading up to the mountain, with the path down and to their left leading down to the main battlefield of the valley below and the rear flank of the Daedric hordes. Straight ahead, on the other side of the open field, was a narrower path leading up to the tower: their final objective. And behind them were the Daedra that had retreated down from the pass, bolstered by some reinforcements from the main battlefield. Already, the numbers of the Daedra in front of them were about double that of their remaining force from the pass, and Meesei did not doubt there would be more Daedra to come from the battlefield below. However, there was nothing unique or surprising about the composition of the Daedric force. It was still mostly Skaafin, with a collection of some other Daedra. There were no new titans or other massive creatures, nor any siege weapons that were in place to be used against them. This attack could still work.

“Ahnasha, do it. We need to hurry if we are going to break through.” Meesei said, giving the order that Ahnasha had gladly been waiting for. With a smile and a simple thought, Ahnasha sent the titan flying fast and low overhead, cutting through the very center of the Daedric formation ahead with cold flames, from the first rank to the last. There was little need for any clearer of a signal to attack.

Meesei glanced back quickly to the rest of her pack, as well as Sabine’s. “Everyone, stick close and fight together. No matter what happens, we need to make sure that we can break through and make it up to the tower.”

The Cradle

While Vreta did make sure to convey that there would be more to talk about, Vreta ended his meeting with the Lieutenant Commander to let him start work on preparing for what he had already told him. Based on Human FTL capabilities, it would be about two weeks before they arrived, in any case, so there was plenty of time for Vreta to fulfill his responsibilities.

Vreta did feel that his nerves were starting to calm after his most recent incident with the Cradle, if only because he knew that he was going to be light years away from the accursed place soon enough. He just hoped that whatever they ended up finding on Rothia ended up being nothing similar. Though, with the research expedition on his mind, his thoughts went back to his meeting that had been interrupted in the Cradle. In terms of his official role in the expedition, he had wanted to talk to Dr. Lang to make sure they could set the groundwork for an effective, cooperative effort with Rothian scientists. His meeting with the Lieutenant Commander had taken long enough that he supposed she would likely be on board by now. With a quick thought, Vreta decided to make another call to Dr. Lang.

The Cradle

As Vreta’s dropship neared the dockyards, he saw the ship that he would be boarding. It stood out among most of the other vessels, and even other Human warships in orbit. Vreta had done a quick search about the ship, and based on publicly-available information, it seemed to be a part of a new generation of warship for the Humans with their latest and greatest technology. Aesthetically, it even bore some similarities to Rothian ships, and he could not help but to wonder if that was intentional? After all, Rothian warships were unquestionably the most powerful in the galaxy, and there could be some psychological benefit to that association.

Given his position, the screening he went through in the dockyards themselves did not take nearly as long as customs on civilian stations, and he was brought on-board within minutes. As a high-profile guest on their ship, Vreta was greeted on the other side of the airlock by the ship’s executive officer, one Lieutenant Commander Douglass. With how massive of a ship it was, a full tour would be rather impractical, but Vreta was given a map of the areas he was permitted to go, as well as an explanation of the rules he was expected to follow.

Vreta might have wanted to rest after the scare he had received in the Cradle, but he decided it would be best to get straight to doing his job while he had the chance. He sat down with the Lieutenant Commander and briefed him on everything he and his crew should start preparing for regarding their arrival on Rothia. Vreta made sure they understood several of the more non-negotiable aspects of visiting Rothia. Anyone who would set foot on either Rothia, or a Rothian ship, would need to be prepared to accept that surveillance would be constant, so there would never be a point where anyone, Rothian or Human, would not be watched. Additionally, in order to set foot on the planet, any Human would be required to receive the same kind of medical treatment mandated to human tourists to give them sufficient resistance to the high-energy radiation on Rothia, or else sign a rather comprehensive legal waiver. There was, of course, much more advice for Vreta to give, but he decided it best to get matters that would affect the whole crew out of the way first.

The Cradle

The return from the Cradle was as much of a relief this time as it had been after the event months ago. During the time spent waiting and advising from a distance, he had almost forgotten how much he hated that damned place, but it seemed that the Cradle had saw fit to remind him of that fact. Truly, he wanted to avoid entering it at any cost, by this point.

While he had been given soldiers to escort him in the Cradle, he would not be keeping a full armed guard for his entire stay with the Humans. The context of his assignment to their team made a repeat of the last incident quite unlikely. Nevertheless, he had improved his capability to defend himself. He would be wearing a shield unit at all times, and as soon as he had boarded the Rothian dropship awaiting him at the embassy, he was able to arm himself with a proper Rothian sidearm.

The flight into orbit was a short one, and unlike the other times he had went to and from Outremer, his transfer through customs was also a quick and efficient affair. Given that he was associated with an expedition of great importance to Outremer’s government, his ship was also tagged with the appropriate priority. The orbital dockyards his dropship approached were massive, military stations that serviced equally massive warships. Other, smaller patrol vessels constantly meandered between larger battleships, carriers, and orbital defense platforms. Outremer was among the most well-defended planets that Humanity possessed, and they made sure to show that fact as clearly as possible.

The Cradle

The Rothians were slow and methodical when moving, but there was only so much they could do to spot danger when the ground itself was a threat. When Vreta made a step from the sidewalk into the street to cross, he at first thought that he had tripped over something, but it was a thorny vine that had gripped his ankle, pulling him to the ground. Still, even as he fell, he shouted out a warning to the others. “On me!”

The soldiers were fast to react. All their squad leader needed to do was to shout a name, and that soldier immediately knelt down to assist while the rest provided cover. The vines tried to entangle and constrict Vreta, but the soldier’s sharp, powerful claws ripped them up from the ground and allowed him to scramble to his feet.

At the same time, the soldiers covering found themselves facing down unknown, and seemingly impossible beings rising up from the ground itself. That indistinct organic matter they had been passing by pooled almost like a liquid until it formed into a mostly humanoid, but otherwise featureless shapes. The squad leader had no reason to hesitate. “Open fire!”

Their weapons might not have been as powerful as what they were accustomed to, but they were at least still effective against the adversaries in front of them. The shots melted through the organic bodies, blasting holes through them and even removing limbs. Each of the squad members covered a different angle to hold them back. They were ready to shift their focus if any of the soldiers called for aid, though given that they were surrounded, all of them had a job to do.

“What’s your status?” One of the Rothian soldiers asked as she helped Vreta to his feet, to which he answered quickly and clearly.

“Just lacerations. I can walk. Move quick and get out of…” Vreta began, but in a quick flash of light, everything changed. In an instant, there were no vines covering the ground, nor organic monstrosities. The lights were bright, and the city around them was just…a city. Vreta’s ankle still bled, but otherwise it was as if nothing had happened. “…here. We’re still leaving.” He commented.

Vreta answered Freyr right away when she contacted him, though with his words far more hurried. “Yes, and I am leaving the Cradle. I suggest you do the same. I am going to go to the port you mentioned. I will likely spend the rest of my time at the ship until we leave.”

The Cradle

“That is my plan. Not every Rothian is so…accustomed to the differences between our people and yours, so we have always found it helpful to…” Vreta began answering to Freyr, but he was cut off by his communications, as well as many of the lights around him, going dark. His guards all raised their weapons, and Vreta himself drew his pistol. There were other Humans around them in the building, of course, but once they became able to see once more, it would be hard to say their defensive response was not justified.

What appeared to be vines, plants, and other indistinct organic matter seemed to appear out of nowhere, covering the walls and floor. For a moment, the Rothians were silent and still, each of them scanning separate angles. Vreta had no information on what was happening, if it was a new development in the Cradle, or if it was somehow normal. However, one thing that was certain was that he was not going to wait around to investigate.

“We are leaving. Stay close.” Vreta announced in a calm, focused tone. They had not strayed far from the transit station, so it would not be a long walk back. Though, each and every step made Vreta more and more unnerved. The feel of vines touching the scales on the bottom of his feet seemed, ironically, unnatural given his surroundings. They all walked together in a tight formation, straight out the door they had entered through. Between each of the soldiers, they had full vision on their surroundings to avoid being caught off-guard. Even the floor itself Vreta did not trust, and he was watching it as if it were an enemy combatant.

The Cradle

While not a terribly large city, this place, New Antioch, did seem far more civilized than the other parts of the Cradle Vreta had seen. It was not his first time coming here, as there had been more than a few meetings in the city back when he was still undercover. Truthfully, it did not look too different from the last time he had been here, based on his brief glimpse of the city from walking across the street outside the transit station. Although, he supposed that, out of anywhere in the Cradle, New Antioch would be among the last places to be affected if the troubles he had witnessed months before were indeed getting worse.

In any case, it did not take long for Vreta to be connected in a call to Human Science Director for their expedition on Rothia. It was a slight surprise to him that he recognized the name, though he supposed it should not have been too much of one. Dr. Lang was, after all, one of the foremost experts on the Cradle. Given how the Director-General had stormed out of that meeting months prior, he felt sure that the Humans had expended nearly every other option they had before going back to making a deal with them. The lead on Rothia was likely the best they had remaining, so it made sense to send their best to pursue it.

“Hello, Freyr. It is good to speak to you again.” Vreta greeted her, keeping an openly friendly tone. “I can come to you, if you feel I should. Though…I will admit, I still feel unnerved being in this place, after what happened. But yes, that is why I am here. I have been appointed as the Rothian liaison to the Human expedition members. I came to introduce myself to the Director, but it seems I took care of that a few months ago. It also seems that you are going to be getting the opportunity to visit my people’s homeworld.”

The Cradle

In the aftermath of their meeting with the Director-General, Vreta did not spend much more time on Outremer. He stayed long enough to cover his tracks, as well as to deal with some matters for the corporation he was representing and keep up his cover story. However, he eventually returned to Rothia after less than a week for the official reason of safety, given that he was the target of a supposed terrorist attack. From there, he continued in an advisory position regarding the situation on Outremer.

The approach of the Rahn’Masser in the months that followed was one of patience, on Vreta’s own advice. They took no further risks with trying to learn what the Humans were keeping hidden, and instead simply monitored the situation through publicly-available means. The fact that the Cradle was heavily locked-down by the Outremer government was essentially confirmation that the event Vreta witnessed was not an isolated one. There was even a growing sentiment of concern and confusion from Outremer’s citizens on their government’s sudden and drastic reversal of policy in regards to the Cradle. Frequent, rolling power outages across Outremer’s infrastructure also spoke to persistent issues within the Cradle. The Rothians could not know the details from the outside, but from their perspective, they did not need to. They just needed to wait long enough for desperation to set in. They did, in the meantime, attempt to search for whatever it was the creature in the Cradle had supposedly tried to contact on Rothia, but without any information on where or what it was they were looking for, finding it in any quick time was only a remote possibility.

Eventually, the months of waiting were rewarded. Vreta himself was not involved in the negotiations, but the agreement the Rothian government reached with Outremer gave them a satisfactory degree of cooperation in the investigation. With the information they were given, they quickly began to assemble a research team, mobilize soldiers for security roles, and gather ample resources to assist the investigation. For Vreta himself, he finally had a direct part to play once more. Officially, he had retired from his position at the Zuraxi’Synkuur corporation and had taken a position as a government contractor in its place. He had been appointed as the Rothian liaison to the Human half of the task force that was quickly forming. Given his specific experience with both Humanity and the Cradle, as well as his skillset, he was the natural choice for both official and unofficial purposes.

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Vreta could not say he was thrilled about the prospect of logging in to the Cradle once again, but at least this time he was in more control of the situation. For one, he had his own pistol at his side, as well as a retinue of armed and armored Rothian soldiers at his side. Human entry harnesses still could not simulate Rothian technology, so their arms and armor were all of Human origin, adapted to their bodies, but at least he was not so defenseless. However, the main reason he felt comfortable entering this nightmare of a simulation was that he would not be wandering more than a city block away from the transit station. He went to the CraSec outpost just next to his entry point, sent word to the Director of the Human contribution to the expedition, and stayed put exactly where he was to wait for their arrival.

The Cradle

The Rothian delegation had, of course, prepared and discussed ahead of time many different possible outcomes for how the meeting might go, but since they had not known exactly what matter the Humans intended to bring to them that day, they were caught somewhat by surprise by how quickly the Director-General’s approach turned on its head. To the Ambassador, it was quite frankly…confusing that he would storm out of negotiations so quickly. Nevertheless, none of the Rothians made it particularly obvious that they had been caught off-guard. Vreta remained silent and chuckled slightly, while the Ambassador simply gestured towards the door. “Very well. If you have no further desire to negotiate, you may leave. And should you have any specific requests for Rothian corporations or other entities, you may submit them through the proper channels of their legal departments.”

Naturally, the Rothians offered no resistance to allowing the Humans to leave. They had little reason to bend, even in the face of such seemingly stubborn opposition. Their people could handle any potential economic impacts of these events far better than Outremer, and that was not even to mention what was happening in the Cradle.

The Rothian representatives ensured that the Humans had fully departed before continuing to speak among themselves. “Well that was…quite unprecedented.” Counselor Joll remarked.

“It was easy to see that their normal representatives were not in control.” The Ambassador commented. “I am doubtful their Director-General had much diplomatic experience; he was a rather poor negotiator. I was still willing to make at least some concessions after my initial offer. At least before he stormed out.”

Vreta nodded in agreement. “I would not worry too much about them. This is just a game of patience, now. If what I saw in the Cradle yesterday was anything to go by, this will only get worse for them. We just have to be ready to step in at the appropriate time.”