EliteCommander

The Cradle

“A gateway can link to any other gateway of the same class. It should be no trouble to send the science team through just ahead of the object.” Roth’Orsa answered Freyr without actually looking at her.

With their agreement having been essentially reached, there was nothing else earthshattering to discuss for the remainder of the meeting. There were a few matters that they discussed, mostly involving setting up a tentative schedule for meetings between certain important individuals to iron out the more minute details of their cooperation. For that, Roth’Orsa finally started to allow the other Rothian leaders to speak for themselves.

When the last of the screens finally went dark and the Rothian representatives started to take their leave, Vreta finally felt he could breathe a sigh of relief. All-in-all, everything went mostly as well as he could have hoped. They finally had official terms for full cooperation on this project, and not a moment too soon, in his mind. With everything they had learned about these objects and potential threats ahead, they could not afford to be tearing each other apart.

Vreta expected Roth’Orsa to take her leave quickly, but instead of heading back through the doors, she and her guards instead got up and started moving across the room…straight in his direction. At first, he wondered if there was something the Rahn’Saki wanted of him, but it only took a few moments for him to realize that it was not he who she had her eyes on. He was sitting next to Freyr, and it was she who Roth’Orsa was approaching. “Dr. Freyr Lang. We would speak to you. In private.”

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Despite everything that had happened to her, and everything she had managed to do to Sabine past the point of her own doom, Arinette still tried with her last breath to form another spell through the crystal. However, Sabine’s spellfire tore apart the last shred of whatever was keeping her together. The backlash of power through the crystal turned her arm to ash, and left the rest of her body mangled and burned. The dim aura that marked the Breton as a spirit finally faded, leaving behind nothing but a body that was hardly even recognizable.

For a brief moment, Sabine just had the pain that Arinette had managed to inflict upon her. The thorns that had managed to find their way to her flesh had done what damage they could. However, that ended shortly after a large hand came to rest on her shoulder. It was the oversized paw of a werewolf, plated in dragonbone, and through it came a surge of healing magic to rid of anything that remained of Arinette’s last attack against her. “It’s alright. You won. She’s gone.” Meesei said softly.

Ahnasha hoped her pack would forgive her the fact that she did not immediately rejoin the fray. As soon as her spell was cast, she fell to her hands and knees in the center of their formation, gasping for breath. Her hands shakily went to her satchel for her supply of potions. First it was the titan, and now this mass reanimation spell. This battle was continually pushing her to her limits, then beyond them. However, with the undead now bolstering the pack’s numbers, the Daedra could no longer surround them so easily. On every flank, her friends were not only holding their own, but starting to push back.

Unfortunately, the outlook for the battle as a whole still was not fantastic. Their allies, both lycan and Dominion soldier alike, had fought exceptionally well. Far better than anyone could have reasonably expected of them. But, they were still reaching their limits. The wave of Daedric reinforcements from the main battlefield down in the valley had finally stopped, but those that were here now still significantly outnumbered the pack’s allies. The wall of Daedra between the Champion’s pack and the rest of their allies had only grown larger as they had been pushed back. Their lines were still holding, but they had taken losses, and it looked like the Daedra might overrun them entirely soon enough.

With Ahnasha’s undead to help occupy the enemy for a time, it was possible that Meesei’s pack could make a run for the tower. Although, if their allies did not hold out for long enough, the horde of Daedra could end up giving chase quickly enough to overwhelm them. If they stayed, there was still the possibility, even if it was unlikely, that they could do enough damage for their allies to win this fight, and hopefully have enough of their numbers left over to effectively watch their back.

The choice did seem to be a difficult one to make, if it was forced upon the pack. However, there was something else in the distance. It might have been difficult to notice at first, but the sounds of hoof beats echoing between the mountains only grew louder as time passed. In the distance, behind the Daedra, and behind even their own allies, the pack might have been able to make out figures cresting the hill from the pass. Dominion cavalry, riding in on a mix of physical and ethereal mounts. Running alongside them was an entire company’s worth of transformed lycanthropes. Werewolves, werelions, wereboars, and even werevultures above. And at the very front of the formation, riding upon a horse adorned in fine Elven armor, was a familiar Cathay Khajiit in ebony armor, pointing forward an Akaviri katana.

The Cradle

“Our recommendation is to evacuate. Decisions regarding your people are certainly yours; we can only give our suggestions. Just know that, should you decide to evacuate, you will have our full support and assistance in that task.” Roth’Orsa commented before, as requested, moving on to her next point without delay. “The Rahn’Saki have only one other point to address. The terms of our deal stipulate that we do not demand your secrets regarding the Cradle. We do honor our agreement, but we do still ask for any data you might share. Any information you are willing to give may improve our response, and may save Human lives. We recommend that you take the time to discuss among yourselves what you are willing to share before the device arrives at Outremer.”

With just a thought, Roth’Orsa pushed holographic copies of a surprisingly detailed estimated timeline of the excavation ahead of them to everyone in attendance. “You should expect our gateway to arrive at Outremer in just over a week. By the time our gateway reaches you, the gateway around the device should be assembled and ready. We will be able to transport the device as soon as you are ready, at that point.”

The Cradle

Vreta simply sighed and let out a huff through his nostrils. He had not been expecting her to be forthcoming. Though, he did pay attention to what she did not say. Not only did she not reveal what the being said, she also did not give her opinion on their present plan of action. She made no argument either against, or in agreement with what they were doing. It was little for him to go on, granted, but it did make him suspicious.

Regardless, the Human representatives returned suddenly to the meeting shortly afterwards. Most of those in attendance had to quickly get back to their seats, but of course, Roth’Orsa was still waiting exactly where she had been sitting in patient silence. When they revealed that they were essentially accepting the terms, she simply moved on to answering their question without skipping a beat. “Yes, while we should not delay in pushing forward with out plan, we should also establish contingencies. In the event that the being does not do as it claimed, for any reason, we should be ready to react. We should prepare observation equipment to monitor every step of the process, in and out of the simulation. We would also recommend moving civilians a safe distance away from the Cradle itself.”

The Cradle

Pretty much as expected, Vreta maintained his calm. He shrugged off the Agent’s irritation, and similarly shrugged off the answers she gave to Freyr’s questions. By Vreta’s reckoning, 595’s career was not likely to be too dissimilar to his own, so he knew well that no answer she gave about herself would be trustworthy. It whatever she said was not a fabrication outright, it was probably active disinformation. He felt he gained more insight in the recording of how she behaved in the simulation. Still, it could not hurt to see what answers she would give to certain questions, even if her honesty could not be trusted.

“I don’t think any part of me was expecting a straight answer to that one.” Vreta chuckled, looking down on the Agent. “Maybe there is something you can share, though? Despite my worries, I do actually think we will still be working together after this. It’s the only sensible choice for your people to make, so I would like to keep up that spirit of cooperation. That being in the simulation, what do you make of it? Freyr does have a point; we don’t really know if we can trust it. I saw on the recording that it leaned in close and spoke to you. What did it say? Do you think we’re doing the right thing here by bringing it to your world?”

The Cradle

Vreta crossed his arms and stared ahead blankly for a few moments in thought, before soon turning his head back to Freyr and nodding briefly. “I think you might be right. We really don’t have any guarantees. I’ve seen Rareth’s recording of what happened, most of it, from start to finish. I skipped a lot of the walking, but I’ve viewed the major events. In most circumstances, I would want to do a lot more investigating before committing to a decision.”

For a moment, Vreta looked back and observed Roth’Orsa. He still could not get over how…strange she was. Even now, while most of the others were stretching their legs and talking among themselves, Roth’Orsa was still just sitting in her seat, staring blankly ahead in waiting of the meeting to reconvene. Regardless, her eccentricity did nothing to lessen his opinion of her. “I don’t think we are the only ones who think this way, though. I’ve noticed how Roth’Orsa speaks about the being; always qualifying her statements. ‘If what is says is true. If it is being honest.’ I don’t think the Rahn’Saki just trust it outright. But, we’re not in a position to be waiting around. We may lose out on the option of its help if we delay too long. Choosing to trust it is probably just the most likely path towards the best outcome, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the Rahn’Saki do try to take some precautions, just in case. There will be some time before we can get the device to Outremer that they can spend preparing.”

Eventually, Vreta did turn his attention to Agent 595. He paced around briefly until he was behind her, then gave Freyr a look of concern. Granted, her behavior was consistent with the personality they had always seen from her, but after what he had seen in the recordings, he could not help but to think that it might be worse than she was letting on. Walking up alongside her, he placed his hand gently upon her shoulder. “I would not be so cavalier with your health, Agent. Anything could have happened to you when you disappeared. If you want, I could talk to some people and get you set up with a full brain scan on our best equipment. If something left behind any damage, we might be able to help you.”

The Cradle

Vreta breathed a short laugh through his nostrils for just a moment, looking down towards the floor. “I know I…usually have the answers to these sorts of question. It is my job, after all. Clearing up misunderstandings, explaining Rothian customs, expectations. But, uh, well…I haven’t the faintest idea this time. This is all so wildly unprecedented. I don’t think I can understate that fact. The Rahn’Saki have never taken care of diplomacy themselves, and that offer they made…I never would have thought I would see one like it.”

For a moment, Vreta stopped and took in a breath. He had finally been able to voice his surprise, so he tried to think of what he could say that would be helpful. “One thing, I suppose, I can say about the Rahn’Saki is that they are not liars. Every deal, every agreement they have committed the Rothian people to, they have honored. This offer is real, and I think your leaders would be insane to deny it. But, your leaders have to know that no species in their right minds would take a backseat to a matter of their own survival. It is a generous offer just for an equal partnership, and I hope your leaders see the wisdom in accepting it. I truly hope they accept it, because if they don’t…well, there is no outcome here where the Rahn’Saki surrender our fate to Outremer’s government.”

The Cradle

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The Cradle

Despite the fact that the only one among the Rothians aside from Roth’Orsa to speak had been Nirann, most of the Rothian leadership already looked to be exhausted of the meeting. The revelations that she had brought forward and the offers the Rahn’Saki had made had certainly left them with a lot to process. There was, perhaps, some lingering awkwardness between certain Rothians and the Humans in the room. All of those who had been considered disrespectful towards the Rahn’Saki had been speaking remotely from Outremer, but not all of the offended made a distinction between them, and those in the room with them. For Vreta, he could not say he was terribly thrilled about that fact. His job was to smooth over relations between the two teams, and he felt like he was going to end up having a lot more work after all of this. Provided this meeting ended up securing their overall cooperation, of course.

Vreta was near enough to Freyr that it took just a short few steps once he stood to join alongside her and 595. He kept a respectful distance, especially from the Agent, and mostly focused his attention on Freyr. “And how are you holding up, Freyr? I feel like they just threw quite a lot at all of us. I’m sorry the negotiations got so…personal to you. I, well…I wish you didn’t have to go through that in front of everyone.”

The Cradle

“To prevent this being from reaching the Cradle would certainly not be our intention. Quite the opposite, in fact.” Roth’Orsa replied. The apparent disrespect and accusatory words of the Humans towards he Rahn’Saki drew the ire of more than a few Rothians present. The Grand Admiral, in particular, snarled at the Director-General. Again, though, it took only a gesture from Roth’Orsa to calm them.

“Our history of diplomacy speaks for itself, President. In this crisis, the civilizations of our galaxy may well need to cooperate on a level hitherto unprecedented since any of our species have known one another. If the threat is real, and if it is as powerful as the being implied, we may all need the help of one another. To that end, the Rahn’Saki shall be calling upon a summit of all governments of spacefaring nations known to us. There, we will explain everything that has happened, what it could mean for our future, and we will be offering an agreement. As stated before, this agreement will not demand you relinquish your secrets, only that all signatory entities be granted equal access and inclusion into the process of resolving this crisis until its conclusion. At that point, if the Cradle’s creators have not reclaimed control of it, you will retain control of the Cradle. And this agreement, we should say, comes with the full support of the Rahn’Saki. If the Hegemon threatens your world, you will have the protection of the one fleet more powerful than your own. If your people suffer, if they have to evacuate, we will house and support your refugees. If the threat of the Hegemon is severe enough, we will arm you and your ships with modern Rothian weapons with which to fight them. That is the kind of support we are offering.”

Most of the Rothians had already been silent to allow Roth’Orsa to speak, but now they were stunned to hear the offer she had put on the table. To provide aid, or outdated Rothian technology, was one thing, but to offer to arm another species with advanced Rothian weaponry seemed like such an absurdity that even the highest-ranking Rothian officials never would have imagined it. The Humans especially, after centuries of diplomacy with the Rothians, would likely be even more shocked. “With the kind of cooperation we are offering, you know as well as us, President DeWinter, that anything less than a full partnership is frankly an insult. It is the most generous offer we have ever made your people. Take some time to discuss if you like, but everyone necessary to make this decision is present in this meeting. It is a…diplomatic priority for our peoples to become partners in this crisis.”