EliteCommander

The Cradle

Nirann may no longer have been connected directly to the rig’s systems, but he could still use a console like anyone else. He rushed over to the nearest still-functioning console and used his emergency overrides to get control over whatever functionality was left. As far as he was concerned, the anti-grav thrusters were the only system that actually mattered at the moment, so he shifted power from everything else to keep them going as long as possible. The rig’s fall slowed dramatically, but it was only a temporary solution.

“The rig doesn’t matter!” Nirann shouted. “We’re not in the jamming field this far out, and the transit stations will work without the rig. I have the data we’ve been analyzing in my memory, so as long as we get out of here alive, we can salvage this mission.”

“He’s right, we need to evacuate!” Marae said as she started to move towards the exit.

---

Rhia saw it coming before Vreta did. He did not question her when she warned him to yank his cables immediately, which did at least save him from being pulled from his feet. Though, that was far from the end of their problems. The rig was coming closer to slipping off of the mountain entirely; if those inside had not already evacuated, they needed to do so as soon as possible.

Vreta leaped forward, his thrusters helping him to close the gap to 595. Fortunately, the rig’s slip into the abyss did start to slow, which gave Vreta the chance to catch up to her. As quickly as he could, Vreta tried to help her get the transit station off her back, and get her back up to her feet.

Despite the growing chaos around them, the screeching from above them could still be heard louder and louder as the creatures dove downwards. Vreta raised his rifle up towards the sky, but soon found his line-of-sight blocked by a bright, red-orange glow that filled the air above them. The moment the threat had shown itself, Eti and her team had turned back to assist. Eti and Kelest had switched to the plasma thrower firing mode of their weapons, allowing them to protect them with an umbrella of superheated plasma.

The Cradle

Between the voice, the strange sounds, and the deafening crash, Eti had a rather rapid change of heart regarding her plan. “On second thought, screw caution. Best speed forward, follow my lead!” Eti shouted. Her armor’s thrusters deployed, both on her back, and the back of her legs. She leaned forward and sprinted forward into a thruster-assisted leap forward. She did not know entirely 595’s capabilities, but she seemed to be aware of the fact that she could at least keep up in theory. Mar, Kelest, and Vreta were all quick to follow suit. Vreta himself was slower than the soldiers, particularly as he was carrying their transit station, but the soldiers made sure not to outpace him by too much.

---

Marae tried to check the rig’s systems to figure out Nirann’s status, but she had no more luck using the consoles than Freyr did. “I…don’t’ know. Something’s disrupting, well…everything. Nirann! Are you alright? What’s happening?”

At first, there was no answer. Consoles continued to flicker, and after a few moments, the room darkened as it switched to emergency lighting. However, the slight red glow of the eyes of Nirann’s droid body soon pierced through the shadows as he regained control of his frame. “Present! I’m fine, just a…minor near-death experience. Something’s draining the rig’s power, and it was taking mine too…somehow. I had to cut myself off from the rig, so I don’t have control anymore. I, uh, suggest we grab the mobile transit stations and make ourselves scarce.”

The Cradle

There were many questions that Rareth could, and certainly would ask in time about this situation. They would have to find out who could be in position to perform a cyberattack in their system, but first, they needed to respond to and deal with it. Any questions could wait.

Disconnecting those in the simulation forcefully was not an option, so they needed to respond to the attack itself. Rareth did not wait for the Captain to reach the bridge before contacting her. “The harnesses do not require a connection to your ship’s mainframe to function, yes? Disconnect them from your ship’s storage drives and there will be nothing connected to the network for this attacker to access. The harnesses on the FOB are on a closed system already, but I will send word to warn them as well not to allow access to any outside networks.”

---

Vreta wasted no time in helping 595 up to her feet. His worries only grew when he realized they did not have contact with the rig at the moment. The cables leading back to it could have taken some damage while they were unconscious. Though still somewhat disoriented, Vreta finally released 595’s hand, gripped his weapon, and turned back towards the temple’s exit. “I don’t know, but let’s hurry. We get back to the rig, get back to the real world, then we can talk about it.”

Without hesitation, Eti’s team once again took up formation surrounding the pair of them. “Stay between us, and move cautiously. We need to get back quick, but let’s still try to avoid drawing attention if we can help it.”

The Cradle

Vreta took in a long, deep breath, now that he had the lungs to do so. The change was dramatic, and it took a moment for his mind to come to terms with it. Rhia was already double checking her connections to his implant network and running diagnostics, but Vreta simply had to regain his bearings.

For now, the last moments of the memory were burned into his mind. Death and devastation, panic and fear, and only a sliver of hope. He had, as far as he could tell, experienced a glimpse into the life of another. It was a strange experience, as he was still “himself”, but his mind believed the reality placed before him. He was the Senator, for those few minutes. He saw the Hegemon descending upon their world with no concern for any resistance they put forward, until something from above pulled its attention.

Vreta felt like he could spend weeks trying to sort through everything he had experienced, but Rhia urged him after only moments to get back up to his feet. Eti and her team were doing the same, and with good reason. Regardless of what they had experienced, they were still in the middle of the ruined temple now, so they would not be safe. He looked around frantically for 595 for a few moments, until he realized that he was still holding her hand. “Agent, are you awake? Can you move? We need to go.”

The Cradle

The decisions before Vreta were none he had ever hoped to have to make. It was a nightmare scenario, and he only wished there was something to wake him up. Still, he had his duty, and it fell unto him to make the hard choices that needed to be made. There would be no miracle solution, no victory, and all he could hope for was that his choice would allow enough people to live on to hate him for it.

“The generation vessel set to depart next month, Perseverance? Have your soldiers seize it. Embark as many as we can onto it; prioritize science and military personnel, and skilled specialists. If it reaches capacity, remove any non-qualifying civilians if you have to. Give the vessel standing orders to depart for its destination in an hour, or if the invaders get within half an ocean of it. Whether we’re there or not.” Vreta ordered. The vessel was currently docked in port halfway across the planet, and it was owned and staffed by a private company. However, with death looming over their entire species, Vreta no longer gave respect to the concept of legality.

Despite his orders being nothing short of criminal, Vreta had no hesitation in giving them. “One of our colonies, Resolution, has a generation vessel ready as well, yes? Send word that they are to do the same. General, I need your forces to continue throwing everything they have at the invader. We will need as much time as they can buy us. After the vessels have launched, everyone left alive should go into hiding wherever they can. Now, let’s move.”

The Cradle

While he normally would be more attentive, Vreta did not notice what was happening behind him. How could he when the behemoth object looming overhead so strongly demanded his gaze? Vreta had never seen such a thing before, but his instinct pulled him towards a sense of dread. The words in his mind felt like they were forced into his thoughts by violence, then burned into his memory.

Vreta seemed almost in a trance until he saw 595 shouting in the periphery of his vision. It was enough to pull him back into the “reality” in front of him. He noticed her injury, something that, at any other moment, would be a grave concern. He knew not where the rest of his companions were, but the soldiers swimming past and the one in charge of escorting him were who had his attention now. Everything was moving so quickly, and Vreta had no choice but to follow the current.

The soldier did not so much as acknowledge 595’s desire to fight, and even Vreta could not bring himself to seriously consider it. Escape: that was the only choice. He had to make his escape and hope the rest of his companions could do the same. “I am fine, we’ll be right behind you. We have to escape, it’s…the only way.” He swam alongside 595 and wrapped a tentacle around her so that he could help her keep up despite her injury.

The Cradle

There were moments where Vreta’s thoughts were cast back to the ruined temple, to the beam of light, the hatchway, and his own memories that he had been brought back to. However, such thoughts were fleeting. It was as if his thoughts were being forced into the present, to focus on what was in front of him.

The tunnel was starting to feel more and more like a tomb as parts of it continued to collapse. How long before it fell apart to the point that they would be trapped? Or perhaps they already were and simply did not know it yet? Either way, it still felt right to keep moving forward, away from the threat. Though, there were many others doing the same. The tunnels soon became crowded with many other cephalopods trying desperately to find some measure of safety.

The soldier was someone new, and yet Vreta knew to follow the instructions given. When the soldier mentioned the “Senator”, Vreta knew it was him even before he was noticed. The chute was their escape, or at least the next place they needed to go. It would lead them to another part of the reef towards…something. Something important to see. “Right…of course, let’s hurry.”

Vreta reached out a tentacle and wrapped it around one of 595’s, tugging on her to encourage her to follow behind him. He did not hesitate to follow the soldier into the chute, while the rest moved in behind him one-by-one. Eti and her team retained their minds just as much as Vreta did, but they could not bring themselves to make any protest. The path forward seemed inevitable.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

While the doors were heavy, Janius and Fendros were able to pry them open easily enough. They were, fortunately, not locked from the inside. As soon as they were open, Kaleeth was the first to charge in, followed shortly behind by Lorag. However, what met them inside was not a horde of Daedra ready to defend their master, but rather…nothing. Even Meesei looked somewhat bewildered when she walked in behind them. The entire interior of the tower was just…empty. It was not just furniture it lacked, but there were no walls, no floors above them, and certainly no stairs leading up. History described the Crystal Tower as being a grand and beautiful structure inside and out, rivaling the finest of palaces across Tamriel. This version of the tower was well and truly a husk compared to those stories.

The pack hardly had time to process their discovery before a commotion turned their attention back outside. It took only a moment for Ri’vashi to rush up to the open door and shout for their attention. “Quickly! There’s something happening out here!”

Rushing back outside, Meesei’s gaze turned to the sky above. The very top of the tower glowed with an even more intense light than before. It cast nearly the whole valley in a deep violet light just before a barrage of hundreds, if not thousands of glowing orbs were released from the top. All of them descended down into the area that had been their battlefield a few minutes prior. Where each touched the ground, a conjuration portal appeared. An entire army’s worth of portals. Daedra poured onto the battlefield, and though they were somewhat distant at the bottom of the hill, one could tell that few, if any were mere fodder. These were daedroth, harvesters, ogrims, dremora commanders; their elite troops. For Vile to have been able to summon so many of them, he must have pulled them from elsewhere on the battlefield. The rest of their forces would certainly be able to push forward as a result, but nothing else would matter if they could not reach Vile.

Meesei let out a growl. Vile had to expend an immense amount of power to summon this army, but clearly, it was power he had available. At this point, there was no doubt that he understood what they were doing. Meesei just hoped that it was too late for him to stop them. Lorag did not wait a moment after seeing the army appear to jump into action. He did not know entirely how the lifts beside the door worked, but there was a prominent lever that he quickly pulled. Right away, gears in the mechanism started turning and the chains moving to slowly bring the lift down from far above. He did not know what magic gave it motion, but it seemed to work on its own.

Though they did have at least one option to reach the top, Meesei still did not seem entirely confident in it. “That may not be fast enough.” She remarked before looking up to the very top of the tower. Without another word, she extended her hand upwards and placed all of her focus onto a singular point. However, she seemed to struggle uncharacteristically with concentrating her magic into a coherent spell. With as dire as their situation was, she did not waste much time before giving up her efforts. It is no good. The sheer concentration of magicka here creates too much interference. I can’t make a stable portal. Not under my own power.”

Meesei soon turned her gaze towards one of the nearby pillars of magicka that spiraled up the side of the tower. They were the source of the problem, but they could, perhaps, provide a solution. “Sabine, let me borrow your staff. I have an idea.”

The Cradle

What Vreta and Rhia experienced from moment to moment was truly unprecedented. Vreta could no longer access any of his implants, but she was still part of his mind. Likewise, she had only his senses with which to perceive the world. At the very least, he did not have to think about how to use this strange new body, as it seemed to be as natural as his own.

Unfortunately, the chaos around them only grew with every moment that passed. An explosion tore apart part of the reef, which was followed by a powerful surge against which none of them could hope to swim. Despite it all, Vreta’s training was ingrained enough that he was compelled to focus. It was still his mind within this body, so his instinct was to try and address the danger in front of him, no matter how little agency any of them seemed to have.

Vreta’s own skin lit up in response to 595’s. “Swim…down! Away from the source!” Vreta “shouted”. Eti’s team followed his lead, though there was no guarantee anyone would be able to resist the sort of currents they were being subjected to.

The Cradle

There was a great deal for Vreta to take in. His own memories, memories of other, they all intertwined within his mind and played out as if they were his own. Eventually, those disjointed memories faded and settled into one reality. Or at least, something that had the appearance of a reality.

Vreta did not know where he was or what exactly was happening. He was underwater, yet did not feel the urge to hold his breath. Alarms blared all around him, and he was able to hear them far more clearly than he would have expected underwater. He felt pulled to swim in one direction through the rounded pathways of this strange city. Even still, he did not fully realize what he was until he came across some of the others. They were large cephalopods with a body type similar to many creatures that had evolved on many worlds. They had no features in common with any Rothian, yet somehow, he still recognized each of them on sight. Eti, then Mar and Kelest, and finally Agent 595.

“I feel…we need to keep moving. I don’t know why.” Vreta ‘said’, yet he spoke no words. His thoughts became patterns of color on his skin that could somehow be understood.