EliteCommander

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Meesei gripped the Staff tightly in one of her oversized hands, and for just a moment, stared up at the massive pillar of raw energy before her. This was the last obstacle before Vile, and she knew she would have to put everything she was into overcoming it. Ri’vashi moved her people into position, forming a thin defensive line, though somewhat thicker now that they had Sabine’s walls of ice covering their flanks. Any advantage they could get would be needed.

Raising the Staff of Magnus towards the nearest pillar of magicka, Meesei started her work. Even just to start, the amount of power that was flowing into the Staff was immense. It took only moments to start collecting more power than any one mage could hope to produce on their own, and that power would only multiply the longer the Staff drained from the source. Meesei did not know if the resevoir of magicka the Staff could contain was truly limitless, but she supposed it would not take long to start testing that theory.

Draining thier master’s power prompted no shorted of enraged roars and shouts from the fast-encroaching Daedric horde. Sabine’s spell would restrict their approach somewhat, but the Daedra were still a force that was beyond overwhelming. Harvesters, ogrims, high-ranking Dremoras, and storm atronachs were only some of what comprised the spearhead of their attack, and their strength went countless ranks deep. It was not impossible to hold against them, for a short time, but there would be no room for error. If any part of their defensive line was breached, this was the kind of enemy that could overrun them in moments. If Meesei was interrupted at any point once she started casting her portal spell, she would have to start over, and there would be no chance of success. The dark anchor that Sabine’s sigil stone could summon was something that would take a short time to form. That time was less than a minute, but at this point, the pack’s efforts could be doomed in a matter of seconds. If she wanted to use it, she needed to make that decision now.

The Cradle

Vreta’s gaze also went towards the screen, if only because many of the others had as well. It seemed the instincts of one of the Humans outside had been correct. Their Parliment had been attacked. Such an attack would seem almost inconceivable on Rothia, and if he was being honest, he was not sure what his proper reaction should be in this case. Fear? Sympathy? What would the Humans expect of him? Diplomacy may have been his job, but he still did not know everything about them.

For now, Vreta did not let the news report keep him from staying on-topic with Freyr. ”I don’t think it’s necessary to make inquiries. Modifications show up on medical scans. Given all that everyone had been through, it wouldn’t be suspicious for me to get Rareth to insist on a full psychological and physical checkup for everyone on the project. We just have to make sure those results become available to us, then we can use them to start narrowing down suspects. That, or I go requisition a Rothian scanner capable of making those scans unnoticed. Though, there is one question. Do we know how strictly these Skinners stick to their beliefs? Has a person with implants ever been caught working for them? Or are they too uncompromising for that?”

The Cradle

Vreta did not notice the attention of the other Humans as readily as Freyr, especially as his mind was more focused on the problems they were discussing. Rhia, however, certainly took notice, though mostly just for the purpose of analyzing any potential risks. The talk of a traitor was worrying for how probable it seemed. There were not many other ways that the Skinners could have realistically gained the intelligence they held.

”If you feel like you can trust me, then we can discuss what we can do about this potential traitor. I tried to keep that Skinner talking when he showed up in hopes of tracing wherever he was broadcasting from, but I had no such luck. He disconnected too quickly. He does seem to be experienced, which makes him dangerous. What we are doing on this project is important, so I imagine their agent here is just as experienced. Given that the issue of the Cradle is important to the Skinners, and your division studies the Cradle, it would not be unexpected for them to have infiltrated your division long ago. For that reason, you should resist the urge to trust any of your team’s members purely because of seniority.” Vreta reasoned.

Pausing a moment, Vreta asked Rhia to bring up all of the relevant intelligence they had on the Skinners, from Rothian reports to simple searches of publicly-available data. In particular, he was interested in the details of their motives. ”These Skinners, they have a rather peculiar and…fervent system of beliefs, don’t they? If what I am reading here is right, they are Human purists. They spurn technological enhancements of the body, as well as opposing Outremer’s dependence on the Cradle, yes? How many members of the team that accompanied you on the Barb lack any significant cybernetic enhancements?”

The Cradle

”Everyone does have their own agenda, naturally. It is the way of things. If you understand those agendas, you can still plan around them, though. My people do want to learn from the Cradle, for instance. The Agent knows this, and obsesses over it, really. I don’t think she realizes our motives are more complex than that, though.” Vreta replied honestly. ”The Cradle is by far the most important object on Outremer for Humanity. You’ve relied on it to advance beyond your years, and it could continue to elevate you beyond where you are. It doesn’t mean the same for us. Yes, we would like to learn from it, but we don’t rely on it. We elevated our civilization to its current heights on our own, with just time and effort. If there is one thing we have, it is patience. If the cost of learning from the Cradle is too high, then we can let it go and be happy with that decision. Preserving sapient lives also matters to us; it matters to me. Given enough time, we will learn anything the Cradle could have taught us on our own, so if we ever have to choose between the Cradle and sapient lives…as I said, we can let the Cradle go.”

Vreta could relate to her obvious stress and fatigue; he could feel some of it himself. Certainly, he felt no comfort at the number of lives at risk from their work, and not just Rothian lives. Outremer was full of innocents, and there were many that had already died in these bombings. Vreta’s training kept him calm and focused, but that did not mean the regrets did not exist within his mind. But, those were regrets on which he could not afford to dwell. He just had to move onto the next problem. ”So, given all these…mixes of agendas and motivations between everyone on the project, do you think you can trust me? Do you think I am being honest?”

The Cradle

On his part, Vreta did not act like he was talking to Freyr. Given the subject, it was best that their conversation remain truly private. For the most part, he looked around the room, trying to find somewhere comfortable for him to sit while they spoke. ”Fanaticism can allow one to justify horrible acts in the name of ‘the greater good’. If they truly believe that they will be saving billions by killing hundreds, then their acts are virtuous in their own mind. As for who it could be…I do not know most of the Humans here well-enough. Naturally, I don’t think it is you, and as much as it pains me to admit it, I think we can trust 595. For this, at least. Unless the Institute is carrying out some impressive deceptions, they are about as opposed to the Skinners as I could imagine. I’ll try to give some thought to this. Maybe there is a way we can, if not catch the traitor, at least protect ourselves from them?”

Vreta did not pause too long to let Freyr dwell. As much as he was rightfully concerned about a traitor in their midst, it was also hard not to notice the fact that events had taken a major toll on Freyr’s well-being. He did not want to add too much to her anxiety at once. “But, among all this worry about traitors, or Skinners, or the Object, I want to ask how you are holding up, Freyr? You’ve been working non-stop; worrying non-stop. I know it’s unavoidable, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t unhealthy. You’ve been walking around carrying the weight of worlds on your shoulders. If you just take a step back, look at yourself, be honest with yourself, do you need help?”

The Cradle

For now, Vreta had to be content with waiting, though he hoped the delay was not too long. He still had every intention of going through with their plan. Aside from carrying out multiple terrorist attacks, this Skinner had decided it was important to warn them about the dangers of their plan, yet at the same time, not provide any actual explanation or evidence as to why. If he was actually trying to stop their plan, his methodology could use some work. With good reasoning and proof, Vreta knew that Rareth very well could be persuaded to halt their plan; however, as it stood, it seemed more likely that the Skinners just had some ideological opposition to being involved with the Cradle based on their notions of Human purity.

If worst came to worst, Vreta supposed that the Rothian team could simply start the process, if they ended up being delayed too long. As far as he knew, their team had arrived ahead of them and were already with the object. Regardless, they just had to wait on the Agent to complete her security sweep. Vreta already found himself missing Rothia. He felt much safer under the watchful eyes of the Rahn’Saki. Here, all one had to do to escape surveillance was to enter most private residences. There were even some public spaces that law enforcement could not always watch. And that was not even to mention the kind of dissent that might exist even within their own security forces. The Humans simply could not keep near as close of a watch on their population as he was accustomed to, and it showed in these bombings.

On Outremer, though, Vreta had to look to his own safety. At least now, he had help. Rhia had found an opening into the local surveillance systems, so she was keeping a watchful eye on anything Vreta’s sensors could not see. She kept just as close of a watch on their own supposed protectors as anyone else, as at this point, they did not know who they could trust. In the meantime, Vreta tried to focus on doing something valuable with his time and sent a private message to Freyr. ”Are you coming to the same conclusion about this as I am? I highly doubt these Skinners were responsible for that hacking attempt back on Rothia, so the only way they could know about the object is if they have an informant on the Barbarossa. Likely someone directly involved with, or with access to the project. There may be a traitor among us.”

The Cradle

“It was the space station, the one we docked at. That was the light in the sky, if that's what you're asking about.” Vreta answered back to 595. “I have contact with our cruiser. They’re reporting a large detonation after a ship was flown into it. The Barbarossa itself is still in one piece; its shields were up at the time. I can’t say the same about the other ships docked there. The cruiser is sending in search and rescue drones to sweep the debris for survivors."

At this point, Vreta found himself truly concerned about the state of Outremer. How overstretched was their security that they could allow two major bombings to take place? Were there agents of the Skinners that had infiltrated their security forces, or had they found a way to hide their explosives from the military’s scanning techniques? Perhaps the Rothians could lend out teams with higher quality scanning equipment to help prevent future attacks? Their scanners could pierce even highly-shielded containers to identify their contents. He just had to get it into the Outremer government’s collectively stubborn skulls that they should accept the help they were offering.

For now, Vreta complied with staying with the group to head into the facility. After they had dealt with the current crisis, they could worry about preventing the next one. Rhia had already sent a report to Rareth regarding everything they had witnessed. No doubt, she would get to work on the problem long before Vreta would be in a position to do so.

Despite being far larger and stronger, Vreta was far gentler than the Human soldier when he placed his hand on Freyr’s shoulder. Even without computer-assistance for her expressions, it was obvious she was distressed. “Are you alright? I promise we’ll do whatever we can to keep this from happening again.”

The Cradle

Now this was an interesting development. For the Skinners to have any knowledge of what they had found on Rothia, they would have had to have information from within the project. Vreta found it highly unlikely that they would have access to the kind of technology that would allow for the kind of hacking attempt they experienced, so he felt the more likely scenario was that they had one or more informants on the Barbarossa. Though, that was a question for later. For now, he just needed to keep the man talking.

Unfortunately, the man did not seem to have a mind to stick around, regardless of what was said to him. Vreta was right about his approach to theatrics, but he had already prepared the climax to his monologue ahead of time. It was an attack on a building in the distance; Parliament, if the judgement of one of the Humans nearby was to be believed. Vreta grimaced. The situation on Outremer had likely deteriorated even more than he had thought if their authorities were no longer able to prevent such attacks. Their resources may have been spread too thin by the focus they had to put on the Cradle.

Vreta did not argue when the security detail ushered them inside, though he did not expect to be in much immediate danger. There would not be much point in the Skinner delivering a message if its recipients were meant to die immediately afterwards. Still, Rhia stayed on high alert. She had not been given enough time to trace the Skinner, so she just focused on security for now. She scanned the area in great detail with every sensor Vreta had available, and even sent out a program to “commandeer” access to any networked surveillance equipment in the area. Though, she kept her involvement with them purely to passive observation.

Obviously, the attack was concerning, but it was not a mystery to Vreta. He knew exactly what the fireball meant, but that strange violet glow he saw in the sky beforehand was an unknown quantity. ”Rhia, could you contact the cruiser? See if they have sights on whatever is causing that phenomena in the sky.”

The Cradle

Within the confines of his mind, Vreta was quick to react. ”Rhia, use every sensor you can access to scan the area. Explosives, biological agents, hidden people with knives, anything he could attack with, I want to know about. And if he’s using a hologram, then he has to have access to some local network. See if you can trace it back to its source.”

”Already on it, though you might need to buy me time. See if you can stall him.” She answered. Outwardly, Vreta regarded the man with what seemed to be curiosity. He did not show much in the way of surprise when the soldiers’ shots struck nothing but air. Even without Rhia marking his form as a hologram on his HUD, it would have been suicidal to simply walk up to them. If his goal was merely to cause damage, then the attack would have come without this kind of warning to tip them off. If nothing else, he cared for theatrics, which was something Vreta could use.

“Hmm, I suppose I’m not too well-versed in the ways of your guild. The internal political conflicts of other states are not something my people involve themselves in. Usually other nations prefer that we stay out of it, and we do not mind respecting their wishes.” Vreta replied. He was curious about the fact that the man had identified him, though his public identity was no secret. “The Rothian people have no quarrel with your organization, unless you make attacks against us. What we are doing here benefits you as much as it does everyone else on this planet. Did you come here to interfere, or do you have something to say?”

The Cradle

Aside from the Cradle itself, Babylon’s tower was one of Outremer’s most interesting features to Vreta. The spire at the core of the tower was ancient, having existed even before the Humans’ arrival on the planet. It was hard to say what created it, but despite its more natural appearance, it was highly unlikely to have been a natural formation. The Humans had, of course, built up around the spire to make the tower their own as they had constructed their city, but Vreta was more interested in the mystery at its heart. There had been another species which had inhabited Outremer before the Humans, but what use did they have for this spire? Had they created the Cradle as well, or had they merely discovered it? Recent evidence seemed to suggest the latter, though they still did not know what had caused them to disappear.

Regardless, Vreta focused quickly on the task ahead once their vessel set down on the landing pad. The security was less of a surprise to Vreta, though he was not sure he believed the explanation. Still, he kept close to this Sergeant Thrace as requested, following close behind Freyr out onto the landing pad. He hardly seemed to pay attention to the rainfall sliding off of his scales, instead taking in the sight of the tower from up close. Though, he only seemed distracted for a brief moment before turning his attention back to their escort.

“Are these Skinners really much of a concern? Their beliefs seem to restrict them from using the equipment and augmentations that would make them effective. Ten of them together could not kill me when they attempted an ambush.” Vreta remarked. Of course, he knew he had not been attacked by actual Skinners, but his attackers had attempted to imitate their equipment and tactics.