EliteCommander

The Cradle

Once again, Vreta had to contend with squeezing into a seat too small for him. Agent 595 and the rest of their security detail were not prioritizing comfort when they filled the vessels, and rightly so. Protecting them from any potential threats around them certainly took precedence. Vreta had to lean back in his seat and pull his tail up between his legs just to avoid crowding the people to his left and right too much. It felt as awkward as it looked, but he did want to be considerate to them. To his understanding, Humans had a concept of “personal space” and could become agitated if it was infringed upon.

Vreta turned his head down briefly towards Freyr beside him, though his gaze soon moved outwards towards the ruins as their vessel moved down deeper into the spire. He could not say he was an expert on the history of this place, but he had at least looked into publicly-available information during his study of Outremer. The vast chamber and the designs of the dwellings carved into its sides were fitting for the type of species theorized to have lived here. Though, there were details that Vreta did find curious. Construction based primarily around carving and stonework suggested a more primitive culture, yet why would a primitive civilization base themselves so completely around the Cradle? For any society without the technology to access the simulation itself, the Cradle would be little more than a strange metal sphere. He supposed he could imagine it becoming an object of religious significance, in that case, but he was not sure if even that would be enough to explain how focused those ancients had been on the Cradle. Only very small settlements had been discovered elsewhere on the planet; the majority of their populated seemed to have been here.

“I wonder if they were more advanced than their dwellings would suggest? I cannot imagine the Cradle being terribly useful to primitives…unless the Cradle could reach out to them in some way?” Vreta speculated. “Has there ever been any compelling evidence to point towards the reason for their disappearance?”

The Cradle

Vreta kept quiet while Freyr spoke to the Agent. It was not his place to advise on security. That would not normally stop him, granted, but in this case, he did not know nearly enough about the facility to have a helpful opinion. For now, he would just have to keep sharp and aware of his surroundings. As he followed the group through the checkpoint, Rhia held off on trying to access any of the security systems in the area. Heading into the more secure areas of the spire, unsurprisingly, was accompanied by more secure systems. Rhia had little doubt that she could break through, but it was not something she wanted to do lightly. She would just have to settle for Vreta’s sensory implants.

As strange as the Cradle itself was, the inside of the Spire almost felt stranger to Vreta, in a way. At its core, it was a massive stone structure, but with the Humans’ own technology integrated seamlessly into its architecture. He had to admit that they had done well with adapting their own creations into the original structure. Part of him wondered why they had not preserved it as an archeological site of an alien civilization. It was not as if they had not done so for other ruins on other worlds, but he supposed he already knew the answer to that. The Cradle buried underneath made this place quite exceptional.

The cavernous expanse past the checkpoint was in closer to its original state than the levels above, though that was likely just because they did not need to use the space when others were easier to build in. Still, it was an impressive sight that gave sense to the scale of the spire, even from within. Vreta felt a chill against his scales as he stepped into the monorail, which he noted had two rails, for some reason. He might have normally made some comment about it, but recent events made lighthearted conversation seem like something in poor taste at the moment. The air was fine for now, though if the temperature dropped too much, he would need to rely on his thermal implant to maintain his internal temperature. He took a seat without complaint inside the sphere-shaped transport. He had done a great deal these last few weeks, but at this point, all there really was left for him was to wait and see what happened with the object.

The Cradle

Vreta was about to make an argument in favor of avoiding delays, but it ended up being unnecessary. They were going to be making their way underground right away, so any further delay would not likely be long. The Human Sergeant was taking the initiative to take the lead, so Vreta fell in line with the science team. They would have an escort of soldiers, though Vreta was still not expecting another attack. He felt that, if they were the targets of the Skinners tonight, they would have been attacked on the landing pad.

In any case, Vreta still at least acted as he would if he were in danger. Normally, he would want to blend in to the crowd, but he could not help but to stand out as the only Rothian among the scientists. He also had his sidearm that could make him a target, but he supposed that would be better than an attacker prioritizing one of the civilians. At least he could take a few hits.

Thrace had claimed that the way was clear, and the amount of officers that Vreta saw did certainly suggest they were taking the threat seriously. They were almost as well-equipped as the soldiers themselves, and they did seem to be effective at clearing the way ahead of them. He saw some simply standing guard at the junctions of hallways, while others looked to be searching rooms, or perhaps patrolling. Either way, they could give the impression that there was an army securing the way ahead of them. Perhaps it could be comforting to some of the scientists, but Vreta was acutely aware of the fact that their numbers might mean little if their enemy could walk freely among those who were meant to protect them. And of course, once they boarded the monorail, they would just be back to the soldiers protecting them.

The group was escorted a floor down to board the monorail. Thrace had soldiers guarding them on all sides, making sure both that no one got close, and that none of the scientists fell behind. They were not running, but they were keeping a brisk pace forward, so they did not make too bad of time in reaching the monorail. As they approached, Vreta had Rhia keep an eye out for sabotage as best as she could, though he was aware that the sensors she could access had limits.

The Cradle

Vreta was aware of this codex, though he did not have the time to dedicate to studying and understanding it himself. Marae’s team had studied it just as much as Freyr’s, so that was enough. Perhaps with the exception of some of what the Institute may or may not have known, his people were no longer being kept out of the loop. Marae’s fame was well-earned, as she had led her team admirably in catching up to the Human experts over the course of the project. The subject of the Cradle was legitimately complex, even moreso than they had been expecting going into the project, but the Rothians did have the advantage of a longer history of scientific knowledge to draw from. It was enough for them to keep up, at least.

Vreta stepped up behind the group of scientists, watching the screen over their heads. “If it is searching, then we probably should not delay much longer. Can we let it into the vault now? We don’t know what it might do if we take too long. It may well have the capability to break through.” He suggested.

The Cradle

”In that case, we may need to seek help. We just have to make sure that anyone we bring this to is someone we can trust. Or trust not to be allies with the Skinners, at least.” Vreta replied. They would need to see what medical records they could dig up before they could do much more, so for now, Vreta could only keep on his guard. Rhia turned more of her focus to observing Freyr’s colleagues for suspicious behavior. She doubted that a traitor would give themselves away overtly, especially so soon after an attack, but even small details could help build a pattern. Their observed emotional state in different situations, non-genuine actions or reactions, minor statements or lies, they could all be useful later on and would be worth saving now.

Rhia also captured Freyr’s physical responses to the situation, though for different reasons. She ran her observations of Freyr through a social assistance program to translate her body language into something Vreta could understand. Fear, anxiety, sadness, Vreta could easily understand why she felt all of it. He had specialized training to help him deal with high-stress situations, and even he was having trouble processing some of this. Freyr was just a civilian, and she was being expected to, in-part, lead them through all of it.

Soon enough, Freyr would feel a massive Rothian hand resting gently upon her shoulder. Vreta’s expression looking down at her was soft with enough of a measure of compassion to equal her fear. “You’re doing well, Freyr.” He whispered, though now speaking aloud. “I don’t think even I would be holding it together as well as you are, in your shoes. It’s alright to worry, or to grieve. You don't have to be afraid to let it out.”

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?”