EliteCommander

The Cradle

Vreta quickly backed away through the car, then out the other exit into the building. He had taken a hit or two from his brief exposure, but his shields still held strong. Given his weaponry and shield strength, he expected that he was going to be a priority target for these attackers, but there was a way that could work to the advantage of the team as a whole. As long as he could fight smart and withstand the pressure on him, that would be pressure not on his allies. As expected, the full-powered scattershot blasts from his rifle were most certainly overkill against the enemy’s defenses. At full power, Vreta did have to watch his rate of fire in the scattershot firing mode to avoid overheating, but in any case, Rhia did somewhat dial back the weapon’s output setting. She did not yet have enough data to know the exact efficient power setting, but she would continue to fine-tune it as they went along.

Fortunately, Rhia had been keeping track of the fight behind them. They were pinned at the moment, and had already taken a casualty due to this “builder.” That was clearly the largest threat, but at the moment Vreta emerged from the car, the builder was still behind cover. As dire as the situation seemed, though, there was a way out. At this moment, there were still just three opponents, including this builder. Any kills they could get would drastically reduce the pressure on them. The hostile soldiers had good cover, but they were shooting from a static position. Rather than trying to use mobility to avoid shots, they relied on their cover being difficult to aim a shot through. Before Vreta was even in sight, Rhia was already running the calculations.

Given the lack of cover near the car, Vreta simply had to act quickly. As soon as he crawled out of the opening, he got up on one knee and took aim. Rhia had swapped his weapon back to its rifle firing mode, with two-round burst. Vreta did have his limits and still had to fire from a stable position to make such precise shots, but his shields could still take the hits. And of course, Rhia was what fine-tuned his abilities beyond what he could naturally achieve. She calculated the ideal trajectory, then gave him the small nudges needed to make sure he used it. As he was squeezing the trigger, she tightened and relaxed different muscle groups in his arms to nudge the barrel a few degrees in the right direction just before he fired his burst at the rightmost soldier’s head.

Above all, Vreta was still alert for the builder. If they peered out of cover for a moment, Vreta intended to swap targets immediately. Unless they could confidently survive the damage his weapon could output, the threat would force caution out of this builder as well.

The Cradle

With everything happening around them, Vreta’s responses had to be on point. They could not afford mistakes right now. This kind of fighting was not really his specialization, but in that, Rhia proved to be a remarkable help. With all the tactical feedback Rhia was providing for him, it did seem like she had a surprising amount of combat experience, even for an AI. She knew just what was important to highlight and when, along with recommendations that demonstrated a kind of intuition that could not simply be programmed.

Now that their car had a few exits, Vreta’s echolocation could now give him some additional vision again. Rhia was already marking targets once more, though her vision would be more limited until he left the vehicle entirely. From the street, she marked two hostiles that were close enough to be an immediate threat, while there were at least three behind them in the building. They needed to focus most of their efforts on securing their escape route, but they could not simply ignore the hostiles from the other side either. For Rhia, a plan presented itself as soon as she identified a flashbang being thrown in from the street.

“Help the Agent!” Vreta shouted to Osman. Grabbing the flashbang, he held it under his own body to protect his allies from most of its light and sound. Just as it was about to go off, Rhia briefly darkened his visor completely and blocked out all outside sound from his helmet so he would not experience any effects from the flashbang. It did detonate with some explosive force, though not nearly enough to threaten his armor.

Once the flashbang went off, Rhia knew the hostiles would be pushing aggressively. They would expect their targets to be stunned, disoriented, and vulnerable, so this was the time to strike. She resumed Vreta’s sensory input, then advised him to push his advantage. Rothian weaponry was highly advanced and equally powerful, so when in combat with other species, Rothians usually operated their weapons at a lower power level. Ideally, it would be just enough to breach their opponents’ defenses, which would allow them to conserve energy and keep it powered for more shots. However, right now, Rhia kept Vreta’s weapon at full power; something normally reserved for damaging armored vehicles. Until she had more data on the quality of their enemies’ defensive capabilities, she wanted to make sure his shots would put them down.

In that moment, Vreta pushed aggressively enough that he was able to get a shot on the first soldier before he was fully back on his feet, then quickly transitioned to the second target. Since Rhia had his targets constantly marked, he could aim before the target came into view, then shoot the moment his weapon had a clear line of sight. An advantage of the scattershot firing mode was that the individual plasma shots arrived at slightly different times. An energy shield, even if it was depleted completely by a shot, would generally prevent the first projectile from causing harm, so a rifle would have to fire again to make the kill. Scattershot weapons could potentially deplete a shield and make the kill in a single blast. Even so, Vreta still fired two quick shots each for his second and third target.

Regardless of how many hostiles might be on the street side of the car, Vreta still intended to back off and help with their escape right away. He had just needed to make sure they would not get surrounded from both sides too quickly.

The Cradle

There was not much time to act, so Vreta did benefit from Rhia’s tactical advice. Her best estimates of where they were, and the effort that would be required to break out did give him at least a plan to work with. They did not have time to sit around and discuss, most certainly, so he needed to be willing to act decisively.

Vreta reached down and grabbed his plasma blade from its holster on his thigh, then flipped it around and handed it to Agent 595. “Take this. It should easily be able to cut a way into the building. Get Freyr and the other civilians out that way.”

Wasting no time, Vreta leaned over towards Osman and reached up to the floor. A quick look at the metal that had crumpled onto Osman’s foot allowed Rhia to direct him where to grab it to allow him to most easily, and safely, bend back the metal. He had to lightly shove the Corporal to the side to do it, but he did not have the luxury of time to be polite, aside from a softly spoken “Excuse me.”

After a moment, Vreta heard the sound of the saw piercing through the door behind him. They did not have long now. As quickly as he could, he moved over to the left side of the door their attackers were breaking into, keeping himself low on his back, and hopefully out of sight. It had been Dr. Girard's seat, though 595 was just as proactive as Vreta by moving her. The civilians were still stressed and panicked, and so not necessarily thinking clearly. However, it had been easy enough for the Agent to "encourage" her to move over to the other end of the vehicle. Just moving around the tight space with so many people involved quite a lot of pushing, shoving, and being crammed up next to others, but it was better than being captured, shot, or worse. “Osman, if you can, help me guard this door. We just need to buy time for everyone else to escape into the building, then we’ll go out that way too. Everyone else can join the Agent in protecting the civilians.”

So as long as they stayed off to the sides of the door, the pair of them would have decent cover from within the vehicle, and they did not need to buy much time for the others to get out. Vreta intended to take the initiative, but he would still wait as long as he could to do so. Rhia recognized his plan, so she went ahead and prepared as best as she could. The muscles in his legs were mostly synthetic, so she disabled some of the safety limiters restricting their maximum force, then preemptively deployed nanites to the area to quickly deal with any tearing.

Vreta watched the door carefully as he readied his rifle. Given the tight quarters, he switched the firing mode to scattershot and took aim. Rhia kept an eye on the integrity of the door, and just as the saw was about to open up the door, Vreta delivered to it the most powerful kick he could muster. It flew off its hinges and slammed immediately into the one holding the saw. Since the saw had almost broken through already, nearly the full force of the kick was transferred to the door, and by extent, the person behind it. Against an unprotected body, it was the kind of blow that could collapse one’s chest cavity and turn ribs to powder. Armor would likely protect against such things, but a Human would still be hard-pressed to stay standing through such a blow.

Once the door was open, Rhia would immediately resume marking targets as best she could. Vreta, taking cover to the left of the door, was ready to fire out to the center and right at any hostiles that might be in view.

The Cradle

Vreta had to duck back into the passenger hold quickly as he saw the truck careening towards them. He pressed his feet into the wall underneath one of the seats while digging his claws into the thinner metal of the roof above them, pushing hard against both to try and keep himself stable once their vehicle was hit. His armor could protect him from the impact, but he would be a danger to others in the vehicle if he ended up flying around the hold untethered. He relied on Rhia to make small adjustments to keep him in place as their car was rolling.

After a few seconds, the car came to rest upside down and Vreta allowed himself to drop down onto what was formerly the roof. For someone properly armored, like himself or the Agent, the crash had not been too much of a danger, but not everyone in their vehicle was so well equipped. All had protection, but for the civilians it was more basic. In any case, Vreta did his best to right himself quickly. With all the chaos around them, they would have to organize quickly if they wanted to effectively defend themselves.

”I can’t update enemy positions from in here. We need to get out as quickly as we can. From what I can calculate, we were knocked into one of the buildings. It could provide cover, but there’s no guarantee there aren’t hostiles waiting inside in ambush. Still, we’d probably have a better chance of fighting them off inside than standing out in the open in the street. Either way, we need to move quickly. I can’t update enemy positions from inside this thing.” Rhia advised.

Vreta silently acknowledged Rhia, then took stock of the status of the others. Dr. Girard seemed to be injured, but he could not tell just on appearance if it was just superficial, or something that would require treatment. “What is everyone’s status? Can everyone move? We need to go; we’re not safe here.” He said as he moved over towards one of the doors leading, presumably, into the building. It was bent by the impact and might have been jammed in place, but he would kick it off its hinges if he had to.

The Cradle

Vreta certainly agreed with his companions’ intention to get their convoy out of here as soon as possible, so he had no arguments with their plan. When it came to scanning their surroundings, though, Vreta could see a bit more clearly. Rhia directed his sensors, both in his suit and among his implants, to scour every nook and cranny around them for threats. Particularly once Agent 595 pointed out the low, constant hum all around them, Vreta wanted to find its source.

The combat armor Vreta wore only further improved the sensors he could access. Visual scans could encompass a wide section of the light spectrum, and he could detect electromagnetic signatures as well. Given their surroundings, his echolocation was particularly effective as well. The tall buildings and tight quarters allowed the sound waves to propagate far and wide to quickly build up a real-time map of the are, and the objects within. What they detected was alarming, causing a sudden, drastic shift in Vreta’s demeanor.

Vreta focused up, gripping tightly onto the controls of the turret and calming his mind. For survival, all that could be allowed to occupy his mind was the threat, and how to deal with it. Rhia collated the data and Vreta passed it on as quickly and efficiently as he could. “Contacts from all side roads. Cloaked, large…silhouette of vehicles, not creatures. Six minimum. Additional movement in the buildings; I sense open windows in the buildings on the fourth and fifth floors at three, ten, and eight o’clock. Movement within, unknown numbers.”

Rhia knew the protocols of Outreman military equipment enough to interface with, and send useful information to, their HUDs, she just needed the authorization to do so. In this case, it would be much quicker to simply ask for the authorization than to try to force her way in. “I need squadmate access to your tactical displays, quickly!” Vreta shouted into the passenger hold below him, which was accompanied by a proper authorization request from Rhia to both Osman and 595.”

The Cradle

Vreta would be lying if he said he was not conflicted. It seemed like an assumption that these people’s mental state would be recoverable, but if it was, then he would agree with Freyr. Though, that still did not make for an easy decision, considering the circumstances. “I can try to leave them alone where possible, but if they are in danger of killing an ally, I have to take action.”

Ultimately, the convoy could outrun anyone chasing them on foot, though not if they kept getting held up. He heard the discussion about the Skinner presence from the others below him. It concerned him how infiltration into the Cradle itself by a terrorist group was even possible to begin with. The Rothians had to be given approval codes to use their own harnesses, which meant that, for the Skinners to have access, they would need to have codes as well. That, or they had found a way to bypass Outremer’s security measures entirely. Either possibility was concerning. For as much as their government liked to project power, they seemed to have vanishingly little control.

The obstacle that eventually stopped the convoy was a stark reminder of how the world around them, no matter how real it seemed, was a fabrication in a number of ways. Not only was it a simulation, not beholden to the rules of their reality, but the city itself was a facade on top of the Cradle’s true nature. On the road ahead, there was digital artifacting and a multicolored mist that obscured the way ahead. One of the Humans called it a “Terra-glitch”, but it seemed more like the simulation trying to correct the changes the Humans had made.

Vreta let out a low growl under his breath as he looked around. Narrow pathways and massive buildings on all sides that restricted both movement and visibility, along with providing vantage points onto their current position…this was not a place they would want to spend any length of time. “Keep sharp. This position is prime for an ambush.” He said to the others.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Even as the sky darkened and the anchor began to form, the Daedra still pushed relentlessly. When they finally met Ri’vashi’s front line, they proved themselves a threat her soldiers could only barely hold back. The defenders formed a shield wall just to hold them back, though on the left flank, two of the shield-bearers were crushed almost immediately by the charge of a particularly large Ogrim. The Daedra was left with a spear impaled through its stomach for its trouble, but it paid no heed to its own injury. The second, and last, line of defenders evaded rather than be crushed like the first. The Daedra would have had an opening to push through to Meesei right away, were it not for Kaleeth meeting the Ogrim’s charge head-on. She dug her claws into its flesh and held it back long enough for the warriors beside her to disembowel it from the sides.

Being that they were on a hill, Ahnasha could safely fire arrows from her bound bow over the heads of her allies, but more important was picking the right targets. She would magically exhaust herself conjuring arrows before she could shoot even half of this horde. She would have to have a good sense of her surroundings and a good read on how the battle would unfold to target the specific Daedra most likely to break through and stop them, much as Kaleeth had.

Do’rhajul had followed Sabine unquestioningly when she summoned the Dark Anchor, as well as helping her return behind the front line once the Daedra charged. As usual, he was there to protect her, but he also positioned himself as a last line of defense for Meesei herself. She was still absorbing power from the column of magicka into the staff, stealing more and more of the power Vile had been hoarding. It was said that the Staff of Magnus could hold a limitless reservoir of power, and this seemed to be as close as they had come to testing that story.

Yerig, though, did not have nearly the same indomitable appearance as his Khajiit friend. His hands shook as they held his sword, though it was not out of fear. Skill and experience allowed him to keep up with the others in battle, but his body simply did not have the endurance of his much younger companions. Even they were starting to fatigue after a long battle, and while Yerig was not usually on the front line, he could no longer push his limits as he might have as a younger man. He had the strength to help, but he had to stay back from the melee. The shout he had used twice before, he used again: MID VUR SHAAN. Even if he could not join the fray himself, he could bring forth the winds of Kyne to aid his allies.

Once it had formed fully above them, the dark anchor sent down massive spikes connected by chains that fell to the ground and dug into the earth among the Daedric forces. Magical runes that had been etched into the ground by the spell started to glow a bright violet color. It would not be as stable as a properly made dolmen, but for their purposes, the anchor only needed to last a short time. From the anchor’s portal, bright blue balls of flame rained like meteors from the sky, each carrying Daedra from Coldharbour itself.

The Cradle

Vreta was not able to help as much as he wished he could. Not only did the convoy have no intention of stopping, but he had to be careful to identify his targets. They had the same silhouettes as the people he was meant to be protecting, and he did not know if there were genuine civilians dispersed among them. The CraSec guards were easy enough to identify, so Rhia quickly filtered targets based on aggressive behavior towards confirmed allies, which at least gave Vreta something to shoot as they drove past. He was accurate and took out at least a few targets, but Vreta did not know if some brief covering fire would be enough for them to regroup. He felt as if they were leaving them to die, though if their team did not complete their mission, that was a fate that could be shared by far more innocents.

Aside from what was in front of him, Rhia also helped Vreta to manage communications with Void Company. There was still interference, but by stitching together variants of the signal across multiple wavelengths, they could clean it up enough to be usable. “On our way to…Bridge. Some creatures…not significant. Mar eliminates…before we see them.” Eti informed Vreta.

“Understood.” Vreta answered. “We’re still on course to our target. We’ve encountered creatures, but no setbacks yet. I’ll keep you updated.”

Vreta shifted his focus more on any creature that threatened to get close to the convoy, though there were some that had moved out of his view. As they moved into a narrower path, Vreta shouted down to the others in the passenger hold below, electing not to rely on comms for the moment. “I got in contact with Void Company. They’re still on course; no major setbacks yet.”

The Cradle

Vreta straightened up somewhat and nodded to Girard. “I won’t say it didn’t affect me, but I’ve recovered. Diagnostics says I’m fine.” There were a few moments where Vreta was able to consider the problem of communication, as Freyr mentioned. Rothian suit transmitters were both powerful, and could operate across a wide range of the EM spectrum, so he would try to see if he could get a better signal. Though, they were not immune to disruption. There were other options for communication, though Vreta was not sure if they would be able to set it up on short notice. “We have transmitters that use gravitational manipulation to create readable signals. Methods for jamming EM signals do not work on them, though it’s pretty short range. Gravity is something like ten to the thirty-sixth times weaker than electromagnetism, so even our best gravitation communicators only work over about the range of a city. Still, it might be useful for us, especially if we can make use of it to communicate with the Vault. ‘Distance’ isn’t really a factor there.”

In any case, Vreta started to try to raise Void Company through his suit communicator by sending out his signal across a range of frequencies, hoping that at least one would get through clearly. However, the sudden swerving, shouting, and gunfire quickly interrupted him. Vreta himself ended up letting out a low growl after slamming his head against the roof. “We can’t stay here. We have our own mission.”

Vreta, regardless, was still quick to take action. Their transport was armed with a roof mounted turret, though it was unmanned at the moment. The turret could be accessed through the center of the passenger hold, and with some effort, he could open the hatch and fit through the gap to man it himself. Even if they could not spend the time to stop and help everyone along their path, he could at least give them some covering fire. The turret may not have been particularly comfortable for a Rothian to use, but it was possible for him, and he would only risk striking other passengers with his tail if he traversed the turret too quickly.

The Cradle

Vreta’s helmet did make it easier for him to hide his general discomfort. It felt hard to concentrate, though Rhia could certainly help mitigate the physical issues he was feeling. Yet again, they were facing consequences of the unknowns they were being forced to work with. There was far more recklessness in many of the plans they had gone through with than he would ever normally be comfortable with, were he the one making the decisions.

At the very least, Vreta could still focus enough to pay attention to what was being said around him. Could the Object be responsible for this, or was it something within the Cradle? Dr. Girard suggested the Object might be able to communicate with the Cradle in some way using their own minds. It was a possibility, through Vreta could imagine other scenarios where such advanced objects could bypass conventional barriers. It was a less worrying possibility, though unfortunately, not one that Vreta found especially likely.

“Hmm, I don’t know the specifications of your vault, but I have to assume it is able to be…sealed against any type of signal known to you. I wouldn’t expect you to put any…less than your best into it.” Vreta remarked, still catching his breath somewhat. “I suppose there may be possibilities that our minds may not be the vector. What might work over short distances…quantum tunneling, perhaps? Though, manipulating probability fields to force tunneling across more than a few nanometers is quite a difficult task. A wormhole, perhaps on a microscopic scale, could also accomplish the same thing. The risk of causing damage with one of that scale would be minimal, even if opening it blind. Still, your proposal does seem the most likely. I just wonder what message has been sent?”