EliteCommander

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Meesei lightly shook her head. “I may have earned Hircine’s favor, but his generosity is not limitless. It is through his power, and your connection to him, that I can speak to you now. I won’t be able to do so at will. I don’t think we will be…speaking again, for the foreseeable future.”

After a moment, Meesei brought a hand up to Fendros’ shoulder. “I know you have every reason to worry, but you should know that I do not. I know my people are being left in good hands, and I have no doubts about what you will accomplish. I imagine it will be quite a while before you have to concern yourself with Hircine’s desire to challenge us. You will make us strong; I know you will.”

At that point, Meesei did not hesitate to tightly embrace Fendros in a hug. “I know how long Elves live, my friend, but we will see each other again one day, in some realm or another. You may take your time, though. I can be patient.”

The Eye of the Needle (where Fantasy and Sci-fi collide)

Kareet of Arcaeda

---

Kareet’s eyes all blinked as she looked ahead, listening in amazement. For a moment, she almost forgot to actually start taking notes. Harnessing non-magical lightning? And not only that, but the things she described them doing with it seemed impossible, were it not for the fact that she had seen it with her own eyes. Before now, she could not have even imagined lightning would be capable of such things. Having electricity think by itself sounded absurd, but that object on her wrist was doing so right now. Besides, if there was Thought magic involved, the Inquisitors would currently have their knives at Itxaro’s throat.

“You say lightning, electricity as you call it, can do all of this? Without even needing magic to shape it?” Kareet remarked. As Itxaro seemed to be speaking to someone else, through some means that she would have to ask about later, Kareet set aside her notes and books on the ground momentarily. She pressed two of her fingers against her opposite forearm, then ran them up towards her hand at a constant pace. Through the entire motion, a charge of electricity started to form around her fingers, arcing into the air around her arm. When her fingers moved past her other hand, the arcs of electricity became stronger, and stayed connected between her two hands. Kareet then rotated her hands, leaving one held out, palm-up, while the other she moved in a circular motion above it. The electricity disconnected from both hands, recognizably following magnetic field lines as she shaped a field to contain the lightning. The end result was what looked like a ball of lightning, contained within an invisible orb.

“This is the…electricity you are talking about, yes? Could magic lightning possibly do the same things?” Kareet asked.

The Eye of the Needle (where Fantasy and Sci-fi collide)

Kareet of Arcaeda

---

Kareet did not wait any longer. She had witnessed these objects they were wearing on their wrists, and that alone provoked questions she wanted answered. She took up her notes and Itxaro’s book in her arms and moved to the edge of camp, towards Shirik. The way this object she wore spoke sounded almost like Itxaro, but the words were clearly S’toric. It did not seem to mimic Shirik’s voice in return, but from what she had been told, she could imagine that it was repeating his words in their tongue.

“How can this be?” Kareet asked. “You’ve said your people have no magic, but how can you make an object think without it? All of our golems require Thought and Lightning magic both.”

Even Kareet did show some caution as she interjected. Itxaro clearly had some purpose in approaching Shirik, and if nothing else, Kareet did want to avoid upsetting her.

The Eye of the Needle (where Fantasy and Sci-fi collide)

Kareet of Arcaeda

---

For Kareet, even just those few days of waiting gave her no small measure of frustration. She understood the plan. Gar’Tan was going to assist them with some means they had of translating their language. Kareet did not exactly understand how, but the Humans seemed confident it would work. She would just have to hope they were right.

Over the course of a few days, Kareet did manage to get detailed sketches of the Jotunheim from just about every angle, as well as the strange metal golems that seemed to stand guard around the ship. However, there was only so much she could do from outside, and she hoped the irritation would be worth the wait.

---

Finally, the time seemed to be coming. It was early morning, four days after their first real conversation, and both Vigdis and Itxaro had emerged from the Jotunheim. Kareet stayed back at first, but she was close enough to hear the exchange between Vigdis and Nellara. There was some object on her arm that actually seemed to be speaking S’toric. Presumably, it was speaking aloud what Vigdis said in her own tongue, and did the same in reverse when Nellara replied. That alone ignited a flurry of questions within her mind, but at this point, it was just more to add to the list. However, there would certainly be no more waiting for Kareet.

As quickly as she could, Kareet gathered what she felt she would need: her notes, of course, and a few pens. She also grabbed the book that Itxaro had gifted her. She could not read it, so she had just tucked it away as she focused on other matters, but now if she could speak to the Humans, she might be able to learn more about it. Vigdis was speaking with Nellara, and Itxaro appeared to be approaching Shirik. Either way she was going to have to intrude on someone, but she truly did not care. She was not waiting any longer.

The Eye of the Needle (where Fantasy and Sci-fi collide)

Ultimately, despite the drastic improvement in their communication, the two sides required a few more days before they could truly communicate unhindered. Thought magic, as useful as it was, still was as unnerving to the Human visitors as it was to the locals themselves. However, it did provide a means by which they could accelerate breaching the language barrier. It was decided that Wodan would cooperate with Gar’Tan to quickly gather data for the translation algorithms to form a usable translation package between Human languages and S’toric. Gar’Tan himself may not have understood the details of how this would happen, but he understood the intentions of the Humans well enough to know that they were confident it would work. It did not take much discussion for him to agree, despite the fact that it would substantially reduce his own role in all of this. Gar’Tan also mediated a brief meeting between Silbermine and a Human representative to explain their intentions, arrange a meeting in about a week’s time for further negotiations, as well as to extend the same offer to him as to those in Nellara’s camp to meet and share knowledge, on a small scale.

Wodan’s plan to isolate the translation algorithms from his core databanks did seem to work, insofar as he found no evidence that it did not. These abilities that the natives possessed were still entirely an unknown. Being that they appeared to defy any modern concept of the universe’s physical laws, speculation on their exact capabilities were inherently unfounded. At some point, they simply had to accept that they could only do their best based on what they knew. Aside from such concerns, the translation itself went smoothly. The algorithms Wodan used were designed to be able to detect patterns to piece together meanings even from fragmented, vague hints. For them to be able to directly convey intent to one another made the algorithms exponentially more efficient.

It took barely more than three days for Wodan to be able to produce a program usable on any compatible implant or personal computing device. It would, when prompted, listen for S’toric speech to translate into the chosen language, either aloud or in text format. The same worked in reverse, and there were multiple settings that could be changed depending on the needs of the situation, such as restricting it to only translate the words of specific speakers in a conversation. Tentatively, Wodan declared the software to be in beta, but he was confident it would be functional.

---

On the fourth morning, copies of the software were distributed among the crew, as well as permission for certain crew members to have some interaction with the locals. Naturally, there were restrictions on what they could and could not do, but it was judged that it would be useful for certain experts to be able to question the locals to try to determine the viability of obtaining what they needed. Food and water sources to sustain the crew, potential sources of power to jump start their reactors, raw materials for needed repairs, and of course, some cultural knowledge of the natives to give them some helpful context for the upcoming negotiations.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

“I trust in her, just as I trust in you. I know the strength of her spirit. There is no doubt in my mind on how she will persevere.” Meesei answered.

There was another, brief moment of hesitation from Meesei. She knew there was some unpleasantness to what she had to say next, but there would ultimately be no ignoring it. “There is…one other thing I wanted to tell you about. Warn you about, really. I imagine that in the coming months or years, after the effects of the war have started to fade, some of the more devout of Hircine will come to warn you away from the path our people are on now. They will tell you that it defies the purpose that Hircine has for his lycanthropes.”

Meesei sighed. “And they will be right. Lycans represent both halves of Hircine’s sphere: Hunter and hunted. When his power flows through our veins, hunting under the moonlight, there is no predator more fearsome. But the people of Tamriel are powerful in their own right, and when we are hated and feared by them, we must always struggle to survive. But with the deals and alliances we have struck, the notion of living in peace is an actual possibility. It may take decades, but Hircine would not tolerate that forever. To be his hounds, we must be hunted as well as hunter. I do not know what form it will take; he could leave those deals in place and find some other means to test us, but one way or another, lycans will be challenged again. You should be prepared for that day.”

The Eye of the Needle (where Fantasy and Sci-fi collide)

Science Lab

---

The man hummed lightly. “Well, I am no expert on piloting, but I believe that may have had something to do with the missiles.”

With a brief laugh, the man shifted somewhat in his seat. He seemed to consider standing for a moment, but with a glance down to his leg had second thoughts. “Dr. Edward Fortin.” He extended a hand, offering to shake hers. “I take it you haven’t been fully briefed? I suppose I’ll give you the short version. We weren’t ready for takeoff, but there was an attack. We don’t know who was responsible, but it was like special forces started storming the facility. The Captain made the decision to let any civilians nearby onboard and launch then and there. From my understanding, a missile struck just before they activated the FTL drive. They didn’t intend to leave the solar system, or even the atmosphere. Just a quick jump to get us out of there, but…something happened. I won’t be so irresponsible as to wildly speculate on exactly what, but I can say what situation we are in now. We’re not on Earth. We don’t know where we are, exactly, but we are on a planet that is not in our solar system. The transition from there to here seemed almost instant, even though the ship should have had considerable travel time between solar systems. The crash was rough, to put it mildly. I got away with just a broken leg, but not everyone was so lucky. The planet is habitable. Inhabited, in fact. Multiple intelligent species exist on this planet, and have already made contact. They seem primitive, but…we have observed some phenomena we cannot explain.”

The Eye of the Needle (where Fantasy and Sci-fi collide)

Wodan (Huginn and Muninn)

---

<Huginn: This ability defies logic.>
<We are not meant to be heard, and the natives possess no other signs of such technological prowess.>

<Muninn: The only thing that would be more irrational would be to deny what is right in front of us.>
<We can look for a rational explanation later.>
<Everything we can see right now points to the fact that this reptilian can communicate into our mind directly.>
<This could be dangerous.>
<It could also be useful.>

<H:We must look to explain this in time, but I can find no fault to your argument.>
<The ability to have direct communication would be of drastic help to our translation efforts.>
<However, we do not know enough about the process to know if he would be able to access sensitive information.>

<M:Then we copy our personality into an isolated partition with the translation algorithms and no other sensitive data.>
<If anything would allow us to proceed safely, that would be it.>

---

As requested, Wodan had stopped saving the recordings from the bridge momentarily. Though, he continued to maintain his presence in order to continue carrying out his own duties. Ideally, Wodan would have allowed the Captain the time needed to recover completely, but the situation in general demanded more immediate decision making.

Once Dr. Feng was finished for the moment and the Captain was alert once more, Wodan took the chance to address her. “Captain, I believe we would be able to learn more by having experts question the natives, rather than civilians. It may be possible to do so safely. This reptilian native, by some means, can convey his thoughts even to my mind. With such direct communication, I could complete a translation program in days, rather than months. We would no longer require his presence in order to communicate.”

The Eye of the Needle (where Fantasy and Sci-fi collide)

Shuttle Bay

---

To both sides, it would be obvious that Gar’Tan was having to focus considerably to facilitate communication between the two sides. Not only were there multiple minds all thinking at once, including an AI with thoughts unlike anything he had felt before, but there were also limits on what even he could understand. Much of what Vigdis had said and felt, especially technical details regarding the Jotunheim, simply went far beyond any subject he had studied before. Just reading the intent behind her thoughts did not even come close to conveying what he needed to understand them.

Gar’Tan did convey every word faithfully, but with how this conversation was proceeding on both sides, Gar’Tan’s mandate to neutrality did compel him to speak up. The thoughts he intended them to hear, he placed into the minds of every Human present, as well as the mind of Wodan looking on through the cameras.

Gar’Tan believes it necessary to caution the Humans against making judgements too hastily. The words of warning against Mythadia are not outright lies, but they are also not the full truth. They accentuate only the worst aspects of an entire people. The Glen, who hold the majority rule over Mythadia, are a people who have always valued freedom, and fought for it with all their heart. They are not a rigid and uncompromising people, in any respect. The founding of Mythadia, and its neighbor Acanata, was marred by the fact that they were remnants of Kolodon, a S’tor Empire that dominated the continent until about three and a half centuries ago. It is not a lie to say that they inherited some of the legacy of Kolodon, in their government, in the families that still hold power among them, but they are not outright warmongers. They are not beyond reason. You may still find that the Ascendancy is a better ally for you, but try not to color your assumptions too greatly before these negotiations.

---

While Kareet did not hear what Gar’Tan conveyed to the Humans, she still could not help but to speak up as soon as he was ready to convey her words. “If I may, for a moment, I would say that it is not my place to be involved in politics. It is irritating, and I have no interest in it. But to speak of understanding, of knowledge, that is my place. I am a scholar. If you are planning on negotiating in a few days, then permit me to start my studies of you right away. I wish to learn of you, your physiology, your history, your culture, everything I need to write my encyclopedia on you. In return, I can share any knowledge you want to help you prepare. Knowledge, for knowledge. Make the same offer to Silbermine, if you need. I simply think it would be a waste of time to delay learning from one another over this. In fact, it may end up helping us both.”

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

For a moment, Meesei laughed. “Maybe it is true that I ruled during a time of war between gods, but that does not mean you will not grow to greater heights. My fight, my struggle, was to ensure we could survive. Your fight will be to make sure we can thrive. Do not underestimate the importance of that task. Stories of war make better songs for bards to share around a fire, but if you can succeed in your trials, you will do more good for more people than I did.”

Her attitude was very much composed and encouraging for most of what she said, but she did eventually pause, glancing away. This time, it was her who struggled to find the words momentarily. “I can, well…I can speak to most of the others myself, but it is because of your innate connection to Hircine that I can do this. There is one person close to me without that connection. If you could tell Lunise I…” With another pause, she glanced away briefly. “…I am sorry that I could not keep my promise.”