EliteCommander

Price of Life (EliteCommander and Cath)

“Yes, they have the address. We’re on the same landing pad we always are; Ruk knows where we live.” Senjen reassured Light.

Senjen had been busy these last two days, yet he was still left feeling like he wished he could do more. He had an inhibitor in place now that could help block external sources from issuing commands on his internal systems. In all likelihood, it was not necessary. Jess had really pulled out all the stops for her examination, and she had found no sort of backdoor that Myrmidon could use into his systems. Besides that, it was resilient against outside tampering, especially with control permissions being restricted to his personality matrix. Nevertheless, it was a precaution he wanted to take.

“We’ve got supplies and equipment, but I know what I want is a bit of information. Has anyone told you anything? What do we know about my first part of this job? If I’m going to have to sneak into a Myrmidon facility, then I’d like a few specifics on where I need to go and what I need to do.” Senjen remarked.

Price of Life (EliteCommander and Cath)

“Okay. Let me know if you need any help with the suit. It’s important, and I want to make sure you’re protected. If you really end up in need of a weapon, I’ll let you borrow one of mine, but like I said, I don’t think it’s a good idea to arm you without training. I’ll stay close as best as I can and keep you safe.” Senjen said, trying to sound confident, though he had also not been hiding his concern.

For a moment, Senjen stood awkwardly, hesitating on what he did or did not want to bring up. She was justifiably worried, and he was guilty that she was in that situation to begin with. “I hope- I mean, I just want you to know that I didn’t want this to happen. I never thought you would have been dragged into danger because of me. As far as Korit goes, I thought this would be a good organization to work for. I...don’t regret the things I’ve been doing to get the hospital what it needs. That is a cause worth taking some risk for, but I do regret it’s come to this.”

Price of Life (EliteCommander and Cath)

“Wait, really?” Right away, Senjen sounded surprised. He had gathered that the FGC were hiring them to keep themselves from being too directly associated with this job, but not even giving them adequate equipment seemed like a step too far. “They don’t need to give you FGC branded armor, there’s plenty of sellers on Korit who ask no questions. The black market is here is practically just the ‘market’.” Senjen made the motion of sighing.

“But yeah, you need a suit.” Senjen nodded. “I’d like you to be as armored and protected as possible, but at the very least, you need an environment suit. The virus might be the biggest threat down there for you, so you need protection from it. I’m not going to gamble your life on that AI being successful with finding a cure, I’m just...not. For weapons...if I had time to give you training and practice with using them, then sure, but if you’ve never fired one before, then it’s better that you just stay nearby and out of sight if there’s danger.”

Price of Life (EliteCommander and Cath)

“There may be a lot here you are right about, but on one thing, you’re categorically wrong. You are special, Ruk. I’ve met a lot of people since coming to Korit, and you stand out over the rest. I’m going to do everything I possibly can to keep you safe.” Senjen replied. The atmosphere around them may have been becoming more relaxed and upbeat, but he was paying little mind to anything but Ruk.

Senjen still was not completely dismissing the idea of getting Ruk off of the job. Maybe they would be able to talk to Vitality at some point, and maybe there would be some way to convince her to keep Ruk in safety, but it was not wise to put everything on that hope. They needed to prepare however they could. “Okay, we have two days. What do you need? What would make you feel safer about what we’re expecting to go up against, or just less nervous? Even if it is just by a little bit, it’s worth doing with the time that we have. I do have to take some time to let Jess look me over, but aside from that, you have my help. Whatever you need, whenever you need it, day or night. I don’t sleep. If I helped get you into this, then it’s the least I can do.”

Price of Life (EliteCommander and Cath)

“I wouldn’t necessarily need to frame it as a renegotiation. More like a...discussion of strategy. We’ve already been given the green light to take a few days to prepare and plan for the job, and picking the team is an important part of the job. If we can make a compelling argument for why we would have a better chance of success with someone else filling your spot, then it might just happen.” Senjen reasoned.

Senjen moved in a bit closer alongside Ruk’s chair, having no problem with sitting on the floor beside her. He could tell she was still anxious about this job, with how she was fidgeting with whatever what around her, looking for distraction. Yet, he also did not feel that she was too certain in the answers she was giving him. “But that’s only if there isn’t another good reason for you to be on the job. If it’s not because of what you can do, or completely because of your relationship with us, then maybe it’s because of who you are? Your personality? Your values? Maybe there aren’t many others with the right skills that Vitality would be willing to trust, or she thinks you’ll be willing to take the risk, while others won’t?”

Price of Life (EliteCommander and Cath)

“The job we’re doing...looking for a cure to a virus that is devastating a whole world. That sounds like a worthy cause. It sounds like something worth doing, something worth taking the risk for. If there isn’t anything else to it, no taking the virus and making it a bio-weapon, or something else that wouldn’t surprise me out of corporations on Korit, then I can be proud to help. If that, out of all of this, is at least true, then we have something here we can work with.” Senjen said.

Senjen did not trust the chairs nearby to hold his weight, so he knelt down at eye level in front of Ruknar. While risky, a lot of the plan he had heard so far seemed sensible, but there was something Ruknar seemed to believe that did not quite add up in Senjen’s head. “Them using you to recruit us for the job makes sense, and if they want leverage over us, then having you around also makes sense. But...are you sure that’s the only reason they’re sending you with us? Could that not be because of your skills? If it was just for leverage, then I would think it would make more sense for them to keep you here under their thumb, under their control, instead of out there where we could all slip away together. I feel like there might be more to them assigning you to this, and if there isn’t, then maybe we can convince them to leave you here, out of danger?”

Price of Life (EliteCommander and Cath)

As Senjen understood it, the ability of Chekeri to read the emotions of others was instinctive with that symbiotic entity, something they might take for granted. But he was inorganic, so they had no sense for how he felt. For him, they could only do it the same way as everyone else. He seemed calm, and stayed silent through Ruk’s outburst to let her vent her frustrations.

It was only once silence lingered in the air for a few moments between them that Senjen spoke up. “Who are we working for? FGC...I’ve always seen them as good. Benevolent, generous in a world that simply isn’t. Always felt good working for them, especially with how they helped Light. A job like this...it makes it feel different. Is there something else behind their motives? Or is it just that this is what Korit makes everyone do?”

For Senjen, he wanted to cut right to the heart of what he was thinking. Ruk’s fear made sense, and he hated that she was being dragged into it, but there was one bit of common ground he had to know still existed. “I trust your judgment more than anyone, Ruk. Do you still think the FGC is good? This thing that we’re doing, do you think it will help a lot of people?”

Price of Life (EliteCommander and Cath)

This agreement had Senjen understandably nervous, but at least they had some time to prepare, physically and mentally. If it all went to plan, then it would be worth it in the end...but this plan did have a lot more moving parts than the usual fare. First they had to secure a way to get onto the planet to begin with, which would present its own list of challenges and risks by itself. Then, they had to make sure this “Seraphim” could do her job, which was largely going to be out of their hands, only to have to secure their own reward themselves after that. Granted, that reward was promised to be quite substantial, but there were many places for something to go wrong. A lot more than just a somewhat risky scavenger run.

Regardless, Senjen did not head to Jess right away. In fact, he split up from Light for the moment as well. He passed some time in town, waiting for later that night. He messaged Ruknar and asked to meet whenever she was available, which took frustratingly long. Evidently, Ruk still had to attend to Vitality for a while, but whatever was happening there, he did eventually get a reply. He waited nearby to the restaurant where they had held the meeting, within walking distance for Ruk.

Senjen was leaned up against a wall, watching the crowd when Ruk came into view, though he had still noticed her right away. “Hey, I’m glad you could come. How are you feeling after all of...that?”

Price of Life (EliteCommander and Cath)

There was some noticeable hesitance from Senjen. The job was dangerous, sure, but the reward also gave him pause. How could he justify stealing from a bank vault? Sure, he had helped to smuggle things into Korit before, but he was no thief. Technically, he supposed, those devices they had helped Jess find did belong to another corporation, but they were rarely paragons of virtue, so it did not feel so bad. So...maybe it would not be so wrong to raid the vault if it belonged to some group that deserved it? Or perhaps if it was simply abandoned and there was no one left who would miss it? Thinking about it, there were few other reasons he could imagine for why something that valuable would be unguarded.

Regardless, just because he could imagine justified scenario, that did not mean he was going to just jump eagerly into it. With a glance to Light beside him, he sent him a message. ”It sounds like a fair deal and everything. Risky, but well-paid, and it’s for a good cause. Stopping a virus could never be a bad thing. What do you think about that reward, though? It could be okay, depending on who it belongs to. If you are fine with it, then I agree too.”

Price of Life (EliteCommander and Cath)

Oh sure, he’s allowed to say it. Senjen thought to himself.

“You are probably right about that.” Senjen nodded in agreement. “I just want to make sure to consider every approach before committing, with how dangerous this sort of job is. I may need some time to make some preparations. Like Light mentioned, the makers of this frame could have put some surprises in it, and I would like to have it examined.”

There was another thought that came to Senjen’s mind as they were talking about the virus itself. That was not the sort of risk he had ever had to worry about, but with friends and allies around, it was now more than himself who he needed to worry about. “If it isn’t any trouble, I would also like to ask if we could borrow some equipment for this job. Specifically, I think it would be a good idea to have some decontamination equipment in our ship. We need to be able to sterilize ourselves completely to make sure we don’t risk bringing the virus off-planet.”