For Vreta, entering the Cradle was never the most pleasant experience, and it seemed no different for this object. Though, by this point, he had grown accustomed to it. Rhia had the pleasure of experiencing it for the first time, and even being an AI, she did not find herself immune to the discomfort. She made that clear to him as soon as they came to consciousness, though Vreta could not help but to wonder what that feeling was like for a being without a physical form. Was she just sharing in his feelings, or did she experience something else entirely? In any case, Rhia did not waste too much time dwelling on it. [i]”Okay, that’s a new one. Let’s see…cold, howling winds, and snow. What a paradise. Let’s just get this done quickly, yeah? Checking on the team’s vitals real quick and…I don’t see any serious problems. Why don’t we go be neighborly and check up on the Humans? Need to get to having that chat with the Agent as soon as we can.”[/i]

The Rothian team had mostly inserted close together. Since Rareth was not entering the simulation this time, three Rothian soldiers took her place. All of the Rothian members of the expedition had been outfitted for combat, but the soldiers themselves still stood out like a blunted claw. Like Rareth herself, they towered over the rest of them, especially in their full-body powered armor. They were what the Humans would consider supersoldiers, like the Sacred Band. A normal fireteam would be larger than three soldiers, but Rareth was acutely aware of the limitations on their numbers. Unless he had a more important task to deal with, Vreta was expected to join them in the defense of the team, if it became necessary. Despite their limited numbers, the team was still well-equipped for a variety of situations. Most Rothian weapons had multiple firing modes that could change the behavior of a weapon, sometimes drastically. Even a standard rifle could switch between automatic or single fire, charged blasts, scattershot, and electric discharge. The team’s sniper had a weapon that could switch between being a high-powered particle cannon, or quicker shots that made it perform more like a marksman rifle. The third soldier carried the same sort of heavy weapon as Rareth had used during their first expedition, though his micro-missiles were not enhanced with antimatter charges. 

Vreta could see that the Rothian scientists were quickly getting their bearings. The very first thing Nirann had done after powering up his motor functions was to rush over to Marae, help her up to her feet, and check on her well-being. The other two scientists did not get quite so much personal attention, but they looked to be getting ready to board the lab. For Vreta himself, he went straight to Freyr and 595. His official role in this mission was to try to make contact with the entity, so he could lean into that. 

Vreta’s silhouette soon appeared through the snowstorm in front of Freyr and the Agent. He could not help but to be glad to be wearing climate-controlled armor, at this point. “No problems with the Rothian team, as far as I can tell. The science team is getting ready to board as soon as they can.” He informed the pair before turning his head towards what appeared to be the structure the team had discovered during their first expedition. Although it was somewhat hard to tell through the storm, the structure appeared to be a ruin compared to what Vreta had seen in the recordings. “I suppose you could say this place doesn’t quite look like the brochure. You were right there in the middle of it all last time, Agent. Do you think it was the storm that caused this, or something else? In any case, I need to at least try to find the entity, if I can. You spoke to it directly, right? What did it say in those last moments? I wasn’t able to watch your recording.”