EliteCommander

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?”

The Cradle

Rhia did everything she could to help get Vreta ready and alert as quickly as she could. Her understanding and control of his brain allowed her to dull his headache, as well as manipulating his adrenal response and nanites to get him moving quickly. Of course, fighting nature usually came at a cost, but it was up to her to make sure he never felt it. They had the mission ahead of them, and at this point, no choice but to complete it.

Following Osman’s direction, Vreta approached Agent 595 at the map table. While Dr. Girard did seem ready and willing to help, Vreta found it far easier to simply reach down, grab her carefully under her shoulders and legs, and lift her up into his arms himself. Her armor added weight, but not so much that it would be difficult for him to carry her. Weight efficiency was as much of a design consideration for Humans as it was for Rothians, after all.

Vreta quickly carried the Agent with him into the back of one of the convoy’s armored vehicles. It was an even more cramped space than the monorail for him as he had to keep hunched over at all times just to fit his head under the roof, and no matter how he angled his knees they still dug into the seat in front of him. This time, though, his mind barely registered such inconveniences.

Void Company, meanwhile, had even more urgency to their mission now. The Bridge was the most likely means by which they could regain their full connection to the outside world, so reclaiming control over it was vital. None of the five even bothered to attempt to use one of the smaller armored vehicle, instead moving straight to ride on the outside of one of the tanks.

“Mar, keep your head on a swivel.” Eti remarked as they climbed up onto the vehicle. For an infantry-portable system, her sensory suite was second-to-none, though based on the reports they had read, danger could come in unexpected forms within these simulations. They could not ignore anything that might become a threat.

The Cradle

Vreta was not given too much time to worry about the quake before the pain struck him. He braced himself against the table, a growl escaping through his helmet. Inside his head, it was like a war took place across his mind. Rhia reacted to the intrusion within nanoseconds, but her initial attempts to block out the signal were futile, as it did not have a specific source she could target. It was, in essence, reality that created the disruption. It was as if the weave of spacetime itself was probing his neural patterns. Still, that did not prevent Rhia from trying to run interference as best she could. Even if she could not stop the scan, that did not mean she could not disrupt its purpose.

The nature of Rhia’s connection to Vreta was as close as one could be. The implants in Vreta’s brain expanded the capacity of his mind to make room for Rhia to exist comfortably, but she was not confined merely to synthetic computer chips, nor was Vreta strictly shackled to organic neurons. His implants bridged that gap in a multitude of locations, allowing signals to be quickly and freely translated between the two. At its theoretical peak, the system would allow not only Rhia to use Vreta’s brain just as she would her own processors, but for Vreta’s consciousness to be able to use Rhia’s hardware in the same way. Of course, unlike Rhia’s hardware, Vreta’s brain was not built specifically for this purpose. It would take time for an organic mind to learn to “think” with artificial hardware. For now, Rhia had to direct which parts of their hybrid mind were used by which consciousness. To at least try and confuse the scan, she started moving some of his thoughts, memories, and autonomic processes into scattered corners of her hardware, and vice versa from herself into his mind. She mixed up parts of him with parts of herself to hopefully scramble the scan’s results and make its data unreliable. She could not know how successful she had been, but she at least made the attempt to preserve some of their secrets.

Eventually, after enough microseconds had passed, Rhia started to feel the pain herself, or at least her equivalent of it. That part of this simulation’s reality that had been invading Vreta’s mind set its sights firmly on her. Though, for Rhia, it was less of a scan and more of a direct attack on her being. It was as if quantum fluctuations were trying to scramble her data, like wiping a drive by corrupting its files. Fortunately, this entity’s attack was not specifically suited to dealing with her. It may not have known of her true nature, as she did not store data in the same way as the average computer. Corrupted data could be healed, and pathways between the nodes restored or rerouted. Not only that, her connection into Vreta’s mind allowed her to pass fluidly between synthetic and organic mediums. It was an ability she could use to shield herself, and hopefully keep the both of them protected.

Altogether, the chaos within Vreta’s mind left him beyond disoriented. It was only by Rhia’s direct control of a few of his muscle groups that he avoided collapsing to the ground entirely. Fortunately, Rhia knew how to avoid causing him lasting harm. ”Rhia, by the blackest depths of the Void, what was that?” He asked within his mind, though even just thinking still caused him a headache.

”Don’t know, still working on that.” She answered quickly. ”It was like reality was performing a scan on you, and trying to kill me. I’ll go over all the data I saved, see what I can figure out.”

After a few seconds, and once he was sure he had full control of his motor functions, Vreta pushed himself back up fully to his feet. ”Any damage?”

”Nothing permanent. I can get us back to a hundred percent. I get the feeling we’re different from what this…thing was expecting. Still, I don’t know what it’s capable of, and I’d really rather get out of this sim. We’re in its territory.”

Vreta was far from the only one to be affected. Freyr, the Agent, even members of Eti’s team showed signs of pain. Eti, Mar, and Kelest were all recovering. The only members of Void Company that did not seem meaningfully affected were the two members who had not taken part in the previous mission: something that seemed to establish a clear pattern.

“I don’t…think we should stay in this sim.” Vreta replied to Freyr.

The Cradle

As Freyr gave her rundown of the situation, Vreta was the first to receive his answers to the question he had been about to ask. “If that is where we are most likely to come in contact with the entity, then I need to come with you, Freyr. My task here is to assist negotiation with the entity, should that become relevant.”

Eti took just a moment longer to look over the map and consider her options, based on the new information. She had read the reports of the dangers found within Cradle-like objects in the past, as well as seeing them herself during her last mission. She did not want to separate her team, if she could help it, so she needed to place them where they would be most effective. After a few, long seconds of silence, she looked back up towards Freyr and Osman. “If your headquarters is already heavily fortified, you may not need our presence as greatly there. At the same time, if the Bridge district is required to maintain our contact with the outside, then it is critical we maintain it. I recommend keeping a constant channel open with the Vault to allow Nirann access to all tactical information. A Rothian AI of his class can provide exceptional tactical analysis and alert us of any changes within the Cradle. Void Company can ensure that link remains open.”