EliteCommander

The Cradle

For just a moment, Vreta opened his mouth as if he were about to reply. The natural reaction for him was that the people should trust the plans of their leadership to protect the citizenry. Amid such a disaster, Rothians would be looking to their government for protection. However, Vreta had personally seen what Outremer’s government was like up close. He had been often disappointed by their decision making, not to mention how fractured they were. As strange as it seemed to him, he did not feel like he could argue against Freyr here. He would not trust them either.

Momentarily speechless as he was, Vreta just took the chance to follow Freyr’s advice. He was not sure how much milk or sugar the coffee needed, nor in what proportions, but there were few ways that it could get worse than what he already had. When he finally did speak up again, Vreta’s voice felt much softer. “Well, then maybe it is time for my people to make good on their promise to take in refugees. We have more than enough resources to care for them comfortably, and we can keep them safer than anyone else in this galaxy. Safe from terrorist attacks, and safe from any fallout from whatever decisions your new government might make. All we need is for your people to accept the offer, and we might be able to avert a disaster here. Your people don’t deserve to suffer for this.”

Vreta gave a look towards Skopec. “In fact, if Rareth is otherwise occupied at the moment, then I may be able to assist in organizing this myself. It’s not as if I have much else I can be doing at the moment. Could you put me into contact with your superiors who have the relevant decision-making authority?”

The Cradle

For Vreta, just about everything he saw on the holoscreen simply felt bizarre to him. Even having lived on Outremer for as long as he had, it was hard to get over how different life could be on this world. In Rothian space, protesting, especially of this variety, was not legal. The idea of hundreds or thousands of people taking to the streets was simply alien to him. On Rothia, someone throwing objects at an enforcement droid would find themselves unconscious in a matter of seconds. “I sometimes wonder if I will ever truly understand this place. Why do they not simply pacify these rioters? Do the droids not have weapons capable of safely incapacitating them?” Vreta asked. By his tone, it sounded like less of a direct criticism, and more of an actual, genuine question.

Vreta’s focus was split onto the screen when he finally tried a sip of his coffee, only for his face to scrunch up as he nearly coughed it up. He certainly had not expected it to be so, overwhelmingly bitter. “People drink this?” He muttered.

Regardless, Vreta did shake off his discomfort to reply to the soldier who approached. “There have been no incidents yet, and no…obvious medical emergencies. Still, my people will need to bring in our medical personnel. Since they will be coming directly from the cruiser, though, that shouldn’t present any security issues for your team.”

The Cradle

Again, Vreta let out a sigh, speaking quietly to Freyr. “Freyr, I wish it was rhetoric. If it was just rhetoric, I wouldn’t be so damn worried. Every word I said, I say with reason, because I want to make sure it never happens. Ever since the start of this project, the Rothian part of this team has been given the run-around, had information withheld from us, and had certain steps taken without our agreement. I know Rareth isn’t going to tolerate that any more. We have an agreement to be equal partners, and she’s going to demand everything that implies. You know that is not how I would want to do things, and I’ve…advised her as much as I can, but she can be uncompromising.”

Eventually, Vreta’s coffee finished brewing and he took it cautiously in his hands. It was still clearly far too hot to drink, so he waited on it for now. “I know it’s not a pleasant thing for the team to hear, but they need to hear it all the same. Everyone needs to be on the same page, and we all need to understand the stakes. What happens now is important, and it really can’t wait. Even Rareth still wants to be allies, but she won’t stand for being mistreated. We all need to do everything we can to make sure this project continues as a cooperative venture.”

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Soon enough, the lift reached its apex, and the bars opened as soon as it came to a stop. The top of the tower was a large, open, and mostly featureless flat area, which made what was there stand out quite easily. At the center was an ornate pedestal, above which shattered red crystal was floating amid a dark violet field of raw magicka. It seemed to be drawing power from a bright glowing light high above, which appeared to be at the convergence of the pillars of energy they had seen spiraling around the tower. The same pillars Meesei had used to fill the Staff of Magnus with power.

Of course, what would immediately draw the attention of the pack was the being that sat beyond the crystal, on the other side of the tower. Sat upon a huge marble throne was what could only be Clavicus Vile himself. His appearance was not unlike a Skaafin, though one who was nearly the size of a giant. He wore deep blue finery and sat back, tapping one finger on the arm of his throne. His expression was one less of anger than it was intense irritation. Still, he did not so much as stand as he looked upon the mortals who had invaded his tower. From anyone, or anything else, his voice would not have been particularly intimidating, but everything about him had a certain, intangible presence to it. “There is nothing more annoying than pests. Except…perhaps servants too incompetent to exterminate them. What has this world come to when I have to quash them myself?”

While it was hard to divert one’s attention from a Daedric Prince, there was at least one more point of interest within view. Off to the side, near the edge of the tower, there was a small cage, barely large enough to contain the being within. Inside, there was what appeared to be a dog, a mostly normal mutt by appearances, except that it appeared quite mangy and emaciated.

The Cradle

“Strictly speaking, I imagine she has the pull to get resources that the Rothian team members need. But, there’s nothing stopping the rest of you from benefiting from what she gets for us.” Vreta replied. “At this moment, what comes to my mind are Rothian medial equipment, supplies, and personnel. The cruiser has plenty to spare. How would you say it? There would be hell to pay if your leaders withheld proper medical treatment to Rothian citizens. That would be about the most blatant violation of long-standing treaties that they could commit.”

Vreta let out a slight sigh as his mind went to some of the less pleasant possibilities of what the future could hold, even if they did not seem particularly likely. “Rareth is a Datius, so her judgement is trusted. She absolutely can enforce her demands with the political weight of the Rothian state. The Rahn’Saki can overrule a Datius, of course, but…it’s not often that they disagree. Your government already agreed to cooperate with us as equal partners on this project. No matter who is in charge, we will still expect them to honor that agreement. Rothians wield substantial influence in galactic markets, and this matter with the Cradle is important enough for the Rahn’Saki themselves to take a personal interest. If your military starts breaking Outremer’s agreements with us, Rareth could threaten trade embargoes on Outremer, not just from us, but from other major trading partners of the planet. Especially if we start offering incentives for them to cooperate with the embargo.”

Vreta frowned, and after a moment, shook his head. “Let’s just hope none of that comes to pass. Surely your military has the sense not to break its alliances now, of all times, especially when we are perfectly willing to cooperate peacefully. The kind of damage a conflict now would cause would be devastating to Outremer’s people.”

The Cradle

After Freyr greeted the room, there was a heavier set of footsteps off to her right as she was approached by a Rothian droid. Though, even those steps themselves were enough to show that it was out of the ordinary. There was a certain “personality” in the way it moved that identified it as Nirann. “I’d say today is a pretty strong improvement over yesterday. Except for how jealous everyone keeps trying to make me in that food court out there. Really starting to wish I had a stomach right now. Or at least a tongue; I’d settle for a tongue.”

“As much as it is tempting to do so, I don’t think we should be so content.” Marae remarked, stepping up alongside Nirann and putting a hand on his metal shoulder. “Everyone seems to be fine right now, but it would be wise for everyone who set foot in the simulation to receive monitoring and treatment, if needed. Just in case.”

At the same time, Vreta followed behind Freyr and eyed the coffee machine with some curiosity. Its scent was strong to him, and not too similar to anything he was used to. Once she had her cup, Vreta started to follow the same steps to make one for himself. Though, he still spoke up after Marae. “The military…OCI, right? Even if they don’t arrange that, I’m sure Rareth will. With the way I saw her acting back in the Vault, calling her ‘uncompromising’ would be an understatement. In fact, if anyone has any requests, it would probably be most effective for me to forward them to her.”

Nirann tilted his head briefly and was just about to speak, but Marae interrupted before he could even start. “No, she’s not getting you a tongue.”

The Cradle

Vreta saw the video feed inside Freyr’s apartment appear in the corner of his vision. He turned around and leaned back up against the glass, then put his side of the call onto the apartment’s holo-system so she could see him as well.

“My headaches are better, mostly, and I am at least well-rested.” Vreta answered, shrugging his shoulders. He saw Masgard as well, through the feed, though he supposed that did not change anything about what he wanted to say. “I would guess you are feeling rested as well. We had not even made it to the city before you were out cold. I carried you to your room. Now that you’re up again, I was thinking we might want to get the team together and…figure out what we need to do next, I suppose. Everything happened quickly yesterday. I haven’t heard anything from Rareth, or anyone else, yet.”

The Cradle

Vreta stood next to the window of his apartment, looking out over the mesa. The section of the apartment building that the Outremer military had allocated to them was near the apex of the city itself. Some clouds he could see passing beneath him, though it was a mostly clear day, overall. In the day that he had been here, he could not say that he had accomplished much except for resting, though that was certainly important in and of itself. He still felt a mild hint of a headache in the back of his mind, but he at least was not nearly so exhausted as he was before. He had spoken to a few members of the team, like Dr. Whetherall and Marae, for a short time, but not many had been too keen for conversation right away. Nirann was an exception, but he had seemed distracted in different ways.

Vreta had only been awake for a few hours himself, and as of yet had not left his room. There seemed to be enough space in the building for all of the members of the team to have their own apartments, which, for the moment, suited Vreta just fine, as he was free to keep the air temperature higher than most Humans would be comfortable with.

Eventually, Rhia passed on a notification that Freyr’s implants were marking her as available, which meant she was finally awake. Now that the Human science team was fully awake, they could gather to figure out their next move. Vreta currently had no updates or directives from Rareth, and the military certainly was not giving them any information as of yet, so it seemed to be up to them to figure out their next steps for now.

Letting out a sigh, Vreta reached out one hand and placed it on the window, his claws just barely touching the glass. It felt like every step they took caused as many problems as it did solutions. It seemed like they had more answers now than ever before, but they were still nowhere close to this being over. Regardless, all he could do was to keep pressing forward. After a few more moments, he directed his implants to make a call to Freyr.

The Cradle

Vreta gazed out the back of the transport at the landscape beneath them, even as they drew nearer to their destination. From what he could see from the sky, there were thick, tropical rainforests all beneath him, dispersed between clusters of rolling mountains. It actually reminded him of parts of Rothia where the mountains were older and more weathered. It was a pleasant kind of environment, in his opinion. The heat of the tropics was always welcome for Rothians, and forests were always teeming with exotic alien life. There was certainly a part of him that wished he could be here under different circumstances, as he was not sure if there would be any chance to rest.

Despite the distance between the cities, the flight to Réunion was measured in minutes, especially with the priority given to them as passengers on a government dropship. It did not take long for the pilot to notify them that they would be coming in for a landing shortly. Observing forward through the external cameras gave Vreta a new sight to admire in the form of the city itself. It was a layered city arranged across three mesas, on the edge of a large lake. A river flowing down from the mountains created multiple waterfalls to tie together the idyllic scenery. The city itself, again, gave Vreta some reminders of home. It was a massive city in every respect, well-maintained, with a skyline that showed an appreciation for aesthetics just as much as function. In some ways, it seemed like it stood as a part of the natural landscape, rather than being in opposition to it.

When the transport came in, it landed on a pad on the smallest and highest of the mesas. They were high up, even above some of the clouds, so the air was cooler than Vreta might have preferred. Still, that was hardly a priority at the moment. After all they had been through, Vreta just wanted to get some rest, though it seemed that Freyr was certainly way ahead of him in that regard. She had fallen fast asleep on the way.

Once on the ground, Vreta finally stood from his seat and approached Freyr and Dr. Whetherall. There had been such a short time aboard the transport that he did not particularly want to wake her so soon, so he glanced down at Dr. Whetherall. “I can carry her, if we don’t want to disturb her.” He remarked.

After unbuckling her harness, Vreta slowly hoisted Freyr up into his arms so as not to wake her. He had the strength to handle her weight with ease, so it was no meaningful burden to him to carry her around.

Halo: Aegis Team

Vael 'Virisusai

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The sound of another blade igniting briefly filled the cave as Vael drew his from his hip. He had been close to the wall of the cave and felt the pressure of something wrapping around one of his feet. With a flick of his wrist, the tips of the plasma blade burned through the thick vines, and some of the stone underneath.

”Away from the walls!” Vael shouted, backing up as far as he could, barely managing to stop himself from trampling over Flint. Though, there were few places for him to go. It was already crowded in the cave as it was, and they could not simply go out into the storm for long. ”Would there be any hazard to simply cutting the vines to pieces?” Vael asked Tar.