User blog:Lazarus Grimm/Elder Effect: The Visitors

ELDER EFFECT The Visitors

Miriam sat in her quarters, thumbing at the monitor as she was thinking on what to write. Here they were with the greatest discovery of all time, and yet she couldn’t put a single word to her report for the Archaeologists’ Guild. Drole Lathandras had left with a ship earlier the same morning to make contact with a company capable of towing the gigantic ship. Of course they needed to fully excavate it, but the dig job was almost completed at this point, she had no doubts that they would have it free by the time Drole came back with assistance. But she was worried. She had this gut feeling that maybe they were making a mistake, whatever the mistake was. During the nights she had terrible nightmares, as she gazed deep into the heart of that black ship, waking up with tear-filled eyes as whatever she had seen in there had frightened her. Even the workers complained about feeling uneasy in the presence of the ship, and it certainly didn’t help that it had once been piloted by giant monster-like beings that now sat fossilized in the cockpit as a permanent part of the interior.

Bihani had also been reluctant in transporting those strange cylindrical vessels they had found. He claimed that the pulsating lights within had somehow resonated with him, that he felt a strange familiarity towards them which he couldn’t even begin to explain. She understood what he meant well enough, even if she lacked the words of how to properly describe it. There definitely was something special about this find. Some sort of hidden connection that touched them all on a subconscious level, and considering the circumstances with the nightmares and the rising paranoia she was beginning to think that maybe it wasn’t in Mankind’s best interests to find this ship.

The Nord Thorrin Brown-Beard was still perplexed by the age of the ship, and tried to test his calculations over and over, but they always ended up with the same resolute answer. The ship was indeed before the time of… time. This very idea opened up for a limitless number of theories. Had the ship been originally constructed by the strange giant creatures found inside, or had they simply stolen it? What did the Aurbis look like back then? What was the cause of the universe changing? Were there other races around at that time?

Miriam’s unending myriad of questions all resulted in an old hypothetical theory she had been taught by her Argonian professor, Gleme-Lir, who proposed that there had indeed been an Aurbis before this one, and another Aurbis before that one, and another before that – and so on. But the idea of a never-ending universe stretching for as far as their sentient minds could even begin to comprehend, was often laughed off by other academics. He even proposed the idea of what he called “a Void Phenomenon”. According to Gleme-Lir it was a small window of space-time continuum in-between the destruction of a previous Aurbis and the creation of a new one – a window which could theoretically be manipulated to serve as a contained universe in itself. A proverbial gap, where people could live and thrive, and age, all before it would all be rendered into nothingness as a new universe was born. She found the idea silly but endearing, but also frightening at the same time. Assuming it was true, it spoke lengths of just how truly and unfathomably ancient their world truly was. So ancient that not even their tiny little intellects could even begin to comprehend the worlds and strange eons that had come and gone.

The Void Phenomenon… She tasted on the phrases and found it a fitting title, enigmatic yet so describing at the same time. She put it to the top of her text. The title was now complete. Maybe she could put it forward now as a serviceable theory? They had after all not come up with anything that would state otherwise; that this ship was constructed in their own space and age. The Void Phenomenon could best be described as the bridge spanning over the two worlds. An empty room, waiting to be filled. It existed for but a brief instant, but then again, forever. Assuming that everything that Gleme-Lir had theorized about was true, then maybe this ship had somehow arrived via that window, hence why it had remained so intact. But then again it didn’t make any sense. If the ship had survived by drifting in the Void Phenomenon between the destruction of the old Aurbis and the creation of the new one, then it didn’t explain what it was doing on Caecilly, seeing as the planetoid sure as hell didn’t exist at the same time their universe came into fruition.

She sighed and marked her report for deletion. She was making it too complicated for herself. And there were many gaping errors to be found in professor Gleme-Lir’s hypothesis to which she couldn’t bring herself to count. She was tired, but didn’t want to go to sleep, fearing that the nightmares would be there waiting for her.

It didn’t take long for her to be summoned via the CHIM. A notification appeared, an incoming voice call from the communications tower.

“Yes, what is it?” Miriam asked, slightly annoyed.

“There is an unflagged ship approaching the surface of Caecilly”, the operator replied. “Should we deny their request to land? Should the Elder Council be made aware?”

Miriam was concerned. What was a ship doing out here? Unflagged as well. Caecilly was almost completely off the charts from any trade routes, so either the ship had taken an extreme wrong turn somewhere, or maybe it was Drole finally returning with assistance. Or maybe it was…

“Hey, wait up!” the operator suddenly exclaimed via the channel. “They can’t just…!”

The communications were suddenly cut by a loud banging noise, before the CHIM turned to static and the call was terminated.

Miriam froze up. “What in the…?”

She then heard shouting from the outside, and the loud buzzing of engines hovering above the complex. From all over the area she could hear explosions and crashes.

Cannon fire, she reflected. “Pirates!”

She immediately shut down her monitor, and hid all the important documents as best as she could, before peeking outside her own quarters. What she saw was beyond her understanding, even when compared to primordial spacecrafts. A massive attack ship crept in low above the complex, firing upon them with deadly accuracy. There were fires erupting here and there, and workers and scientists alike fled in all directions out of sheer panic.

What was going on? This was unlike pirates and bandits, who would normally come swooping down to extort or take prisoners for ransom. This unprovoked attack seemed to stem from a mindset of absolute annihilation. At least that was the impression she got from it. A homed-in projectile came soaring down with deadly accuracy and took out three hapless workers standing by the loading bay. They were dead before they even hit the ground. Miriam could do nothing but just stand idly by and watch them get slaughtered. She was frozen with fear and she had been temporarily been struck deaf with all the cacophony that roamed around her. She had never even seen a dead body before.

Bihani came running towards her. “Miriam!” he exclaimed. “What the hell are you doing?! Run for it! Can’t you see we are being attacked?!”

“Wait… what? Attacked? I don’t understand.”

She understood well enough, but her voice and body had yet to catch up with what her mind was processing. She didn’t even have the strength to flee as her legs were locked in place, shaking uncontrollably.

It took a firm grip of Bihani’s strong hands to truly shake her aware of what was going on. He grabby her by the arm and started to run, dragging her along with him until her legs started to realize what was going on and followed suit.

The massive ship above their heads kept firing rapidly, without scrutiny and pardon. Whoever these people were, it was clear that they had no intention of leaving survivors and witnesses. It came closer towards the surface with the intention of landing further away.

Bihani got Miriam with her behind a stack of crates. The lack of clean oxygen started to get to them. From the distance they could observe as the attack ship made a successful landing, extending a bridge from its cargo hold. From its opening, soldiers poured. Armed men with full suits that completely blotted out the colors of whom or what they owed their allegiance to. They couldn’t even tell their race from this distance, perhaps it was one, and perhaps they were mixed. It didn’t matter. What mattered was their motivation for coming here with such lethal authority.

Miriam kept her head low as she watched the unidentified soldiers fire upon unarmed scientists and workers. Thorrin Brown-Beard had come outside just to see what all the ruckus was about only to be driven back inside as one of the soldiers shot him in the leg. She couldn’t see what happened to the Nord afterwards, but kept her hand over her mouth to keep her from gasping out loud. The Khajiit foreman by her side seemed struck with fear as well, but held his composure better than her, observantly watching the soldiers’ every move and cautiously prepared to take her and make a run for it – wherever safety could be found.

A leader of the soldiers motioned with his arm in several directions and the force split up into several troops. They forced doors open, secured perimeters by eliminating even more workers and archaeologists who had unsuccessfully tried to hide.

“Keep your head low”, Bihani whispered. “This one will take us to the comm tower. We need to relay a message to the Elder Council and break confidentiality. We must let them know what is going on and have them send reinforcements!”

Miriam could do nothing but to nod. She felt completely useless. She was of higher rank than Bihani at this complex, yet he was the one in command of the situation. She was fine with it. If he had any suggestions that would allow either her or both of them out of this attack safely, she’d take it.

He took her by the hand and crept silently along the walls of the mess hall. The unknown soldiers had yet to investigate this area, but most likely would do so within short. The communications tower was on fire; the first target of the attack with the top completely blown off. Chances were, however, that there was some equipment left inside that they could use to send for help.

Bihani let them both inside with the security code, and with his spare keys he opened the cellar door to a secluded section which they always had installed in communication towers, especially for situations like this. A backup of sorts, even though it only contained the most basic of equipment to relay messages across deep space. Though it would have to do, they didn’t exactly have the time to mope about it.

Bihani was swift on his hand, as expected of a Khajiit, and quickly had the spare module up and running. He typed in the co-ordinates for the White-Gold Tower Station and then allowed for Miriam to send her distress call.

She drew for breath. Who knew if she would still be alive once the Elder Council came to their rescue?

“Outrageous!” High Chancellor Ocato exclaimed. “The audacity of these pirates grow worse with each passing year!” The Altmer was extremely upset by the recent news of the attack on Caecilly.

“Can we even confirm it was pirates?” asked Councilor Ulfgar Winter-Fox. “From the description of this… Miriam Auxelia, they sounded far too organized. Not your common Reachmen rabble.”

Councilor Deneuve leaned back in her chair. “This is troublesome indeed. Not only because of the attack, but because of what could have possibly led them there.”

“Chances are they picked up the distress signal from the derelict spacecraft as well”, suggested Councilor Bandar Ulveryn. “Either that, or they just got plain lucky in discovering that there happened to be an archaeological dig on Caecilly, but I find that incredibly unlikely.

Councilor Hakim nodded. “Yes, but if they were sold out, why didn’t any message slip out via communications? We have surveyed every message ever sent from Caecilly without finding any incriminating evidence that would suggest an informant.”

“Unless the messages were coded”, Councilor Wading-the-Waters hissed.

“Can’t rule it out obviously”, said Councilor Aurox. “I will have a team go through the outgoing communications again. In the meantime we need to establish some sort of report as to what the end results of this travesty was and send for help immediately, assuming there is anyone still alive.”

Councilor Urgal Gro-Bagok snorted in approval. “I’d send a ship there as soon as this session is closed, but perhaps we should rethink our approach? We all know what they found there after all.”

The Elder Council members all sat back, mumbling in agreement.

Councilor Arwenyaden leaned forward with a proposition. “Perhaps something more discreet?” she suggested. “An undercover mission would require an undercover investigation team. If words of their findings on Caecilly got out to the media, and the public, not to mention the governments of all respective races, it could easily erupt into chaos.”

Councilor Aenlorn didn’t like the Summerset representative, but for the first time he nodded in agreement.

Councilor Dro’Khan, the Voice of the Mane, said nothing, but stoically observed the session under complete silence, as his secretary relayed everything that was said directly to the Mane, who in turn would tell Dro’Khan via his earpiece; Elsweyr’s opinion on each and every matter.

High Chancellor Ocato cleared his throat. “So what are you suggesting, Arwenyaden?”

The Altmer smiled and procured a list from her assistant. “I have here a list of some… individuals that might be of interest. While people would question the Elder Council sending soldiers and ships to a remote location in the middle of nowhere, I don’t think anyone would bat an eye to a ship full of ordinary civilians of the Mundus Galaxy, heading off for some exploration.”

The other Councilors exchanged gazes between one another, clearly suspicious and hesitant to go through with such an idea, but also genuinely curious. It was certainly a better proposition than a full armada revealing everything to the media and the public as to just what was going on down on Caecilly’s surface.

“Of course these aren’t just your ordinary holier-than-thou citizens, these are individuals of all backgrounds and … morals”, Arwenyaden said in hindsight. “But they all stem from experiences that could prove most useful to us in situations like these. We’ve got soldiers, mercenaries, doctors, scientists, informants, engineers. All kinds. What this list provides us with, is basically a handpicked crew of the best the galaxy has to offer us in every kind of field.”

High Chancellor Ocato motioned for the list to be delivered to him and once it was in his hands he thoroughly examined it. “And what assurances do we have that these will be able to stay loyal? Furthermore, stay quiet?”

Arwenyaden shrugged. “Money solves the most problems, doesn’t it? And I think promises of more money to come would secure our interests. It’s a piss in the ocean compared to the expenses of sending our own troops.”

Ocato certainly didn’t like the idea of employing random sellswords to investigate a matter of highest priority – nor did he approve of Arwenyaden’s choice of words in the council chambers, but the fellow Altmer certainly had a character of her own.

He glanced over at the list once more. There certainly were a lot of names there, and a lot of information behind each name. Decorated soldiers, science experts, renowned mercenaries, technological geniuses. They were all there, and from what he could tell of the list, Arwenyaden certainly hadn’t been lying. These were clearly the best of the best within their given profession, and the Divines knew they could certainly use every hand available in this matter. But it was not for him to say, not yet.

“I think I have seen enough to make up my mind on the matter”, he said. “Everyone in favor of this proposal, raise your hands.”

The majority of the council members raised their hands. He didn’t need to take into account those who hadn’t. They were too proud to lower themselves to relay such an important matter of state to the hands of the people whose loyalty could be purchased. And he couldn’t exactly the blame them. The idea didn’t sit right with him either, but it was an idea, and he wouldn’t put it aside without at least giving it a try.

“How do you propose we go forward with this?” Councilor Deneuve asked. “We bring these people in, promise them heaven and earth in exchange for investigating this matter, and then what?”

“They must be sworn to secrecy.” Wading-the-Waters said.

“Well, obviously”, Ulfgar Winter-Fox sighed. “But I think what Deneuve is referring to is what is to become of them afterwards? They fall under our employment, of course, but how do we make sure that the affairs of the Elder Council remain our affairs, and not a matter for the public or, Divines forbid, the media?”

“Maybe put them under some sort of surveillance?” Bandar Ulveryn suggested. “In fact we could provide them with a ship equipped with some surveillance systems that could easily keep them under management and observation. Find out what kind of people they are.”

Ocato didn’t like the idea of robbing people of their privacy, nor did he want to lie or spy on those he employed. “Within reason”, he relented. “Are we all onboard with this proposal then?” he asked. “Know that if the media finds out what we have all agreed upon here, they are going to have a field day.”

The secretary by Dro’Khan’s side whispered something in his ear, and he stood up, stoic as usual. “Considering the alternatives”, he began. “This one thinks that we would all agree that lucrative as this proposal might be, it would cause a public outrage and panic, if they find out about the events and circumstances concerning the expedition on Caecilly.”

The other Councilors nodded in agreement.

“This one therefore sees no other reason but to bring these mentioned peoples into our fold, provide them with whatever equipment they require, promise them whatever rewards they desire, and then send them onward to contain the situation on Caecilly, and hopefully even bring the perpetrators to face the Elder Council’s justice.” He then gave a short nod. “The Mane has spoken.”

High Chancellor Ocato respectfully nodded and signaled for the door guard. “Bring me agent Milerius”, the Altmer said. “Tell him that the Elder Council has summoned him to carry out a very important task concerning matters of the Mundus Galaxy’s safety.”

The door guard put a clenched fist to his chest as a salute. “Yes, High Chancellor.”

Ocato then turned to the remainder of the Councilors. “This council is now concluded. May the Divines watch over us all.”