Posting this a day late after working all day yesterday for the Romney campaign and then staying up until 1:00 to watch election results... Many apologies for the lateness...
Part LXXXVIII: Awakening
Date: Kornun 21st, 114 A.U.
The sun was shining directly into his face when Zarien woke up, finding himself no longer in a darkened room, but in blinding light. Startled, and expecting to find himself in the Mothership, Zarien turned around as he realized his lack of any real bonds apart from the seat belt to find himself in a small airship that looked like an escape pod. There were two elves—one with wings, in the front row of the ship. And Cortna, asleep, was sitting across the small two-foot aisle from him.
"Cortna!” Zarien said, moving to undo the seat belt that loosely held him in.
“Stop.” One of the two elves in the front turned back to look at him, alarm in her eyes.
“Hey!” Zarien said, staring at her. “You were that elf that were at the Citadel-”
"Yes, I’m Sereth—the one that you mistook for my twin sister,” the elf said curtly. “And before you continue-”
“But I haven’t seen Cortna for such a long time,” Zarien said, undoing his seat belt. “I-”
“Stop,” Sereth snapped, and Zarien noticed a tinge of pain in her eyes. “That’s why you have to stop and listen,” she said in a quieter voice. “Cortna… she isn’t like she used to be, Zarien.”
“What do you mean?”
“I… I don’t know how you used to know each other,” Sereth said. “Although since you’re part of the Xavier Team, I would assume that you met her in the resistance group she was a part of, but… She got captured, Zarien.”
“I know,” Zarien said. “I thought she was dead—but she’s still alive, and-”
“The Emperor indoctrinated her, Zarien.”
Zarien’s blood ran cold. “What?!”
“The Emperor broke her in order to gain all the secrets he could from her before forcing her into submission,” Sereth whispered, one tear running down her cheek. “She won’t recognize you, Zarien. She is a devout Imperialist, although she doesn’t know exactly what Hazael and I are doing. She’s barely alive, almost like a robot in how she conducts herself… She’s broken, Zarien. She’s broken.”
The escape pod slowly pulled into the port of the relatively small ship, workmen guiding it in and making sure it was secure before the door opened and the inhabitants came out. With some quick words to the workers, the group continued inside, Sereth holding Cortna tightly, Zarien trailing behind, not exactly sure about what to do, as they walked in.
“I’m going to take Cortna to her room so that we don’t have to mask our words while talking to the leader,” Sereth said. “You two can go on ahead; Hazael, you can introduce Zarien to him, and I’ll return soon.”
“Let me help with Cortna,” Zarien quickly volunteered. “I-”
“You will do no such thing,” Sereth snapped, whirling around to face him. “She is my sister and you have no right upon her.”
Zarien opened his mouth to respond, but couldn’t get the words out. How was he to explain how deep his relationship with Cortna had been, or what it might have been?
“I have no sister,” Cortna emotionlessly muttered as Sereth prodded her along down the hall.
“Let’s go…” Hazael said quietly, and after a moment’s hesitation, Zarien followed.
Zarien hadn’t been expecting the leader of the elven resistance group to bow to him the moment they met.
“But of course it is my duty,” the leader, an elf named Rezja responded as he straightened up. “After all, as a member of the Xavier Team, you are one of the seven leaders in our effort to overthrow the elven anarchy. We’ve been tracking you for some time though we haven’t managed to make contact with you yet.”
“I see…” Zarien said, and then he suddenly jerked up. “You’ve been tracking us?!”
“Over your radios,” Rezja said. “Don’t be alarmed. We have limited access into the elven central system, but we’ve intercepted the waves enough so that they think they’ve already analyzed their content when they haven’t. The elves have a greatly sophisticated tracking system for radio waves. You were lucky to get caught by us.”
“I see…” Zarien said again, pondering this for a minute before looking back up. “So how many men are part of your group.”
“Well, our number is embarrassingly few,” Rezja said. “There are less than a hundred men and we only have a handful of bases around the elven ships. Still, we’re working on it, and given that we only started a year ago, we feel like we’ve made much progress.”
“I assume the elves think this airship is one of their own?” Zarien asked.
“It’s in their computer systems as some exploratory ship or whatever,” Rezja said.
“Was our group in contact with yours?” Zarien asked, narrowing his gaze.
“At the time that your group was in operation, we were still working on making this ship and giving it the right specifications to escape the elves’ notice,” Rezja said. “It was a month or so after your group met its final demise that we began looking for contacts in other places.”
“I see…” Zarien said, repeating the phrase for the third time that meeting as Sereth entered the room.
“So, why are you here?” Rezja asked.
“I’ll speak for him,” Sereth interrupted. “We were watching their mission to rescue Hagion. They found and rescued Hagion, but Zarien here got captured. He was on route to the Mothership when we broke him out of his prison. We haven’t been able to pick up any communication from the rest of the Xavier Team, and so we brought him here.”
“And what do you plan to do here?” Rezja asked.
“Figure out how to get back with the rest of my team, before they plan some big search and rescue mission to find me,” Zarien said. “Can we contact them?”
“Unfortunately, not,” Rezja said. “Although our equipment can pick up your signal and make the elves think that they’ve already examined it, our equipment can’t send out a precise-enough signal to communicate with your channels. It’s a bit complicated to someone non-versed in your field, but basically we can receive anything from a 2.6 to a 3.0 signal, but we can’t narrow down what your signal is enough to know if it’s a 2.718 or a 2.743, and so on. Our best hope of returning you to them is to wait until they use them again, either to communicate to each other, or with your Resistance base back home, and hopefully they’ll drop a hint to where they are or where they’re going.”
“Shoot,” Zarien said glumly. “I had left it up to the others to know the precise location of our meeting place is... So I’m stuck here?”
“Unfortunately, yes,” Rezja said. “Until they can use their long-distance radios… You’re stuck.”
Question of the Day: What should Zarien do now?
Part LXXXVIII: Awakening
Date: Kornun 21st, 114 A.U.
The sun was shining directly into his face when Zarien woke up, finding himself no longer in a darkened room, but in blinding light. Startled, and expecting to find himself in the Mothership, Zarien turned around as he realized his lack of any real bonds apart from the seat belt to find himself in a small airship that looked like an escape pod. There were two elves—one with wings, in the front row of the ship. And Cortna, asleep, was sitting across the small two-foot aisle from him.
"Cortna!” Zarien said, moving to undo the seat belt that loosely held him in.
“Stop.” One of the two elves in the front turned back to look at him, alarm in her eyes.
“Hey!” Zarien said, staring at her. “You were that elf that were at the Citadel-”
"Yes, I’m Sereth—the one that you mistook for my twin sister,” the elf said curtly. “And before you continue-”
“But I haven’t seen Cortna for such a long time,” Zarien said, undoing his seat belt. “I-”
“Stop,” Sereth snapped, and Zarien noticed a tinge of pain in her eyes. “That’s why you have to stop and listen,” she said in a quieter voice. “Cortna… she isn’t like she used to be, Zarien.”
“What do you mean?”
“I… I don’t know how you used to know each other,” Sereth said. “Although since you’re part of the Xavier Team, I would assume that you met her in the resistance group she was a part of, but… She got captured, Zarien.”
“I know,” Zarien said. “I thought she was dead—but she’s still alive, and-”
“The Emperor indoctrinated her, Zarien.”
Zarien’s blood ran cold. “What?!”
“The Emperor broke her in order to gain all the secrets he could from her before forcing her into submission,” Sereth whispered, one tear running down her cheek. “She won’t recognize you, Zarien. She is a devout Imperialist, although she doesn’t know exactly what Hazael and I are doing. She’s barely alive, almost like a robot in how she conducts herself… She’s broken, Zarien. She’s broken.”
The escape pod slowly pulled into the port of the relatively small ship, workmen guiding it in and making sure it was secure before the door opened and the inhabitants came out. With some quick words to the workers, the group continued inside, Sereth holding Cortna tightly, Zarien trailing behind, not exactly sure about what to do, as they walked in.
“I’m going to take Cortna to her room so that we don’t have to mask our words while talking to the leader,” Sereth said. “You two can go on ahead; Hazael, you can introduce Zarien to him, and I’ll return soon.”
“Let me help with Cortna,” Zarien quickly volunteered. “I-”
“You will do no such thing,” Sereth snapped, whirling around to face him. “She is my sister and you have no right upon her.”
Zarien opened his mouth to respond, but couldn’t get the words out. How was he to explain how deep his relationship with Cortna had been, or what it might have been?
“I have no sister,” Cortna emotionlessly muttered as Sereth prodded her along down the hall.
“Let’s go…” Hazael said quietly, and after a moment’s hesitation, Zarien followed.
Zarien hadn’t been expecting the leader of the elven resistance group to bow to him the moment they met.
“But of course it is my duty,” the leader, an elf named Rezja responded as he straightened up. “After all, as a member of the Xavier Team, you are one of the seven leaders in our effort to overthrow the elven anarchy. We’ve been tracking you for some time though we haven’t managed to make contact with you yet.”
“I see…” Zarien said, and then he suddenly jerked up. “You’ve been tracking us?!”
“Over your radios,” Rezja said. “Don’t be alarmed. We have limited access into the elven central system, but we’ve intercepted the waves enough so that they think they’ve already analyzed their content when they haven’t. The elves have a greatly sophisticated tracking system for radio waves. You were lucky to get caught by us.”
“I see…” Zarien said again, pondering this for a minute before looking back up. “So how many men are part of your group.”
“Well, our number is embarrassingly few,” Rezja said. “There are less than a hundred men and we only have a handful of bases around the elven ships. Still, we’re working on it, and given that we only started a year ago, we feel like we’ve made much progress.”
“I assume the elves think this airship is one of their own?” Zarien asked.
“It’s in their computer systems as some exploratory ship or whatever,” Rezja said.
“Was our group in contact with yours?” Zarien asked, narrowing his gaze.
“At the time that your group was in operation, we were still working on making this ship and giving it the right specifications to escape the elves’ notice,” Rezja said. “It was a month or so after your group met its final demise that we began looking for contacts in other places.”
“I see…” Zarien said, repeating the phrase for the third time that meeting as Sereth entered the room.
“So, why are you here?” Rezja asked.
“I’ll speak for him,” Sereth interrupted. “We were watching their mission to rescue Hagion. They found and rescued Hagion, but Zarien here got captured. He was on route to the Mothership when we broke him out of his prison. We haven’t been able to pick up any communication from the rest of the Xavier Team, and so we brought him here.”
“And what do you plan to do here?” Rezja asked.
“Figure out how to get back with the rest of my team, before they plan some big search and rescue mission to find me,” Zarien said. “Can we contact them?”
“Unfortunately, not,” Rezja said. “Although our equipment can pick up your signal and make the elves think that they’ve already examined it, our equipment can’t send out a precise-enough signal to communicate with your channels. It’s a bit complicated to someone non-versed in your field, but basically we can receive anything from a 2.6 to a 3.0 signal, but we can’t narrow down what your signal is enough to know if it’s a 2.718 or a 2.743, and so on. Our best hope of returning you to them is to wait until they use them again, either to communicate to each other, or with your Resistance base back home, and hopefully they’ll drop a hint to where they are or where they’re going.”
“Shoot,” Zarien said glumly. “I had left it up to the others to know the precise location of our meeting place is... So I’m stuck here?”
“Unfortunately, yes,” Rezja said. “Until they can use their long-distance radios… You’re stuck.”
Question of the Day: What should Zarien do now?
RSS Feed