Thuringia is an unusual inside-pocket within the coat of Rheinland, an eerily quiet system who's existence is tirelessly kept only under pen and paper to those outside of its reach. When a crippled republic sheered itself irreparably, it held as the last bastion of a desperate democratic desire within a forbidden graveyard. Even as the silence returned once the guns fell wary, Pandora finally picked the last pin behind her own lock as it finally tasted humanities blend of destructive evil. But for the Thuringians it made here, they shed all they once were to thrive in this place. The civilian worlds were nothing more than protected gardens to the souls sentenced here, even if they seclusively dreamt of leaving it behind, their everlasting call to this dark void from its threatening to seep and poison the hope they have for their unmet populace. To live though what is foretold to arrive, yet with the goal of peace that their blood invests in, is accepted as their eternal traumatic campaign. Hidden within the corpse of Gotha is the asteroid base, Tennstetd. Housed between shattered fragments to conceal those that were left behind from the costly schism, to rebuild from their forbidden lives while they grapple with their engineered purpose.
The hanger bay is the most active of places on the station, the inside had no evidence of the asteroids exterior as the monumental array of reinforced panels, catwalks above manning the freight cranes or operating the command room that watches over. The work of tireless people continue to maintain the equipment rotating in and out constantly, pilots replace each other in mere minutes and the crews get their vessel resupplied and re-equipped without even a second of delay, all before being relaunched out into the deadly void to continue volunteered duties. But that action seemed to repeat everywhere, repair teams working on the station infrastructure swapping burning hot injectors and replacing them within a blank of an eye, working forklifts with hairline gaps between obstacles still and walking. But not a word even whispered from them, no pleasantries or commands, no arguments or complaints.
CS was stood at the airlock entrance facing it, worrying if he stood out among the entire hanger as he was the only one rocking back and forth on the heels of his boots. Looking about at his comrades as his urge to join them was hard to ignore, waiting about for the arrival for anticipated guests was a new feeling to Tennsdedt's inhabitants even if they attempted to continue. It was hard to separate the feeling of judgment from their curious observation, but he had to reassure himself that this moment of social exercise was more than just for his adventurous indulgence.
Seeing past the small window on the airlock door, he occasionally tilted his head to view down the entire length of the airlock, seeing the lone approaching woman clad in a dark purple robes and uniform but donning a helmet similar to the rest of the stations inhabitants. Ten meters from the door... Looked like a bodyguard at the door, maybe it was the right call to trust her word, but it was more valuable him to see it work. Five meters from the door... While guests were a rarity enough that the idea of their crew quarters being visited had everyone in edge about outsider perception. Although what worried him more was the essence of what lied underneath his own helmet was truly known by her... She's at the door, the hissing hydraulics swinging the bulkhead open up high, the noise felt through the floor as the motors rumbled to announced her arrival.
The Velvet Coronet had made entry to the base. Disembarking shortly was a figure composed of silver and white robes with components of armor, accented by deep purple hues. Accompanying the masked figure was a robot, akin to an operative, they were ordered to stay back and guard the ship. Approaching the door, she awaited in anticipation, with a degree of nervousness of them finding out the truth. As the bulkhead revealed the way forward, she walked, noticing more figures. A simple silent nod of a salutation was had. No expression was had as her arms rested in the concealed comfort of the draped cape, simply gazing through the faceless mask.
A simple nod, it was enough of a greeting for many around here, and then another... Equally and without hesitation to the robot, who was behind Revenant, stood to remain here. "I appreciate your arrival, we'll be heading through to my quarters but please feel welcome as a guest here... Before we begin, is there anything you require while you're here?" The voice amplified through the speaker of his helmet as his hand swiftly and smoothly reached out to extend a handshake to formalise his greeting.
"... I am most gracious for your warm welcoming. I still have the aforementioned tea time special." She was willing to follow him, settling down at a familiar face. "I have my flask incase the affliction gets worse. But, no, thank you, I won't need anything." Her arms never left the concealed cover of the robes.
"Ah..." His fingers curled and retracted for a moment as he consolidated his thoughts, he took a second to extend his arm beside him as his palm opened towards the access corridor to the rest of the station. "This way, I think you've already got enough people curious hanging around here..."
He looked around the hanger on level and above, some people had already diverted completely from their duties, clinging onto the catwalk rails as their helmet visits gazed down to the pair below... Until one was aware of the attention, the hanger had become eerily quiet. "Follow me, it's not too far of a walk." Quickly noting, before setting off at the same place Revenant arrived.
She nodded, silently following him down the corridor. "I think the visit of a mysterious ghost would pique the curiosity of many. " Acknowledging, she happily followed him down the various hallways.
A maze of corridors and lifts were wandered through by the pair, seeing the communal-rooms that were occupied yet dormant at the same time by these people, passers by walking at a brisk march to their next destination with their footsteps in synced like clockwork no matter how many were traveled together. The security on the station almost seems lax as a lack of checkpoints or security, CS and Revenant progressed though Tennsdedt as if life was uninterrupted... Except for the 'glaring' fact that almost every other inhabitant had fixated their view on Revenant throughout the journey, as if they were seeing through visor and and past the whites of her eyes. "You've seemed to have stirred up a few questions being here yourself... We're almost there anyhow."
As they approached a hallway of doors, each one had a sign outside with two letters: FH, EE, US... CS. As soon as he approached, the hydraulic heavy duty door slid open without command. "Please, make yourself comfortable as you can. The door will shut behind you." CS took the first step inside himself to guide the way in, it was moderately spacious and decently furnished with comfortable necessities. Although the colours looked almost clinical with shades of black and grey, and decorations were beyond non-existant as the wall panels were as clean as the day this room was constructed... Except for one thing, the large round black polished steel table that sat in the centre of the dimly illuminated quarters was a familiar black velvet bag, brimming almost by it's seams. "I will SCIF my quarters shortly, then we can speak in full confidence." He took a moment to pull out one of the chairs at the table for her to sit on if she pleases... Although the room had other choices for comfort it seems.
Revenant glanced around quietly, investigating the state of the oddly serene nature yet depraved nature of his monotonous room. Taking a small but polite seat - her limbs all tucked in and kept still, her palms still remained under the robe. Clearly, they were holding something underneath. She looked around, briefly scanning under her mask for anything unusual as he mentioned he would conceal up the room from any unwanted eavesdroppers. Should be walk away, or look away, suddenly, a small kitchenware tub would appear on the table in front of her, containing what vaguely appeared to be some kind of cake.
While using the control panel on the wall, a lightly noted two tone bleep responded to his finger tapping. The ambience stations vibrations have dropped immensely, the room had at least some echo previously but it was soon replaced by a slight muffled pressure as if the walls absorbed the noise. Turning off the panel to observe Revenants actions in the hazy reflection, he was taken back by the tupperware for a split second, his eyes vaguely identified the porous nature of the food inside... Looked better than his usual desert meal set.
"Uh... SCIF is on... Sorry if it's weird, we don't take too kindly to being seen." As he strolled past the table, he moved over to a small tea and coffee station on a little table in the corner of the room, equipped with an instant water boiler and a small tray of cutlery to go with it. While a stand of many bland coffee mugs stood at the ready, A single steel camping mug took the top... One that had seen a fair bit of action as its repeatedly polished surface was marred with scratches, dents and plenty of scorching. "Would you like a coffee... Or a tea? You'll have to pardon the choice, I've always taken them from hotels to drink at some point but never any time to try any." He noted at an assortment of single use tea bags and instant coffee sachets, there was certainly a choice for someone in there. As he prepared his own coffee by ripping two milk sachets open, he took another mug off the stand in anticipation...
She nodded, acknowledging him. Her posture was more relaxed, palms resting upon laps. "I wouldn't mind any Bretonian tea, if you have any. Usually, I'm opposed to it, but supplies are quite... -- Well. The Stores in Rheinland lack variety. I understand your need for secrecy, especially in this sector. So, Viper, huh. Have any thoughts about their experiment?"
"Its dangerous... A gamble, I can already tell that its probably going to involve a high amount of overcharged plasma." He sounded disappointed or exhausted, it was hard to tell between the two. The quiet clinking of spoon hitting the tea up didn't even echo in this silent room. "But sooner or later it was either me or her that would try to find a way to assault the hive here." As he was emptying the tea bags out of both cups, he took a moment to tidy up the small tea station...
His fingers slipped under the rim of his helmet, a small hiss from the seal around his neck... The sound his helmet squeezing out around his face as it came off left his short hair rife with static. Grabbing both mugs and sitting down to the right of Revenant on the circular table. "Although I don't know what such a brute force method will do to this fragile system, the temples below... That power cell she has." He slid over the tea towards her.
"She wants to obliterate the infectees nest. The brute force, indeed. I don't think it's going to end well. She doesn't know what she's toying with, especially with the machinations that are tied to the DKV. After Harbinger mentioned to keep a jump drive charged while asked of to observe the incident, mmm. You can bet something won't be right. "
His eyes while replaced were succumbing to a feeling of retraction at the mention of that name. "Why does he want to watch this place again? Potentially another peice of the puzzle... Might even explain why I've been feeling watched... Again." He takes a moment to collect himself before sipping on the hot metal mug of tea. His crossing his legs and tucking them under his seat, "Because I had the same idea myself. Once we've got the ship back, we were to station it here to watch over this place." He tugs over the velvet sack by its drawstring, it rolled its way over to him with a heavy growl until he cupped it within his hands. "He gave me this... You think he'd feign ignorance of knowing me? He felt as clueless to who I was."
"Curiosity. Turns out he had the same thoughts as I did, those subrelays in Earhart, how it's going to affect the machines there." Revenant gazed at the sack, tilting her head slightly in curiosity. "I do not know, I believe he may have forgotten you. A lot can happen. He does seem to be focused on these matters regarding the DKV devices uncovered... What is in there?"
His hand slipped into the pouch, gently easing out purple jewel with an oval like shape, wrapped within a gold band engraved with glyph writing. "I don't know... Had it for almost a decade. Harbinger led me to it within the caves of Sprauge. Demanded blood at the time..." He held it up, raised by his fingertips as he twisted it for his own eyes.
"Those caves... I'll never forget those caves." Twisting it in the dim light from above, the single crack inside never seems to reach the outer shell of the jewel, it shimmers brightly even while it sits motionless as it was being gazed upon... Something was definitely moving within.
She held a silent gaze on the object, pondering, feeling, contemplating what was revealed. "Do you remember why he wanted you to go there?"
"I..."
His eyes looked like they were on the brim of realization, but as his mouth resisted giving any speech. He cradled the artifact in his lap as he slumped back into his seat, seeing as Revenant was relaxed as much as he's ever seen her... Maybe he should take a few pointers.
"I was curious... They had shown me peace once because I was so frightened to shoot them the first time. A new situation and I wasn't prepared to act, so when Harbinger and I had taken a few occasions to chat. I quietly went on patrol and never came back to military command... I've heard stories of possessed pilots but I figured a gun would keep them at a distance if trained enough."
His thumbs gently rubbed on that glossy jewel as he spoke, his black and teal cybernetic eyes gloomed over the fractured void within his hands. "He pointed the way to Sprague, deep within the tunnel networks was the first time I've seen the work of the DKV. He told me to retrieve a sacred path... I didn't know what it was myself but the urge to succeed in an assignment just took over... To explore, to understand, to dare the frontier... I went willingly into the depths with Harbinger perching its voice on my shoulder."
"Heh." She listened, casually leaning upon the desk. "Familiar. That's what is going on with me too. Did he ever know what to look for? If he wanted it, I'm surprised you're still keeping it? What happened in the end?" A brief pause, thinking, assessing whether or not that it's worth the risk of telling their secret. "It seems like they have always benefited from like minded people who are too curious for their own good."
"Don't start now with all those questions in one go... You'll get what I can tell you because I know there is more." His head hung low, his body took to attempts to try and shift itself to face her... His hand reached out slowly with the artifact. Offering it to her to observe what lied within. "He saw what he wanted to see... I just had to be dragged along with it. Sometimes I see glimpses of it when I'm on the cusp of sleep... I remember the caves falling away as I fell further."
"Too much? Hmm. Don't remember then, eh?" She jested lightly, slowly reaching her palms out to gently grasp the artifact, gazing down it intently upon the table. Inspecting every little part of the quartz, scanning it within the mask. An oddly familiar sense was had. She couldn't quite understand it, but that odd sense of connection was there. A dulled, drowned out feeling. Perhaps the spark of light within could feel its gentle aura. No less, for her, it was an idle point of curiosity - destined to be drowned - yet disturbed by the small sensation of white noise the little sample produced.
"I do remember up to a point." The shimmering underneath he couldn't ignore as his eyes never broke from it. The hand he held up to her was slowly brought to his chest, the remaining right hand came to tug off the gloves that covered it... A long single scar that stretched across his palm. "After that...? I felt the void, free of a shell and I somehow knew how to move with the current of energy... On demand, at a whim!" His palm had already clawed with tension, his voice had inflection rather than it's usual monotonic narrowness. "The problem is I will try to remember what I saw, yet I still don't understand it... Even if it screams so loudly at night. My gamble many years ago thought this could bring a means of translation of their language or methods. But no, problems started after I offered my blood for it..."
Her masked face peered up, locking over to him, gesturing in curiosity once more with a tilt, perked up by his words of a blood ritual. "I saw it as no sacrifice, my blood is replenish-able, the pain merely a moment to pass... Harbinger wanted me to tell it who I was in a way it understood." Its like as if the helmet wasn't there anymore, the notion of confident leadership, a stable calculated individual in both lives... But not here. "My blood went in, and in return the noises grew louder and clearer, the rock, stone and dust in the caves were gone for good, I was assured I wasn't just hallucinating some sort of psionic trickery. In that moment, it, not Harbinger, was showing me this. While Harbinger watched that was all he could do... At that point I was conscious that the decisions in this vision were my own, soon surrounded by the dense energy structures and junctions of flowing matter, it was not too dissimilar now to the presence of a psionic entity... But not an emotional feeling... it was in a way how we work machines, I knew it was telling me its function purely from its feeling."
He unzips his flightsuit outer layer, a hand reaching in to pull out a black leather-back pocket journal. And in the same time taking a sip of tea while sliding the journal onto the table. "But I was overwhelmed with new sights, sounds... I could never get anything coherent until I held my hands close to the streams that crossed all over this weightless void. My hands could almost feel the current flow of them as if they vibrated through my skin... Harmonic, constant. But I felt like I could sway the current as if I could leech the flow with the thought of my hand pulling on that energy, A challenge to do but it was enough." His eyes accidentally slip onto Revanant and her mask, while in the moment of looking for reassurance he was startled about the perception of himself to her. Slouching back in his seat as his hands quickly began to rub up and down the length of his thighs out of habit. "I'm sorry... I must be flooding you with information. Its been a lo- No. I've never talked about this."
A light hum, her tone almost similar to that of nostalgia. "An attunement to machines, hmm... Though, not in the same capacity as you with the very control of energy itself, I was imprinted similarly by another specimen, a crystal. This was... years ago. I find myself very familiar to the synthetic but -... You? Your entire senses must have been completely overridden. " She reached up, releasing her mask, a small hiss of air releasing as pressure normalised, to reveal the now-much refined face, stress and damage piling up. The missing eye replaced with a cybernetic implant - akin to a flat surface. A gaze of curiosity yet concern coated her expression, wondering if the man she knew was hurt by this change. "It must have been a lot."
He crossed his ankle over his knee... His fingers tapping away as he continued to switch his eyes between her and the artifact. "I uh-- yeah... It was, felt like seconds and days at the same time. When I pulled a stream across one into the path of the other..." His hands danced with his fingers spread out, hands shaping around an invisible orb which he is clearly imagining himself. "I just remember, when they finally collided... The rush of the void was trying to drag me in, but the mere thought of resisting these... sub-space winds was enough to keep me static in this infinite web of--" He was still struggling to explain the sights of a vision from another life,even if his eyes were fake, his habit of rubbing them with his thumb and fingers in this instance was more than required.
"When the flow merged, a spark at the point of convergence, brighter than a white dwarf as it's scream of impact soon merged into a synchronous chorus. It grew in size as I wished it to be. You could feel it's turbulent rumble becoming a gentle hum as it pushed itself and the winds it pulled became stronger. But I would only move as soon as I felt it was ready, when the winds stopped growing stronger, and only then I let my grip go, I felt my weightless body fall in and flew through the current myself..." Remembering such an intense yet indescribable memory, his hands continued to tense around an object in mid air, his tendons bulging from under the ball of his hands and between his fingers. His attention fully falling into the state of the memory, unaware of the artifact twitching by the micrometer, the newtons of weight gently pressing into Revenant's hand as it attempted to tug itself in some direction... All in sync with the movement of CS's restless digits...
