COMM ID:Nicole Hayes TARGET ID:Revenant SOURCE:<ENCRYPTED>
Revenant. We haven't met, but I'm sure you know about me, and I know about you. And I know about your plans. I know about the Sentinels, I know about the vault, I know about Harbinger, I know about Caliban. I know about Baxter anomalies, I know about dark matter, and I know about the information hazard. I know that you're trying to keep a lid on it all, because you're trying to make sure that the problem doesn't get out of hand. I know that you're scared for your organization, and I know that you think that the more people know about this, the more dangerous it is for everyone involved. If you try to push me away from this, then all you're going to do is push away a potential ally, so please listen carefully to what I have to say.
I think that the way you're approaching this is wrong. I think you're trying to be defensive when you should be offensive. Let me explain why--as warning, I'm sure I'm probably going to rehash a lot of things you already know.
One thing that I was used to doing a lot as the head of special operations in the Liberty Navy was trying to get into the head of my enemy, and understand what they're planning. Logically, we can make some deductions about the Sentinels. We can deduce that they're an intelligent actor, or were created by one. We can deduce that they're either related to the nomads, or that they're composed of nomads that have been "indoctrinated." We also know that the Sentinels hunt anyone that know about them. They seem to do this because they're trying to protect the vault. This suggests that they're trying to control the spread of information--which is a classic cover-up tactic.
Something doesn't add up, though. If they're able to memetically sense who knows about them and who doesn't, then the whole of Auxo should be a major target for them. Valravn should be under siege, or destroyed. But, it's not, and they're not. There are a few reasons why this could be the case.
First, they could be occupied with something else. If that's the case, then that would have terrifying implications; but, logically speaking, it doesn't make much sense. If they had bigger fish to fry, then they wouldn't hunt individuals who know about them--people like Caliban--which they notably do. So a bigger threat isn't very likely.
Second of all, they could be biding their time, waiting for the best opportunity. This would be in line with their current modus operandi, and it would suggest that they're cunning, intelligent enemies. But it also suggests that they don't have the resources to perform an all-out assault.
Third, they could just not be aware of how big the problem is, and once they find out, they'll perform an all-out assault and raze Valravn. This would be bad, but it would also suggest that there are limits to what they can actually sense from us, which is a point to our advantage, and something which should be exploited.
Fourth, they could just be irrational, or unguided. This would be difficult to deal with, but it's not something that we can work with if we're trying to think logically, so I'm going to discount it.
What I would do, though, is different: if I were a powerful enemy with a vault of hidden information that I know people don't actually know, and can't get to, then I would wait for people to come to me. I gain nothing by performing ambushes on random individuals that happen to know anything about it. If anything, it actually ends up being worse for me in the long run, because I have to expend resources every time that I do it, and the more often it happens, the more likely it is that survivors get out to tell people what happened, which intensifies the problem if my goal is to reduce the spread of information.
So then. Why are they hunting people?
There's only two reasons that make sense. The first reason, the alien reason, is that they just hate us for no apparent reason. The second reason, the rational reason, is because they're afraid of us. They're afraid of what might happen if people know about what they're guarding. Rational actors don't lash out unless they feel like they have to.
They're not infallible. They're not omnipotent. They're not omniscient, and they can't be everywhere at once. So secrecy plays right into their hands, because the more time is spent worrying about how they might hunt someone down, the less time is spent planning and making use of every resource available to you. If this is the existential threat I've been told it is, then everyone needs to work together, not keep secrets like this is high school.
So my suggestion to you: go on the offensive. Test their defenses. Test their reaction time. Take notes. As long as they think you're scared of them, they have complete power over you. You have a lot more to gain by taking decisive action than by letting them whittle your resources away.
Let me help you. And for the love of god, if you're going to keep a secret then work on your f*cking opsec, it's atrocious.