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Episode 02: Cosmic Imperative / Re: Ch 4: S [D01 |1830] Second Station from the right and straight on till its over
Last post by Griff -[Show/Hide]
On his way back to the aerodrome from meeting Barpin, Alistair got more than a few odd looks from passing Savi. He was, in all fairness, outside the assigned area for the Theurgy crew, and was probably the first alien that many of the Savi had ever seen. His escort, a terse being named Rayui, was the only reason that Alistair wasn't stopped. Still, Rayui set a glacial pace in traversing the giant vessel, ignoring Alistair's increasingly exasperated requests to go faster.
If he'd thought that he could've made it without being stopped or (more likely) shot, Alistair would've ditched Rayui and sprinted flat out to the aerodrome. The idea of the team launching before he reached them was painful. It wasn't that Alistair had critical information or advice. He simply hated the idea of sending people on such a dangerous mission without seeing them first. It just felt...wrong.
Fortunately, Alistair made it to the aerodrome in time, and he sighed in relief when he saw that the Valkyries and shuttles were still there. Still, he limited himself to a brisk stride rather than jogging, if only for appearances. It had to look as if he was a competent leader, even if he was a mess inside.
Finally, as he approached the group, Alistair called out "zh'Wann, Valin, over here." He patiently waited a discreet distance from the rest of the team for Ida and Cal to come to him, giving him a moment to reflect on the absurdity of the moment. Ida had saved his life weeks ago on Praxis, and Cal had been quite aggressively kissed by Alistair's girlfriend just a few days prior, among other activities before that. It would've been comical under other circumstances, instead of just bizarre.
After Ida and Cal reached him, Alistair couldn't help but consider the latter for another moment out of simple curiosity. He immediately saw what attracted Enyd; attractive, confident, maybe a little flair too. Still, time and place.
"Okay, you both know your jobs better than I do," Alistair said, "so I'll keep this brief. The Savi data that you're going after could give us an edge against the Infested. With luck, it'll give us clues to their plans, their resources, maybe more. At a minimum, your raid should draw some enemy ships away from Hobus and give us better odds when we attack the main facility."
Alistair paused. "With all that said: the data is not worth thirty billion lives. In two hours, we are attacking Hobus with or without you, no matter what happens. It's up to both of you to assess the risk during the raid and, if necessary, abandon the mission to join back up with us later. Use your own judgement. Are we clear?"