Cearbhail:

I'm so sorry, everyone. I got a new laptop and... I've been adjusting to it. Having to add everyone's name and everything is a real bother. adjusting to a new keyboard is more so... and getting used to this new screen... blah! I love the new speakers though. Anyway, I hope I start getting faster at this. By the way, I like this chapter. Next one... things start to get interesting.

=^^= Enjoy...

[Vatu Ernard]

Vatu's Log,

Today is the 19th of Frostfall, 4e 004. I just want to put this in my mission report before we even start the debriefing. Today I'm heading to Rimmen with my girlfriend, Junna, as well as her brother, Daan, and his girlfriend, Trinjje. We're heading to Rimmen in order to find and destroy a band of criminals calling themselves The Trade. We don't know much about them, other than the fact that they're soliciting drugs to the people of the newly rebuilt Rimmen. The city is supposedly under the Mane's protection, and as such, has a localized military watching the streets. We don't know why the military isn't doing its job, but that's why we're going to Rimmen. To find out.

I have to say, I love doing this kind of stuff. Going to places and fighting bad guys. I missed the thrill of it… without having to worry about going too all out. Without having to worry about losing control. Now… ever since I stepped into that magicka absorbing machine… I've never lost control of myself. I love being able to let myself open up. There is a slight problem… one I didn't really notice at first. My magicka… it's pretty much gone. I still can do spells, but I can't do them nearly as fast, nearly as deadly. I haven't told anyone yet, and I haven't told my sister either. She mostly uses her potions anyway, so I doubt she'll even notice a difference. And I'm mostly known for my small spells, enchantments, and being a recon scout. So for me, no one will ever really notice the slight change in my magicka capacity.

Well, we're here. I guess I'll just get changed into my costume. Oh yeah… since no one can know who we are, in case die or something, we're altering ourselves with Alteration and throwing on costumes. Like super heroes of the old bardic legends. Should be fun. My girlfriend is dressing up as a Khajiit legend: Lunar Splice. I'm her immortal mate: Solar Flare.

Battlemage Vatu Ernard.

…

"Vatu!" Somewhere in the back spaces of my mind, I could hear Junna scream my name to me. I didn't have time to turn and talk to her. I was too busy.

I didn't want to stop. I wanted to keep going forward. There were so many of them… and they were everywhere. Arrows, spears… everything you could imagine falling down around me. And I was loving it. Every second of it. The sheer madness of The Trade trying everything they could to stop me. And they couldn't. They just couldn't. For the short second I heard Junna call for me, I paused. And when I did, I felt six or more arrows slam into my torso, almost strong enough to knock me off my feet. I barely felt it.

I glanced down at my chest, seeing the arrows sticking out of my chest. I found myself chuckling as I grabbed one, pulling it out with minimal effort. The archers from the nearby buildings were stunned in horror as I pulled the arrows out right in front of them, all while smiling and laughing. I was having so much fun. As I started to bleed, my enchanted healing bracelet started going off. Restoration magicka flowed through my wound, closing it instantly. I didn't really need the bracelet though. I'm a Sengar. And that means… I can't die until my enemies are dead. And I'm a mage… that just adds to my Sengar awesomeness.

Looking up at the rooftops of the massive inner city of Rimmen, I can see that it wouldn't matter how many arrows I was pelted with. There are so many Trade members left that I won't be exiting my Sengar state any time soon. They can shoot me full with arrows, and as long as my head is not severed from my body, or my heart pulled from my chest… I'll be just fine. And I'll refuse to exit the Sengar state until my Restoration magicka fully heals me. I won't die today. Arrow after arrow was slamming somewhere in my body, and I didn't feel a thing. I even received a few to my knees; a stupid attempt at slowing me down. Behind me were burning buildings, corpses with severed limbs, blood flowing down into the sewer drains. That was a lot of fun. I missed enjoying these moments.

I head a scream in front of me and a push forward. It was hard enough that it drew my attention back to my front. Standing right in front of me was a young Bosmer holding a long yari, one of which was currently slammed into the front of my chest. The Bosmer looked shocked to be standing there, looking me in the eyes as I smiled at him. I grabbed onto the pole, locking his hand onto mine, and I pushed it further into my chest. My blood shot out, hitting him in the face.

"What are you?" He screamed at me.

I found myself smiling as I leaned forward, meeting him face-to-face. "I'm death. And I'm here for you." I pushed even further into the lance, sliding right through it to him. He screamed in horror as I ran my claws right through his throat. I fed my Flaming Palm spell through him, setting his face on fire as I did so.

Behind him were several other spearmen. They looked terrified of me. Most of them were Bosmer, which meant that this town was taken over by a primarily Bosmer gang. The Trade, huh? I wonder where it originated from? I could see some Redguard mixed in with the Bosmer; the first thing I thought of was a slave gang. Only… these were mercenaries making money off of selling skooma. Not the first band of criminals I've been called in to deal with… definitely won't be the last. But, if Redguards are involved, all bets are on slavers. And when it comes to Khajiits… we're usually the slaves.

Just thinking that made my claws itch. And I felt like scratching them. I charged past my burning man to the next spearman. He thrust out at me in fear; I danced around his attack, snapping my hand out at his spear. Using a little Telekinesis spell I learned from Davilia, I tossed the spear hard enough that it flew from the spearman's hands. The spear took off like an arrow as it soared into a nearby window, piercing a Redguard in the chest. It hid hard enough to break through his steel plating. Just for a little fun, I charged that spear with some Destruction before sending it off. I might not be too good with magicka, but when it comes to Enchanting, I'm still one of the bests. I filled that baby up with my favorite spell.

I could see the explosion from the window. An explosion of chocolate milk. Not the most dramatic, or deadly, spell in my arsenal, but I could sniff out that the majority of the slavers in the room were lactose intolerant. And it was really think in lactose. That's right… I put a Conjuration spell on that spear, one that teleported chocolate milk in through a portal.

Archers from the room were already crying out in dismay as they tried to flee the room. Besides the possible hundreds of other archers firing down at me from six or so buildings, I imagine I'm in the last stretches of this conflict. Time to end this. If I get the ones in the street first, I won't have to worry about any getting away.

I let out a loud war roar as I poured more of my magicka into my Sengar state. The war roar, as I call it, is a loud wailing pitch that seems to leave my enemies quaking in petrified fear. And as I let it roar, I saw everyone in front of me come to a dead stop. They were too scared to even imagine running away at this point. The spearman right in front of me could barely take a step back before I plunged my fist through his iron plating. Before I knew it, my arm was popping out the other side, dripping heavily with blood seeping from the guy's once beating heart.

I pulled my arm back, tossing the guy aside as I turned my attention to the other swordsmen standing in front of me.

"Vatu!" Junna called from behind me. "Wait up!"

I didn't want her to get in the line of fire. I had to protect her. There were too many of them. I needed to bring this down. Just imagining her getting hurt made me want to get this over with now.

I flashed forward, reaching the first six or so swordsmen before I could even blink. I didn't hesitate as I unsheathed my claws. Fire and Shock danced off my claws as I twirled around the swordsmen; arms and legs falling off in sections as I carved through them. Armor reduced to ash to a Rust spell, swords turned on their masters with Telekinesis. It was only a few seconds, but by the time I was done, there was nothing but blood and limbs in my wake. I am a battlefield god. I am a battlemage.

I felt more and more arrows slam into me from all sides as I came to a stop. By now, I had to look like a porcupine. The archers were getting desperate to hit me. And I was getting annoyed with them. Having just wiped out the streets, and strategically placed myself in the middle of Trade territory, I figured now was as good a time as any. I turned my attention to the buildings holding the archers. I brought up my staff, one that was filled with as much Fire based Destruction magicka as I could manage in a week's time. I kept it for… special occasions like this. I scanned the first building: a four story apartment building… filled with nothing but The Trade members. I aimed my staff at the building, and it drew a collective curse from the inhabitants as they all tried to run and hide. All the burning buildings behind me… those were my fault.

One pull of the staff's trigger and before I knew it, the building was exploding with Fire magicka. The inhabitants were screaming in agony as they were suddenly caught on fire. I turned my attention to another building, then another, and then another. Before I realized it… there were no more arrows falling down on top of me. There were no more archers. There was no more Trade territory. No more downtown Rimmen. Just me… standing in a pile of corpses… fire surrounding me… and Junna screaming at me.

"We were trying to help everyone!" She screamed from right beside me. "Vatu! Hey! Are you listening to me?" She pushed on my shoulder, trying to get my attention.

I was busy pulling out one of the arrows stuck in my ribcage. I… I didn't want to say anything. I didn't want to look her in the eye. I know what I did… I was there. I was in control. I couldn't really remember how much time had passed; I couldn't really remember the full details of how I did what I did. I was still getting used to be an actual Sengar. The numbness of the battle fury was slowly getting easier for me to handle. Before, I couldn't even remember the battle. I just relived ancient memories of other Sengars I was related to. But now… I'm in control of the battle. And the whole… everything, the fight, the chaos, the loss of pain… it was getting to me. I was losing control while being in complete control.

…

I was in control.

That's my problem. When things like this happened, I could blame my incapability to control my actions because of my blood-rage. For a long time, I was incapable of controlling my Sengar state, which was a bloodline that turned me into a rampaging blood-thirsty animal that would blindly slash anything in front of him with the added bonus of not feeling any pain given to me. My skin would grow resistant to magicka, swords, arrows. I rampaged through an entire army of necromancers without even blinking an eye once. I slaughtered whole villages of zombies and lichs without even sustaining the smallest of injuries. My body… when the Sengar state takes over, heals itself very quickly. Being a mage while being a Sengar is a very good thing… it practically makes me invincible… in a way that other Sengars haven't been. It made me a war machine, one that can do… whatever he wants.

Looking at the burning town all around me… was it really the Sengar state that was to blame for my actions this whole time… or was it me? I was in control. I let myself do this. I let myself lose control.

There was another shove on my shoulder. Junna was still trying to get my attention. Her brother and his girlfriend were right behind us, silently watching me. Silently judging me. I couldn't run and hide. I wasn't that guy anymore. I told myself I'd go all-in. Junna is my mate… and I don't want to hide from her. I can't hide from her. I can't do this to her.

I turned to look at her. She looked me in the eye, as if searching my soul. She finally nodded. "Ok… I understand. But, Vatu, you told me you would only use the Sengar state to draw out the archers and skirmishers. We were supposed to let the Leos do the majority of the building infiltrations. We wanted to save this city with the least amount of bloodshed as possible. But… you…"

She gestured to the burning buildings. The ripped up corpses on the ground. The blood staining every building wall that wasn't currently burning to the ground.

I nodded. "I know, Junna. I don't know what happened."

"It started when that archer shot at me." Junna crossed her arms. "Vatu, I know you're trying to protect me… but I'm a mage too. I'm not a battlemage, true… but I'm learning. I'm getting better. And, let's not forget, I'm also pretty fast on my feet. I have basic knowledge of Restoration and Mysticism. Not to mention Scrolling. I'm not a great warrior, and I'm not very good at fighting. But… but!" She paused. "I forgot what I was trying to convince you of."

"That he doesn't need to protect you." Daan said from behind her. "And you failed."

Junna turned back to smile at her brother. "You're the best, brother." She turned to look back at me. "Listen, Vatu. You promised to teach me how to fight. These…" She waved her hand around Rimmen. "was supposed to be a combat lesson. You know what I learned? Stand completely still, get shot up with arrows, and then blow everything and everyone, even innocent people, up."

I sighed, my tail drooping to the floor. "Oh… yeah, totally forgot about that." The past four months, I've been teaching Junna everything I knew about magicka. Everyone was helping her: Davilia, Erandur, even Primrose. That was shocking to hear, because I hear Primrose hated the fact I was dating Junna, but she gritted her teeth and helped teach her Restoration. Erandur was helping Junna with learning martial arts, as well as learning some offensive combat magicka. Davilia was helping her learn Conjuration and Telekinesis. And Primrose was teaching her how to make healing potions, and how to heal more effectively. Junna was slowly becoming a rounded battlemage. She quit the Firedrake Academy in Torval for some reason. She hated the things they taught there, or something like that. I never did ask her about that.

I turned to look at her, really look at her. Junna was one of the panther breeds that lived in the forest. They were a rare breed most of the time. She had really soft matte black fur with what looked like a bleached white mane that stretched halfway down her back. I would think it was bleached if her brother didn't have a similar mane color. She had small gray jaguar dots dotting randomly throughout her fur, which I loved. I was a tiger breed, which meant I was all orange with black tiger stripes. I looked like my mother. My sister was lucky… she looked like a lion, as our father did. She had a few stripes on the back of her neck but that was as much tiger as she had in her.

As I found myself thinking of my sister, I turned my attention down to my c-ball. I just noticed she had left me a message. Opening it up, I could see her face on the screen. She looked upset. "Brother… don't get angry. I've been taking Combative Destruction with Immia and… well… we're going to this old Khajiit ruin and we're going to look for some old sources of magicka with our professor. Sounds like fun but… it might be dangerous. Thought I'd tell you before you hear it from Zhar or something. I'll call you when I get back. Should only be a few hours. Love you… maybe."

Her face blinked away. I sighed as I looked up at Junna. "Think we could swing by Torval and see where she went before we go home?"

Junna nodded. "Sure, but… Vatu. We need to talk. Like really talk. This is the fourth time this month you've gone substitute blood-rager on me. Something's bothering you. And… I think I deserve to know what it is. I want to help you."

I shook my head. "Junna… it's… well…" What could I say? I didn't even know what to tell myself. But, I had to say something. Anything! I'm not hiding from her. I'm not hiding from anyone anymore. I'm a new person. I'm different now. I'm in control of my own actions! "I can't explain it. I've been…"

"You've been running for so long, hiding yourself from others for so long… that you don't really know how to be free from your own cage of fear and doubt?" How does she do that stuff? "If I were to guess, you're probably too caught up in the moment. You feel free for once, and since you enjoy controlling your own battles without fear of losing yourself, you're losing yourself in the moment of pure bliss that comes from being an invincible tank."

Did she really have to phrase it like that? That made me sound a lot like an irresponsible jerk more than anything else. "Um…"

Daan started to smile. "Wow, sis. Will you just tell him already?"

"Tell me what?" I looked over at Daan. He was smirking as he shook his head at me.

Junna grabbed my chin, pulling me to look at her. "Vatu… there is something you should know about me too. I'm empathic. Like… one look in your eyes and I can see your thoughts… your feelings… your very soul. It's why I liked you when I first met you. It's why I knew you liked me too. I can see the struggle going on inside you. And unlike Primrose, I don't just like you because I need to heal you. I like you because of who you are, not what you have going on inside you. But that doesn't mean I can't help you help yourself."

"She was always a bother." Daan said from behind her. "Always telling Mom and Dad how I really felt about their drinking problem. And always pointing out my crushes to everyone. Anyway, my lovely sister never really knew when to keep her mouth shut, and even went to a few classes on how to keep her mouth shut, and how to control her empathy but… well… a few secrets from the teachers slipped out of her mouth and she ended up caged at home. No one in our village really liked her, and always avoided her eyes."

Junna nodded. "Yup… so I ran away from home." She smiled madly. "And went to Torval, signed up at a firedrake and then… well…" She waved her hand around Rimmen. "You met me on my first class assignment. My squad was going to use me to read the eyes of captured prisoners to determine their innocence. You see… what I have is a special kind of personal magicka. One they could never really teach to someone else. I was born with it. And unfortunately… Torval Academy wasn't really able to help me with it, like I was hoping they would. So, someday… I'm going to create my own academy, dedicated to specifically helping others learn their personal magicka. My gift to the world. Using my empathy, it should be easy for me to help teach others."

That was something. "Ok… so…" I looked from her to Daan. "Why tell me this?"

Junna pushed me lightly on my shoulder. "Because we're dating, dummy. You should know what you're getting involved with. You can literally never lie to me. I can see right through you. Do you understand?"

Come to think of it… I did think I understood. I could never hide anything from her… even if I tried. She was exactly what I needed if I wanted to pursue this new me. Even if I tried to revert… she would never let me. She could see through me every second she looked at me. That was very scary, actually. My whole soul stripped bare for her to gawk at… to poke at. If I ever pissed her off, she would know exactly which buttons to push, which unknown fears to expose… it was a lot to take in, especially for an introvert like myself. I was almost thinking of running away right now; turn my gaze from her.

I knew Junna was reading my thoughts because she was sighing and closing her eyes. "Vatu… don't shut down on me now…" She pushed me lightly on my shoulder again. "Listen to me… I know I know you! I'm telling you because I know you can handle it. I like you because… you can handle me. Any other guy and suddenly… I'm some kind of predator or something. I've even heard of people suggesting I feed off them… like some emotional vampire or something like that. But, you're different, I can tell. I promise… I'm not as bad as you're thinking I am."

Easy for her to say… she doesn't have to deal with someone constantly reading their thoughts. I can't glance at her for a second and know everything about her.

"It's not like that, Vatu. It's not like I can see what you're not thinking… only what you are. If you plan on thinking your whole past for me… then I will never know about it. And! I can only see anything if you're looking me in the eye. Direct eye contact: that's how it works."

So, it wouldn't be all the time; I guess it wouldn't be so bad. Not to mention… I don't want to hide from her. I want her to know all about me. I want to able to stand in front of everyone and know that I'm not hiding anymore. That I'm not pushing myself away from others out of fear of what might happen to them. I want to be better; I want to be more than what I was. And Junna made me feel more complete.

As if reading my mind, she wrapped her arms around my waist, pulling me in for a hug. "Thanks, Vatu." She placed her head on my shoulder. "I knew you would understand." She looked up at me, smiling. "So, how about we go see your sister?" She looked back at her brother and Trinjje. "Do you two feel like joining us?"

Daan nodded. "Sure, why not." He glanced over at Trinjje. "You feel like coming along?"

She smiled, wrapping him up in the same hug Junna had me in currently. "Of course!"

Time to go see what my sister is up to.

…

[CSL Bzeirn Ushopia]

"Listen up, Washimidium Commando Squads. You are currently ten minutes from hard contact with what looks like the Ayleid capital city, which from all intelligence reports is now in control of the Aldmeri Dominion. Those intelligence reports are now suspended, since the timeline of this era, according to Cardinal Benleirophon, is from the year 4e 004. We have no reports of what this era was like, so you'll be on an intelligence gathering mission. Since your squad will be entering what could be potentially a hostile environment, we're sending Washimidium along with you. Your mission: secure the Ayleid capital city at all costs, locate any and all potential threats, lock down any armies as peacefully as possible, and then proceed to destroy the Aedra currently claiming this realm as their own. Back up will come as it is available. Good luck."

The cabin of our drop ship shook as we entered Tamriel's atmosphere. The first Tamriel was the closest to our planet, so we all knew that the Washimidium Legion would be the first to meet any hostile forces. It was also one of the few planets we had little intel on, other than that all the Aedra were calling this realm as their last standing ground. While all the Daedra were claiming Tamriel 2, and the strange time-ripping anomaly claiming Tamriel 3, Tamriel 1 was still the biggest threat that I could possibly think of. The Daedra were a nuisance, but their power waned in retrospect when compared to the Aedra.

And the Aedra had to know we were coming to meet them. They were gods, after all. My brother and sisters may claim that we're the true masters of this world, but when I think of the Soul Cairn, and how we were captured inside that whole purgatory realm just for forsaking the Aedra… I shudder to think that we're not just walking to our deaths. A suicide mission. And my squad is going to be one of the first six ones to hit ground zero… the Ayleid capital of Tamriel. Good thing the Ayleid supposedly worshiped the Daedra. Maybe we'll get lucky and not go stomping on a god's playground.

There was a bright flash from outside the window in front of me. The sun was glowing even brighter than it was when we first launched. I wonder if it's just that much brighter in Tamriel. The sun… Akatosh, I think his name was. Was he warning me of the dangers to come? Were we really falling into a death trap? The sun flashed again, as if confirming to me what I already knew.

"I have a bad feeling about this." Rhorz, our medic, shifted on her butt as she looked around the cabin. "Does anyone else think we could have waited a day longer? If not just to do a proper recon of these worlds?"

Hyzori, our explosives expert, looked over at Rhorz. "If we did that, then it would only give the Daedra and Aedra that much more time to prepare for us. Better to hit them fast and hard."

"That goes both ways." I responded back. "We don't know what we're dropping into. So… keep your heads on a swivel. Shoot anything that even looks at you funny. I know we're supposed to be on some mercy mission, and don't be fooled, every move we make will be watched and scrutinized by the media… so, if any of you down a civilian protestor… drinks are on me, because we're all going to hang together."

"Drop in two!" Rzunalick called from over his shoulder back at us.

"Lock and load!" I screamed. I slammed my stun rounds into my resonating rifle. Since gun powder was hard to find in the Soul Cairn, we had to learn how to make new ballistic weaponry. Sure, crossbows are great and all, but we learned how to trap souls into the many soul gems that fall into the Soul Cairn. We learned how to harness this soulic energy, much like our Numidium Projects, we learned how to make miniature magicka cannons in the form of pistols and rifles. It ran on soul gems, which we learned to how make them so that they don't crumble anymore. They just deplete. We know how to fill them back up if we need to. Each rifle is outfitted with a soul chamber. We'll capture any souls we take on the battlefield. Those souls will feed our gems, little by little.

"Dropping now. Brace!" I gripped my handlebar as tightly as I could. This was it… this was it. We're going to war. And there was no stopping us. Time to take out the gods. Once and for all, or die trying.

Cearbhail:

And no... this is not the same Commando as last chapter. Pay attention, please. It will get confusing, I'm sure, but I'll try to keep it as not confusing as possible. I have one POV for each Commando unit for each Tamriel. Washimidium is in Tamriel 1, Qromidium is in Tamriel 2. I'm doing Antlanthia for Tamriel 3, and possibly one of her commandos too. Not sure. And for Tamriel 4, I don't know yet.

Oh... and next chapter, Akatosh enters the fray. And so do the battlemages. Hopefully. Depends on how long the fight with Akatosh lasts...