Cell 317

Cell 317 is one of the pre‑assigned dispersal cells formed during the emergency evacuation at the Concent of Saunt Tredegarh. It exemplifies the planned scheme to scatter personnel into small, coordinated groups while maintaining communication via embedded Ita.

Composition and Leadership

• On‑the‑ground lead: Lio; Valers observe formal courtesies toward him during movements.
• Core avout observed: Fraa Erasmas, Fraa Jesry, Fraa Arsibalt, and Fraa Jad.
• Vale cohort: several Valers from the Ringing Vale, including Fraa Osa, Suur Vay, Suur Esma, and Fraa Gratho (identified at muster). See Valers.
• Ita support: Sammann handles communications and Reticulum messaging for the group.
• Guest: Jules Verne Durand, a Laterran linguist, is attached to the cell and participates in planning and training.
• Technical preparation: Jesry leads space‑suit familiarization and operations drills; Suur Vay and Fraa Gratho assist.

Context and Role

• Formation and muster: When dispersal is ordered, badges route members to a designated coach where the driver confirms assignment as “Cell 317.” Rucksacks are staged for quick embarkation (“quick on, quick off”).
• Affiliation: The cell structure is part of the broader Tredegarh dispersal plan overseen by Suur Ala; each cell is intended to function autonomously yet remain coordinated through Ita.
• Movement: After assembling on a commandeered coach, Cell 317 transfers under escort to a military aerocraft and departs Tredegarh. While airborne, wireless access to the Reticulum is jammed; the Ita can re‑establish connectivity via landlines and other means once the cell stops moving.

Staging at Elkhazg and Mission Preparation

• The cell is received at the caravansery of Elkhazg by Heritor Magnath Foral and quartered in the Old Cloister. Elkhazg’s historic focus on tilings provides both context and a training environment.
• Notable moment: In Elkhazg’s Decagon court, Fraa Jad produces a complete new solution to The Teglon overnight, laid on top of earlier solutions—prompting respectful recognition from both Valers and hosts.
• Prepositioned pallets at Elkhazg contain equipment that makes clear the cell’s next phase will be orbital. Members inventory supplies and change to lightweight coveralls for training.

Equipment and Training

• Each member is allotted a black, long‑duration space suit with integrated life support, designed centuries earlier and recently manufactured. Suits interface to an open‑frame upper stage (nicknamed a monyafeek) via a triangular array of attachment points.
• A ground “tender” device regenerates oxygen/hydrogen consumables and bakes out CO₂ scrubbers; crews practice swap‑outs and sanitation cycles.
• Three simulator cells with wraparound displays allow hands‑on drills for rotating and translating in microgravity and for suit‑mounted thruster control. Jesry conducts instruction; others rotate through until proficient.

Orders and Mission Outline (as briefed)

• Lio states the immediate orders are to “go to ground,” then train on prepositioned equipment. The stated objective is to reach the Daban Urnud.
• Launch concept: mobile ballistic launchers, dispersed and hard to surveil, will fire within a tight window; eleven upper stages are allotted to this cell, with additional launches carrying equipment and consumables. Remaining launches serve as decoys and chaff.
• On orbit, the plan calls for consolidating other payloads into a thrust platform to inject the group into a rendezvous trajectory.
• Strategic context: In discussion, Lio suggests the cell may act as a diversion while other means deliver so‑called Everything Killers; he notes he could be wrong, and no such tasking is issued to the cell.

Communications and Intelligence

• The cell experiences intentional jamming while in transit; once stationary, Ita regain access to the Reticulum via terrestrial links.
• Sammann analyzes captured timestamps against known events to estimate long‑range chronology relevant to the visitors, informing team discussions.

Launch and Orbital Operations

• Dispersed launch: Members are boosted on multiple rockets into low orbit, each attached to a monyafeek. A field of radar‑jamming chaff and large metallized balloons provides concealment while the cell forms up.
• Consolidation roles: Sammann acts as “Glommer,” holding station under a balloon to secure incoming payloads; others serve as Getters who retrieve nearby cargo and people.
• Early incidents and recoveries: Suur Esma tows Jules Verne Durand to safety; Fraa Jad becomes entangled with a blue cargo payload and is unresponsive for a time—Fraa Arsibalt grapples both and tows them as a unit; coordination advice and burns are called by Jesry.
• Critical retrieval: A fast‑moving red payload—the small power unit needed to make oxygen and fuel—is intercepted at long range and brought back to the forming cluster. Once online, the tender begins splitting water to replenish life support and fuel.

Cold Black Mirror and Decoy Tactics

• Under the shelter of a balloon, the cell assembles the Cold Black Mirror: a flat, reflective, actively chilled screen sized to bounce light and radar away while hiding heat sources beneath it during the approach to the Daban Urnud.
• In parallel, a decoy vehicle is built from lashed‑together monyafeeks and an inflatable hull packed with scrap and manikins. It is fueled from scavenged propellant and launched on a conspicuous burn, then self‑destructs by design to saturate enemy attention while the mirror‑shielded cluster departs.

Tethered Approach and Concealment

• To avoid detectable engine burns near the watchers, the cell deploys a long electrodynamic tether with a massed counterweight of retired monyafeeks concealed under a small mirror. By running current through the tether in the ionosphere, the system generates continuous, subtle thrust and gradually reshapes the orbit toward the target.
• After leaving balloon cover, short‑range wireless is minimized; suit‑to‑suit hard lines are used, and a narrow, delayed link to ground support replaces the earlier high‑bandwidth connection. Ground cells (e.g., numbered support teams in the Antiswarm) provide routing and task guidance during quiet periods out of sight of the watchers.
• From orbit, the cell observes the Pedestal striking major launch sites on Arbre with non‑nuclear rods while Cell 317 continues its covert transit.

Status

• Having launched from dispersed sites and consolidated under cover, Cell 317 is operating beneath the Cold Black Mirror in low orbit. With the electrodynamic tether producing continuous thrust, the cell is on a covert, days‑long spiral toward the Daban Urnud, maintaining concealment and conserving consumables.