Interlude 142 - 143: Investigators
NorCal CBT
Interlude 142 - 143: Investigators
Date/Location:
March 11, 3065 / Alarion, Lyran Alliance (Class A)
Dropship Dotted Line, orbiting Alarion near Port Sydney, 20:36 local time
Miss Black had just sat down at her console in the command center when the incoming call alert started chirping. She pressed the connection button, bringing up a feed of Everett Thames, Doge, and Dr. Romero. They were all three seated in a restaurant booth. The upholstery looked faded and worn and the wood of the table and frame had noticeable scratches and nicks. She could hear the usual sounds of ceramics clinking and people chatting. Everett Thames was the first to speak.
“Stygian, ma’am, I’ve got Dr. Romero here to speak with you about our unexpected guest.”
Miss Black nodded and addressed Dr. Romero, “Good evening, Doctor. I hope your experience at your office wasn’t too harrowing. Please share your insights with us.”
Dr. Romero smiled weakly. “Thank you, Stygian. Before your people arrived I had been busying myself with routine inspections of some KF drive assemblies–measuring low power particle outputs against expected values, and when that Marauder appeared, every instrument in my lab spiked.”
Everyone looked at Dr. Romero blankly for a moment before Miss Black cleared her throat and replied, “I’m sorry, Dr. Romero, but you’ll need to explain the significance of that to us.”
“Oh, of course, my apologies,” Dr. Romero said with a chuckle.
“When the Marauder appeared it gave off the same reading I’d get from a KF drive executing a jump–they emit massive amounts of exotic particles when they are activated. The majority of these particles are unstable and quickly decay into more common particles, but traces of them can sometimes be detected if you know wh–”
“Apologies for interrupting, Dr. Romero,” Everett Thames interjected, “but how does this tell us who’s piloting that mech?”
“Well, Bian Lian…” Dr. Romero replied, “there’s only one reasonable explanation that I can think of for the readings that I got.”
Dr. Romero paused before continuing, “That drop pod must have a KF drive in it. And there’s only one group that has the required knowledge to build a KF drive that small and it’s…”
Dr. Romero leaned in, forcing Doge and Everett Thames to lean in as well, and brought his voice down to a whisper as he said the name “Comstar.”
All three of them leaned back in silence for a moment. Doge was the first to speak.
“That makes no sense, though. What would they want here? The pilot didn’t seem to have any particular agenda besides mayhem and the Marauder disappeared into Sydney Bay shortly after it dispatched a company’s worth of mechs.”
“I can’t speak to their motives, Doge, just their presence,” Dr. Romero answered. “If you’ll allow me an escort back to Ioto Galactic Enterprises and some helping hands, I should be able to get close enough to that drop pod to examine it and confirm my theory.”
“I’ll admit I’m very skeptical about your theory, Dr. Romero, but with no other leads, I’m willing to oblige your request,” Miss Black said, bringing her hands together into a steeple. “I can’t dedicate a large escort to you, though. We don’t want to draw too much attention and we need to keep our forces ready for the next operation. I’ll ask for a few volunteers and get them sent planet-side as soon as possible.”
“Thank you, Stygian,” Dr. Romero replied with a slight bow, “I’ll do my best to make this worthwhile.”
“Bian Lian,” Miss Black said addressing Everett Thames, “I want you to reach out to Rohrkabel and Bote. If the Lyrans know something about this, I want to know it too, and they’re our best chance for that.”
“Yes ma’am,” Everett Thames responded. “Assuming they want to help, they may want a few volunteers too. I’ll confirm with you when I get a response.”
“Very good,” Miss Black said. She then turned to Doge. “Doge, if you get any updates on our MIA personnel, please let me know through Bian Lian.”
“Of course, Stygian,” Doge replied, “we’ll be in touch.”
The feed went dead and Miss Black gave a sigh.
“Right, time to go rally the troops.”