MSNPC Oolwi - Words Spoken Under A Deaf Ear
Chris Taylor
((Central Government Building, Starfleet Guest Suite – Kobyar Capital, Galaris IV))
Oolwi: ::To Imril:: I trust this will be sufficient a workspace to start on your analysis of the drone software? ::To all:: You will find additional forensic resources there and in the other rooms, and I am at your disposal as well to furnish anything that is needed.
Lieutenant Silveira and Bergman took a small step back from the engineer. Indeethl couldn't help but feel like she was now the one being observed. It wasn’t a feeling she was at all uncomfortable with, though.
Ensign Imril gave the lab a quiet look-through, keeping any opinions on it to themself.
Imril: It should do nicely, thank you.
Richards: Response
Oolwi: Speaking for myself, the reservation some of you showed with the eye-scan did not go unnoticed, and I apologize for any discomfort. Speaking on behalf of my government, I appreciate your willingness to operate within the tenants that we choose to live with and within. Your acceptance of our ways means a great deal to us. And we recognize that they are not your ways, and these rooms are provided to be a temporary home as much as a workspace. In that spirit, within these walls, you can disengage the system and ‘escape’ the unblinking eye. ::A theatrically mischievous flutter of her airsacs:: May I demonstrate how to do so?
Richards: Response
MacKenzie: ::nodding:: I think that would be prudent, Major.
The Major nodded and walked the group through how to close down the surveillance. She felt her posture relax slightly when it was done, and quickly stiffened her spine.
MacKenzie: Forgive me for being direct, Major, but what is it you wish to share with us that you prefer not to do so in full view of your people?
Indeethl’s airsacs inflated notably, and she couldn’t stop them. What had happened in Tevire was a gross misuse of military power, and it would never sit right with her. In the days since she first saw the images, she had not been content to be a mere mouthpiece. She’d done what digging she could. Pulled in favors. Called on old contacts from her days as a holojournalist. To tell these offworldser what she’d learned was an act of treason, or something very close to it. But, as a Kobyar, she valued the truth. And the truth needed to be spoken. Streamed on every wall.
Oolwi: I’ve been investigating the situation in Tevire for myself. Here’s what I know. Grand Marshall Vef-Lai ordered an attack there two days ago, in direct contravention of the ceasefire set in place for your arrival. A volunteer force, with heavy drone backup, followed him to assault an underground facility whose existence has not been verified but which he believed to house offworld technologies. All involved knew they were acting against higher orders, for what they believed to be a worthy cause. Minutes into the attack, the drones went rogue and diverted to seemingly random targets far from the supposed facility. Including direct bombardments of a civilian village. The destruction of which is, in no uncertain terms, a war crime.
Her eyes sank, disgust and anger plain in her posture.
Oolwi: Vef-Lai’s forces were repelled. He, and the other survivors, are presently in custody awaiting court-martial and subsequent reduction in caste. Through his lawyer, he claims to have acted on time-sensitive intelligence reports with concern that if he had failed to act, the evidence would have been moved before the Artemis arrived. That much is general knowledge among the Defense Service rank and file. The details will eventually be filtered to the populace.
By not by the Major of her direct subordinates; in the interest of maintaining dispassionate flow of information, that task would be handed over to another Public Affairs team altogether.
Oolwi: What’s being kept very quiet is that the drones which have been recovered from the attack are sitting in a classified warehouse. I don't know where it is. But I know their harddrives are being examined for evidence of compromise by some new weapon of the Grunden. An advanced computer virus, or something like it, that hijacked their systems. The fact that this alleged weapon ‘misfired’ in such a way that Grunden civilians took fire is taken as proof to the Defense Service command that the Grunden do not know how to control it, and therefore did not create it.
Bergmen: ::whispers for himself:: Wow.
Richards: Response
MacKenzie: What evidence do you have to support this claim?
Oolwi: I don't have any on hand. But I know where one of the suspect drones is. It was damaged during the attack, and its navigation systems stopped accepting direction. It flew wild and crashed down about eighty clicks from the settlement, amid a collection of other debris just on our side of the border. It did accept a command to shut down all power and telemetry communication, given during the evacuation, which means that at least some of its systems are intact. As of forty minutes before we met, it hasn’t moved. The Grunden don't seem to be aware of its presence, yet. And the Defense Service has received orders from the Central Government not to send a team to retrieve it for fear of completely re-igniting the conflict. I expect the other Services have been given the same order.
Silveira: Nothing else?
Jovenan pressed her lips to a straight line.
Jovenan: It’s a start. Or at least a pointer to the start. We’ll need to gather further evidence ourselves.
Imril: And maintain a chain of evidence discovery. Make it look like we found our own reason to go looking in this direction.
Richards: Response
The Captain appeared restless, her hands clasped behind her back while she walked around the suite.
MacKenzie: I get the sense that in telling us, you’re operating outside what might be sanctioned by your government…
Oolwi nodded.
Oolwi: You’ve seen already how integrated our society is with the surveillance and information net that provides a sense of security in the midst of constant war. It very much runs on computer science which we have always taken to be superior to that of the Grunden. The very idea that their skill with computers has, excuse me, ‘leapfrogged’ our own to the point of hijacking anything and everything we hold dear could start a panic. I think this is why the Central Government wants the whole thing kept quiet until it is proven or disproven.
Could she have ‘walked’ them to the drone by other, less furtive, means? Possibly, but not in a way that could ensure timely action. Like the Grand Marshall, she was playing a game of moments. And for all she knew, she’d be the next one sitting in a cell for it.
Silveira: That’s a worthy risk.
Bergmen looked straight into Oolwi's eyes and nodded. Jovenan nodded as well.
She held their gazes as she nodded back.
Jovenan: Thank you, Major. We appreciate your help and any information you can give us.
Silveira: Maybe we can look into this first?
Oolwi double-blinked at Jovenan.
MacKenzie: Unless you have another suggestion, Major?
Oolwi: The next best lead would be Ghav’Aa. It’s a military outpost, outfitted and operated as a drone repowering station. The Grunden attacked it on the pretense of exposing alien technology allegedly stored there. Their military’s public statements have not specified what they were looking for. But three of our drones came up missing afterwards.
There was quite a lot less to say about the second site than the first.
MacKenzie: Response
Bergmen: If this is true, I'm worried that the tangible evidence will still be in the location of active operations, awaiting us to retrieve it.
Jovenan crossed her arms, looking thoughtful.
Jovenan: True, but even with our mutually recognized diplomatic status, I’m not sure if I can trust the ceasefire to hold while we’re on the front.
Silveira: If it’s in the front I don’t say we visit but we should take a look.
Indeethl looked at him closely, wondering what he had in mind.
MacKenzie: Perhaps not the starting point, but I agree that we’ll likely need boots-on-the-ground information gathering.
Richards: Response
Bergman bit his lip.
Bergmen: I guess that means we cannot just ask Artemis to do the readings from orbit?
Jovenan sighed.
Jovenan: Should we consider splitting up? One team taking a look while the other covers?
Richards: Response
Silveira: No… I don’t think we should split. No offense Major, but I have a feeling not every Kaybar is as open as you.
Jovenan nodded subtly to Silveira.
MacKenzie: Kobyar, Mr. Silveira. …and we have no reason to believe there is any subterfuge here. …Yet.
Oolwi: My superiors will not object if you divide your efforts. But they will insist on bringing you more liaisons, one per group. ::To Silveira:: And no, I can't guarantee they'll be as willing to operate outside of the eye as I am.
MacKenzie/Richards: Response
Bergmen: Wouldn't a flyby from our shuttle be enough to make needed scans? ::gazes at others:: Could it be modified for a remotely piloted flyby, Ensign? ::glances at Imril::
Imril: It can be remote piloted, sure. But I don't suppose either side would appreciate an armed vessel flying around their war fronts with noone at the helm.
Jovenan: How about probes? We can ask the Artemis to send one over, and losing it wouldn’t be a major loss.
MacKenzie closed her eyes and shook her head slowly, holding up her hands.
MacKenzie: Gathering the evidence is only one layer of the issue here. The other is that we need to be seen doing this work. By both sides. To show that we are invested in getting to the truth here, in an impartial way. We can’t do that if we’re sending probes or flying by in shuttlecraft. It’s as much about building the political capital to lend legitimacy to our work as much as it is about whatever we find.
Oolwi: I agree, Captain. Your findings must appear unbiased and unguided, or the majority of my people will not accept any of them. Even findings that clear us or implicate the Grunden. But should the need arise, probes would be much less provocative than a shuttle.
MacKenzie/Richards/Silveira/Bergmen: Response
Jovenan scratched her neck.
Jovenan: Is there anything we can do to improve our diplomatic standing? Could we try to butter up the Kobyar government somehow to give us even stronger guarantees of our safety and better access to their resources? Because, if I may, I’d prefer not to rely on the Major to forward us information independently of the official government sources.
MacKenzie: I agree. I think that would put you in a dangerous situation, Major.
Oolwi: I have said everything I needed to without others listening. Let the consequences fall upon my own head.
Imril: We could fastrack that ‘cultural function’ the Major mentioned? That could slow down our investigation though, and there’s no telling how long her evidence is going to stay put.
Richards/Silveira/Bergmen: Response
MacKenzie once again crossed her hands behind her back.
MacKenzie: You mentioned something about a training exercise. Are you able to arrange that? Perhaps getting to meet others within your government and participating in your training program will lend itself to a little relationship building… And then we can make our way to the front lines.
Oolwi: That drone is only going to stay put for so long. It's a matter of time before something leaks on our side or a Grunden sensor sweep discovers it. The area is rather close to their capitol. I strongly advise that your team should get there first to collect it.
Any potential fallout for Indeethl would be for nothing otherwise.
Jovenan/Richards/Silveira/Bergmen: Response
MacKenzie: I would also remind you that the first step of this mission is to gather evidence and analyze whatever information we find. The second will be to compare our findings with the other Artemis team embedded with the Grunden.
Imril/Richards/Silveira/Bergmen/Jovenan: Response
MacKenzie: So, Major – are you able to set up a training session for us, or shall we get to work analyzing the information you’ve provided so far?
Oolwi: I can set the session up with one holo-call. And I can call a tactical drone down here for analysis, as well. One from here in the Capitol, not Tevire. I only delayed summoning one because I wanted you all to be forewarned about the danger of potential computer infiltration before examining it.
The only tactical drone that would fit through the doors of the suite would be one of the smaller ones meant to accompany light troop units. Examination of one of the larger models would have to be done elsewhere. Back in the cradle of constant surveillance.
Jovenan/Richards/Silveira/Bergmen: Response
Imril: ::Pointing towards the computer lab:: I take it that if we turn those drones on again, we’re back under the ‘unblinking eye’?
Oolwi: Yes. They operate independently of the building’s surveillance grid. As will the tactical drone.
MacKenzie/Jovenan/Richards/Silveira/Bergmen/Imril: Response
Oolwi: If our technology has been compromised, I do hope your firewalls are better than ours. For your sakes as well as my people’s.
With that said, Indeethl headed towards the holo-booth. Leaving it to the others to decide whether or not to reactivate the suite’s surveillance package.
MacKenzie/Jovenan/Richards/Silveira/Bergmen/Imril: Response
TAGS/TBC
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MSNPC Oolwi
As written by:
Ensign Imril
Engineering Officer
USS Artemis-A
A240110I12