Marine Captain Michele Winters - Being Right is Not Always a Good Thing
Joel Cannistraro
((Director of Strategic Operations Office, Deck 1, USS Thor))
Michele listened intently and then looked at the route the Syren Song was taking. This region of space seemed to have more than it's fair share of threats so why would a luxury ship with a diplomatic core choose this route, this region and not request a heavier escort?
Winters: Why this route? The threat level is higher than I would think a Captain of a luxury ship would be comfortable with. Why not a less dangerous route or at least a request for heavier security escorts? ::beat:: I am the Captain of the Syren Song. I am bringing aboard a diplomatic core, hosting high level dignitaries from various regional groups. Why do I choose this region to traverse instead of a safer route?
Michele looked around the group. Each working on their own thought of the situation but surely the same or similar questions were racing around the officers around her. Something to her just did not add up. Was the Syren Song's Captain that naive or just that sure of his security which these officers around her had already proven to be more relaxed than that of a Pakled's barge.
Vharo: I might have a theory, it may however be a coincidence. The route was picked at least according to the briefing to offer the best show to better encourage expansion. The Captain isn't new but all his information is second hand, we've already proven the security is below par maybe someone adjusted what information he had access to weeks ago.
Michele chewed on that information in the back of her head, listening but analyzing as each officier interjected.
Fletcher-Bouchard: So I pick a scenic route, with a single escort so the guests don’t think it’s a military operation. A better, more relaxed enviroment for diplomatic talks, and to encourage the powers that be to invest more in the region….maybe….but why the lax security aboard? If he’s not new, he’s got to know that someone could crack the Syren’s Song if they wanted.
Naledi: Crick Hiss Pop Smack Tick… No matter how much security they implemented, that rule remains a constant. If someone wanted to breach the Syren Song, they can do so. There will always be flaws in every ship, some find a satisfaction in taking advantage of those vulnerabilities. The Thors is [REDACTED INFORMATION], despite the effort made to draw away from that weak point, it’s remains, yet we still explore because it’s seen as an acceptable risk. That’s likely how they see these vulnerabilities.
The holoprojector changed once more, these particular edits being generated by Ensign Vharo. Dots splintered through the space, over and over and over again until the Thor was swimming in a sea of multicoloured dots.
Vharo: Half of those dots are unaffiliated low end smugglers and pirates, so we can discount them. That will leave us with ::she takes a beat as she deletes a large swath of the dots.:: Several Free State affiliates, high end smugglers and pirates.
Fletcher-Bouchard: Any of whom could, theoretically, be able to field an operation like we’re discussing.
Naledi: Tick Snap Hiss… Would any have the motive?
Winters: Pirates and smugglers. ::beat:: to me there is plenty of motive on the Syren Song for that unsavory type.
Vharo: Indeed, plenty of alternatives that intersect with the hot spots but I'm not seeing a pattern in it. The only route with no hotspots is the current one, which is technically speaking a good thing but there is something clinical about it like it's too clean ::she frowned, tilting her head at the map:: Maybe the route being empty is the point?
Fletcher-Bouchard: It’s perfect, isn’t it? No third party activity along that path at all, no cause for concern whatsoever. So naturally, that’s the route our Captain would pick; and because there’s no reported cause for concern, he’s light on his own security. It looks like a set up.
Naledi: Tick Snap Pop Hiss Crack… Perhaps there’s a reason the abundance of dots is absent in this zone. Their could be anomalies that we cannot detect there. Meaning that the captain chose that route without thinking about why it was empty. It’s survivorship bias. Any good captain would see that.
Winters: ::folding her arms across her chest:: I'm still not liking this. It makes defending our crew even more difficult and it feels like a setup.
Fletcher-Bouchard: So if this is a set up, like we’re theorising, what’s the end goal? Latinum, difference of opinion, chaos for the sake of chaos?
Naledi: Crick Snap Pop Tick Crack… The main cargo of interest are the diplomats. If someone were to gain access, they could terrorize them for their own political agenda. A petty theft is unlikely in this case. There isn’t anything onboard of physically high value that can be sold undetected, and the amount of planning needed to get omboard wouldn’t be worth the cost.
Winters: Agreed.
Michele reserved any further comment for the moment. They had no proof of anything and everything was simple speculation. They needed to get back to the core discussion of how to protect the diplomats now that they knew the Syen Song was more vulnerable than they had anticipated.
Vharo: Response
Fletcher-Bouchard: I agree. That doesn’t seem likely given the amount of planning and access this would have required. Too much effort and expertise to be random or pointless.
Naledi: Tick Snap Pop… It agrees, Ensign.
Winters: I agree, that does make sense.
Vharo: Response
Fletcher-Bouchard: ::turning to Vharo:: Do you have access to any older reports? Prior to the Syren’s Song announcement, I mean. The route’s clear now, but it may not have always been that way.
Vharo: Response
Michele watched as the holo-display changed again. Points of issue moved around consistently, but the proposed route never changed. It was always clear.
Naledi: Crack Pop Hiss Snap… It thinks the Syren Song is in danger. Why would a region of space with so much crime have a strip so perfectly clear? Especially given that we know the abundance of disruptive anomalies in the area.
Winters: ::unfolding her arms:: That is odd indeed. If our crew is in danger I want over there right now. I can blend in as a tourist or stand out as a Marine but I want over there.
Vharo / Fletcher-Bouchard: Response
Michele's growing anticipation of a threat pushed her internally to get her boots on the Syren Song, but things seemed to change rapidly. As Naledi went to respond, they got a priority one message on their desk. Michele watched as Naledi activated the coms with their palp, their other palp rose, ceasing the conversation.
Promontory: “SOS. Syren under attack, Janaran unresponsive. Send help.”
Naledi: Crick Snap Pop Hiss Crack… Why did we have to be right? This is a general distress call, bounced through relays. Team, we need to triangulate where it came from, cross-referencing with the data from stellar cartography.
Michele was already moving from the holo-projector to the closest console. Activating the security systems, Michele pulled up the relays and began a back trace of the coms message.
Winters: Working on it but this message seems to have been bounced around a lot. I could use some help on the secondary relays as well.
Vharo / Fletcher-Bouchard: Response
As the others jumped to their processes in hunting down the signals origin Michele kept working on the backend end coding for each relay. The console surface felt cool and smooth against her fingertips as they danced in a myriad of moves to circumvent the signal path.
Naledi: Tick Crack Snap Pop… Is anyone having any luck?
Winters: ::pausing:: Does anyone have the Janaran on scans?
The thought had hit her the moment they heard the message but at the same time her initial reaction was to locate Thor's crew. The SOS was likely sent from the first location that presented the best opportunity for the crew to access any system they could use. Michele knew that this also meant it did not pinpoint where the crew was potentially being held at.
Naledi / Vharo / Fletcher-Bouchard: Response
Winters: Agreed, but we need to realize they sent that message at the first opportunity. But that does not mean they are still there. What are the sensors telling us about their combadge locations? I am suspecting the attackers would have removed them but my gut says one of the bad guys has the badges either on his person or on the same deck.
Naledi / Vharo / Fletcher-Bouchard: Response
Michele nodded. It was the best guess she had at the moment. As she continued to work on the coms signal, a degeneration of the signal unlike anything she had seen before seemed to be creeping into the signal. She paused and looked at the data with a sinking gut feeling. She was losing the signal path.
Winters: Have you guys ever seen a signal degeneration like this? It looks like something is just erasing the signal from the transmission side but in an extremely odd pattern. I have never seen this.
Naledi / Vharo / Fletcher-Bouchard: Response
[TBC/TAGS]