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“If those orders had escaped, then the command staff of each vessel at minimum would be held securely for detention upon our return pending further investigation. I find it more likely that the order did not escape since we have not had a punitive reaction from ISN Command and our ruse about computer decontamination has been allowed to play out so far.”
Another presence enters the virtual suite, although it does not manifest itself as an officer. It appears as what could only best be described as a cloud of static — the highly encrypted nature of the comms band apparently being used to access the virtual suite has not done justice for the image of whoever was apparently broadcasting. Out of the cloud of static flies a datapad, which lands on the virtual table. The manifest cloud of static soon fades as the connection terminates.
Graham’s image looks around the virtual table, looking a bit haggard today (medical staff would know that he has hardly slept since the incident). His eyes widen a bit as he listens to the audio on the datapad.
I don’t think we’re going to convince the ISN that the other stations are loyal – in fact, I think we’re going to have enough problems convincing them of our own motivations, under such circumstances. It’s not acceptable to leave them to their fate, but I agree that any communication from the Fourth Hunter Group to the stations would be a risk we can’t afford to take.
Rather than a message, we could send a messenger. If we can quietly get a shuttle close to one of the stations, we could deploy a team to use sector-wide communications to advise any remaining civilians to evacuate. It shouldn’t be possible for any ISN listening posts to overhear if we use laser-based communications. Shut down all channels back to ISN command beforehand, if possible; I imagine that the locals are already terrified. Once they’re evacuated, we come out of quarantine and, with communications back to command still down, we destroy the stations along with any evidence of our activities.
The movement of Graham’s shoulder as he shifts his weight indicates that he is gripping the arm of his chair entirely too hard. Eyes turn downward as he continues.
It’s a bit of a desperate plan, but we should to do everything we can for these people after – after what happened. If the ISN doesn’t realize the stations were evacuated, they will be legally dead, and so, hopefully, they will be safe.
Having said his piece, Graham finally seems to relax, sinking back into his chair, listening to the more senior officers discuss the matter.
Nhaima shook her head slightly.
“A messenger is even riskier than a message. A message can be wide, go anywhere or everywhere. A messenger is a physical object which can be tracked and watched. Besides, if the stations have been ordered to be destroyed, I’d imagine the orders have already been reissued to another force. Another Hunter Group could have destroyed the all of the stations in the time its taken to set up this connection, and if we did broadcast a message then those same warp capable ships would be more than up to the task of running down fleeing civilian craft,” she explained. She ran the fingers of one hand through her hair to brush it down subconsciously, “No, it’s best we trust the civilians have acted in their own best interest rather than endanger them further.”
Checks the intelligence report again, a little frantically
“This seems to indicate, if I am not mistaken, that the ISN fleet is stretched thin in the area for the moment, with the 3rd Hunter Group destroyed and the 4th in quarantine. Of course, if they have already dispatched another group…” Gives a frustrated shrug “Well, then there’s obviously nothing left for us to do about it, and we can only hope that our failure to step in will help convince the ISN of our story.”
Jolts as another message comes in, as he was still holding the datapad. Ghraham quickly reads through Hall’s newest message, his jaw locking when he gets near the end.
“Bugger – you’re probably right, Nhaima, but I don’t like any of this one bit. I would rather we not deliver ourselves into the hands of the enemy again – and after that massacre the ISN is definitely an enemy. That said, this conversation is above my pay grade. You know I’ll do my duty – I’m just thoroughly glad I’m not a weapons officer.”
Xavier sits listening to the conversation around him carefully. Mulling over the thoughts in his head, he waits until the conversation pauses before beginning to speak.
Based on what I have been able to learn of the ISN and how it operates from the fleet records, what occurred during our mission is not something that is uncommon. There are several recorded incidents of such missions – investigating insurgencies in systems across the Empire. During these missions, a common theme is a complete sensor blackout, more often than not attributed to some unfortunate equipment failure.
Xavier pauses, letting that sink in. Though he has been well aware of the implications, and had prepared himself to encounter such an instance, the realisation of the truth of the information he has been able to glean weighs heavily upon him
No record is made of any order given to deliberately destroy or kill civilian populations. But based on what we have ourselves experienced, and on the information I have analysed on post mission reports – stations disappearing for all sorts of “accidental” reasons, civilian populations later recorded as “lost” – its evident that these “system purges” are the Empire’s way of maintaining control. I suspect Petrov deliberately avoided using voice communications to give the order; the text comms systems can easily be altered or purged to doctor certain communications.
The problem is, how our mission played out is not how it is supposed to go. The loss of the 3rd Hunter Group and quarantine of the 4th Hunter Group have meant Command have a serious issue to deal with. Official reports still have to be made, and they sure as hell can’t say that the 3rd Hunter Group was destroyed by civilians and the 4th put out of action. It would stir up a hornets nest of issues.
Heavy forces have already been dispatched to the are and the investigation has started. I imagine Command will work up some kind of cover up story –
pirates or hegemony. Whatever happens, they are going to have to spin it some way or another, and that is probably what has got them so riled. We need a solid plan of action for when the quarantine period is up.
Xavier leans forward in his seat. His expression hardensr.
We can’t help those people. It sickens me to think that we are leaving innocent civilians to their fate but we don’t have the resources or the manpower to do anything that would save them. We acted honorably to save them against the 3rd Hunter Group, and we have given them a fighting chance. But that is all we can do.
Pausing again, Xavier’s expression softens slightly.
I think our story of an attack against our ship’s computer systems might just hold up. There was an operative aboard one of those stations, and we came pretty close to the shuttle they tried to escape in. We also tried to retrieve that black box, which we could easily claim had a virus package aboard. What do we need to do to make this convincing? Our explanation of events needs to be water-tight. What do we need to make sure we don’t overlook?
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