XCAS Saga 12 - Rebellion

[DragonHawk]

XCAS Saga 11 - Home Again

 

Well, Saga 11 was meant to be short, just long enough to get remember that there is something worth fighting for. X-Com has successfully struck a bargain with the Ascidian government, and now the two organizations are loosely allied with each other.

 

Story

 

Ok, so that's the back story, a more descriptive version of what I've got above - not critical to read right now, if time is short, and it's five minutes before sim. The briefing is a bit long, but contains the pertinent information.

 

Mission Briefing

 

I'm going to leave the other roleplay thread open for the next week so that anyone can input their pre-Ascidia actions. It will be locked once people are done.

 

Mission Log

 

Mission Summary

[DragonHawk]

Some background on what's going on...

 

Story 2 - Starting the Operation

 

The mission...

 

Mission Briefing

 

Mission Logs for November 6th and November 13th...

 

Log Part 1 and Log Part 2

[DragonHawk]

X-Com Officers Quarters, 20 March 2068

 

Scott looked like a minor hell. He obviously was not particularly happy about his new activity (or non-activity, as some unkinder soldiers might mention) status. The wound suffered on Paronnen IV's moon had removed him from the active roster - no eager soldier wanted that.

 

The wound he had taken was almost invisible to the casual observer. Only the most astute would see the stiffer bearing marking the hidden discomfort. While Cyriacus couldn't claim to know how Scott well, he knew enough to know that Scott was pained in more ways than physical.

 

Well, first things first, thought Cyriacus. "Lieutenant Scott, what's Alpha's current status?"

 

"Team is still mission ready, sir. Sergeant Goorit is doing a fine job as a leader."

 

"Excellent." Cyriacus nodded to the report on his desk, filed by Shadow himself. It was only a page; at least Shadow wasn't too verbose. In it, the mission had been outlined briefly. It had gone off pretty well... Well, except the loss of one X-Com soldier. Her whereabouts unknown, Private Rebecca Stalk was missing in action.

 

Cyriacus wondered exactly what must be going through Shadow's mind. It was no secret that Stalk had been all over Shadow like... like... Cyriacus couldn't think of anything that would accurately describe the relationship, but it seemed pretty intense to him. Then again, Cyriacus had no love other than his job; maybe it was just lack of perspective.

 

Regardless, after calling in the security forces, Shadow's team and his hand-picked Ascidian soldiers scoured the forest for any sign. While the tracks could be followed, they ended at a clearing about five kilometres away. By the time X-Com forces reached this clearing, the rebels had transferred themselves into vehicles stolen from a nearby farm. The rebels would be in a new hiding location by now.

 

However, this issue could not be pursued now. "Scott, I'm going to transfer you to my personal staff. As I don't have a operations officer, you will take that place. There have been some changes in organization, and I will forward you the new chart, but you'll be on my advisory board with XO Lori Fontanna, intel officer Lennox Sinclaire, and my logistics officer... when I get one. Until then, you'll take that off of Fontanna's plate."

 

It looked as if Scott tried to hide his emotion, but if so, he failed miserably. The look of sadness mixed with the understanding that this was for the best - it was heartbreaking. "I'm sorry Scott, but I can't place you on active duty unless you are ready for it, but you're not. It's time for you to accept a new role."

 

Scott's face hardened almost imperceptibly, then he nodded. "Yes, of course... Who will replace me?"

 

"It's your choice. Pick. I would think both Sergeant Goorit and Corporal Evander could be elevated fairly - both have good command potential... Though they both have a bit of a maverick streak as well."

 

"Sergeant Goorit, sir. He's senior, and he knows his business as well as having studied the officer's manuals under Lieutenant..." Scott hesitated respectfully at mentioning the dead officer's name. "Kacur's orders. He'll be the best choice."

 

"Good. I'll have the supply officer... err... that would be you, issue him a new set of insignia. Let him choose his team sergeant when he's ready. I'll file the orders immediately."

 

"Yes sir." Taking Cyriacus' cue, Scott left, leaving his Colonel in thought.

 

 

X-Com Officers Quarters, 21 March 2068

 

Sinclaire was a man of meticulous strategy, or so he thought himself. He pored over satellite data, trying to find pinpoint where the rebels had gone with Stalk. His resources were more finite than that of the task force intelligence staff, of course, but he didn't really trust the Ascidians to be as concerned for an alien as for one of their own. Sinclaire was a character of bizarre views in that he was willing to trust the Ascidians on matters of military importance, but would not heed their advice on political or personal planes.

 

"Lieutenant Sinclaire"

 

Sinclaire looked up to see one of the troopers entering the office. It was the excitable one, hence the shouting down the corridor. "Corporal Jackson? What can I do for you?"

 

Jackson almost threw a package with the Ascidian military logo on it. "Just came by in by runner! The gits looked pretty happy, for gits, sir."

 

Sinclaire grinned as he caught the package. "Well, well, I wonder what we have here..." He opened the package and flipped through the few pages worth of content, then through the photos. "I think we've got another assignment on hand. Let's go bug the Colonel."

 

Mission Briefing

 

Mission Log - Argh, my computer crashed and I lost the first part of the log!

[DragonHawk]

Paronnen II, 22 March 2068

 

Sinclaire examined the wreckage briefly. This site had been thoroughly demolished with grenades, thrown by Lieutenant Goorit and Corporal Jackson. The carcass of a squad support machine gun was surrounded by the bodies of a good half dozen Ascidians. Throughout the rest of the floor, rebel bodies lay piled about, as the Ascidian clean-up team reorganized the area. At the north entrance, the bodies of one of the Ascidian assault teams was arranged for transport back to base.

 

That assault had been a bit of a screw up. The team had moved to the second floor quickly, but they had been overwhelmed. Whether by luck or by design, Sinclaire didn't know. The destruction of the north side stairwell had been a good move on the part of Shadow's team, and resulted in the containment of the rebels with only one assault team. Fortunately, Alpha had been able to bail out the remaining beleaguered assault team.

 

There had been a few prisoners, and the Ascidian interrogation team was going over them. Sinclaire didn't speak much Ascidian, but he was working on that so that he could conduct his own sessions. As it was, he wasn't convinced that these rebels had anything of value. They belonged to the Freedom Group, a local group of reformers who wanted the old ties to Ascidia abolished.

 

"Lieutenant Sinclaire."

 

Sinclaire turned to see one of his corporals, a young woman with rather hard set eyes, addressing him. "Yes?"

 

"We've gone over the... establishment. It seems to be purely a bunkhouse or safehouse of sorts."

 

Sinclaire gestured to the surroundings. They were indeed quite spartan, but the remnants of mattresses could be seen about. "Indeed, that we knew already. Is there any evidence that we can follow up with?" Maybe things had been destroyed too readily by the assault teams, he thought.

 

The reproach humbled the corporal slightly. Her eyes narrowed, but she held her ground. "Some, sir. We managed to piece together some data with respect to where Private..." She glanced down at her pad. "Private Stalk might be. A great majority of the rebels were planning to disperse and attempt some sort of resistance on their own. We've managed to figure out just over ten destinations, but we ruled out nine of them as insignificant."

 

"And this tenth location, where is it?"

 

The corporal hesitated slightly. "It's in the industrial section of this city here... sorry, I'm not familiar with Ascidian yet, I just call it THE City, for now." She looked somewhat flustered at this admission. "Well, regardless, there is a vast industrial section on the west side of the city. Pretty much factories and the like. The workers are housed here, but its not an issue. This building here, yes that one, is owned by those sympathetic to the Freedom Group."

 

Sinclaire examined the map and nodded. "Good. What are the restrictions?"

 

"The facility makes a number of things... However, the reputation of the company is that of a community contributor."

 

"Then we can't afford to just let a team bust up stuff in the day time."

 

The corporal nodded. "They can't afford to let the prisoner be seen by workers either though, so she will be housed in a place that is isolated. That really limits things... I'm guessing here, in the third sub-basement. They store heavy mechanical equipment down here, surplused stuff that they rarely use, and in any case a number of the chambers have heavy insulation. I would imagine any of the four could be holding rebels, stockpiles, etc."

 

"Ok. I'll get a team on this one right away. Let's see what we can turn up."

 

-----

 

Mission Log

[DragonHawk]

Paronnen II, 22 March 2068

 

The team had just entered the sewers. Cyriacus and Sinclaire were sitting in the one of the innumerable buildings that were now springing up on base. This building was dedicated to mission control, or in the case of X-Com, merely mission observance.

 

"Sir?" Both Cyriacus and Sinclaire looked up to see Corporal Peterson, one of Sinclaire's intel analysts. "The maps of the sewers you requested are here and so are your liquid nitrogen quotations."

 

"I guess we can remove the sanitation department from our hit list," said Cyriacus dryly as Sinclaire stepped forward to received the documents. "What's the status on the N2?"

 

"We can have some brought in on an emergency basis, and we've already put forward mission orders to that effect... something about the factory or whatever housing heavy weaponry." Peterson grinned lopsidely. "Not that there isn't anything like that down there, perhaps, but..."

 

"I know, I know. Let's just find out whether Stalk is down there, and get her out." Cyriacus tapped the table patiently as Sinclaire perused the paper.

 

"Nothing much of interest. We projected the sewer system would look something, if not exactly, like this based on the documents we could find. The sensors could be anywhere along this stretch of corridor here," he said, indicating a one hundred twenty metre length. "With the sewer water running through the middle, it divides the walkway into two portions with bridges every sixteen metres. This area here provides a good firing area, but I doubt they will mount any heavy weaponry there - not only a huge consumption of resources, but a low possibility of infiltration... until today."

 

"Sir, contact. From the looks of it, there are one, maybe two moving objects around the right hand corner of the intersection. They seem to be smaller sized, so I would assume they are not Ascidian..." That voice was Steiner's, the new team scout. He was green, to be certain, but steady. He was obviously not talking to Cyriacus, but to Shadow.

 

"What was that?" Sinclaire looked up suddenly.

 

"They heard a splash, sir," Peterson supplied helpfully.

 

Cyriacus vocalized his thoughts. "Would the have underwater patrols? No, that would take as many resources as a squad-support weapon would."

 

"I have no idea." Sinclaire's eyes furrowed. "They aren't exactly fond of water in the broad sense, as a race." Sinclaire turned to Cyriacus. "I think we can say the operation is a go though. We've requisitioned some N2, so I'm going to form the second team and have them accompany the nitrogen and carry the extra suits for Shadow, Necro, and Steiner."

 

Cyriacus nodded. "Get Scott to alert the team."

[DragonHawk]

>

 

Paronnen II, 23 March 2068

 

* PVT_Xiggores SETTING - The mess hall was almost empty at this time - it was between meals - but Corporal Necro sat their alone, absently eating as he absorbed the events of the previous day. Shadow had been absolutely shattered at the loss of Rebecca, but the others, newer folks who had never really gotten to know Stalk, had only a passing familiarity with her. Unfortunately for Necro, he's about to have a visitor...

 

::sitting in the messhall Necro is at one of the circular tables in the corner with his feet up on another one of the chairs. Paper in one hand and a coffee in the other he's enjoying the good life no missions, no aliens and no suit seals. He was glad to be bored for once and had a smile on his face::

 

::Xiggores wandered into the mess hall, oblivious to everything as usual. Spying Necro, he comes over rather tentatively. Not sure how to open up to the combat trooper, he just opens his mouth.:: Hey, Andy, how are things going?

 

::pausing halfway through a sip off coffee he peers over the top of his paper and sees Xiggores, he gulps loudly:: Hi Xiggy ::he replies::

 

Mind if I join you? How did the mission go? ::Xiggores blinked. He was trying to be more sociable, as Rallwell said he should be, but he had no idea how to go about it. Meanwhile, Andy and Jacko were probably the more personable people in the squad, so how hard could it be?::

 

::moving his feet of the chair he point for Xiggy to sit:: Nt good, after all that she was dead, had been for a while sadly, crushed Shadow think he took it the hardest

 

Who? ::Xiggores racked his brain. There was the one woman, on the shuttle team... a medic.:: Stalk, I think? Oh yes, Shadow and her... ::Xiggores face turned red as he thought of that, then he decided to think of something else. He hadn't known her very well.:: That's uhh... sad.

 

yeah, thats teh problem round here, all you new ppl, no one really gets to know one another here

 

I guess so. It's hard though. Now that the Patton is fully crewed, there are more people running around then ever. I mean, last week, I had the ship's first officer bring me a report... I mean, since when have we had these things? ::Xiggores shook his head before grinning.:: But you're one of the old warhorses, so I shouldn't complain.

 

lol, hey I'm not THAT old. ::he laughed, it felt good:: yeah I suppose, protocol kinda went out the window when we first got here

 

Now that people are around though, there are all sorts of rules. Even I remember a time when it wasn't like that... back in the day. Like, what? Three months ago, if that? ::Xiggores smiled. He had no idea why he came back, but he did. It was still mind-boggling, but he felt like he belonged... in a way.::

 

fair play, so what brings you down to the canteen, surely it can't be Jackos cooking

 

::Xiggores chuckled.:: Indeed, indeed. Well, in a way. I was looking to get something to eat, but there aren't many restaurants on this boat... ::Xiggores tried to make his tone a bit light-hearted, but it came out rather tense.::

 

::he stopped and stared at Xiggy for a while::

 

you scared of me? I old throw people about if I don't like them

 

::Xiggores coughed slightly.:: Ahem, well, I think I'll get some food and get back to the ship's labs... some interesting work going on there. I'll see you later. ::Xiggores stood rather suddenly and proceeded to run over to the counter, where Jacko was making some sort of concoction.::

 

::he went back to reading his paper, but yelled over the top of it:: if you want something interesting to study its cooking infront of you

[DragonHawk]

Paronnen II, 26 March 2068

 

The news had spread like wildfire though the base and through all operational areas on Paronnen. The discovery of alien species, Aquatoids, near a (previously) activated base was too much to blame on coincidence; now alerted to the threat, area commanders had begun scouring their areas for more signs of the alien menace. No other signs had yet been found, but all troopers were warned to be vigilant in their search.

 

The factory raid team had taken Private Stalk's body away from that place, to give it the respect it deserved. It had been a fresh kill - medical evidence showed that she had been pumped full of drugs, had probably been in pain, but was hurriedly killed during the evacuation. Whether it was the Aquatoids that had sent advance warning or the grenade that had destroyed the advance guard post that had the surprise raid, they didn't know. All they knew that Stalk was dead, and that the Aliens were involved.

 

Lieutenant Sinclaire had watched the process with an academic detachment. He didn't think of himself as a cold man, but he tried to keep himself above the feelings that permeated the base now that casualties had been taken. There was some positive aspect, he thought. The Aliens had given the enemy some sort of legitimacy that a purely civil war did not have. It had been tempered by the loss of a teammate, but Sinclaire was almost positive that things would be well within a few days. Shadow was crushed by the loss, but the others would bring him around... or they had better.

 

"Lennox." Sinclaire blinked. Scott was standing in the doorway.

 

"Joe, come on in, have a seat." Sinclaire waved his hand rather unceremoniously. "We've got a follow up. The investigations corps descended on that factory earlier today, arresting the factory owners and installing their own governors for the next little while. All on the evidence of collaboration with 'alien nations' or something like that. The rebels in the basement had set as much of their files on fire as possible, pretty much anything they couldn't take, but they didn't do a perfect job."

 

Sinclaire paused for a breath. He didn't feel Ascidians were as adept at intelligence as humans were, but he had learned to at least keep his mouth shut. "Plumbing plans are not complete, but it's believed that the water in these channels," said Sinclaire, pointing to the area that Alpha had explored, "run from an extensive system underneath the factory. It's an old facility, so they used to dump all sorts of stuff down there, not to mention they used to be into rather complicated construction. Anyway, the place down there is a maze, but not believed to be a large one. Somewhere down there might be a nest of these bloody aliens... Might. Probes have been unsuccessful so far, but I want a patrol down there to check it out. I want a few teams suited up - Shadow and I will lead teams into the maze, you will command a squad to maintain position outside of the entrance. I want everyone on this one, including that fool Xiggores - anyone with two hands and that can shoot in at least the general direction. Get Steiner to put up some form of underwater sensor network as well before he goes in."

 

Scott paused, seeing if there was anything else, then said, "Sounds good to me. I wouldn't mind holding the gun again, even on the chance that I could be back into action..."

 

"Hopefully that won't be the case. There will be a couple of Ascidian teams going in as well. Every team will get stun bomb lauchers too, just on the off chance we can get something useful." Sinclaire grinned at Scott's face - Joe obviously wanted to see some action. "Get the boys and girls sorted out... I want people ready to go in three hours."

[ShadowBlade]

Paronnen II, several hours earlier

 

"It's all my fault"

 

Jonathan threw another mighty, mechanized punch at the wall; tears sliding on his face, red of fury. Being the installation a reinforced bunker, the blow didn't do anything but slightly dent the target. Rebecca was now dead, and there was nothing the lieutenant could do about it.

 

"If I just had been more silent... If I had been quicker" Jon thought to himself, refraining from punching the wall again, for the other people's sake. Nothing could he do by the time his team stormed the deserted complex, as he gazed in horror at the lifeless body of his beloved girlfriend. Shadow promised himself he'd be even more relentless and merciless next time he'd face the aliens. They were to be punished for their deeds, they were far from redemption now...

 

"Leave no prisoners..."

[Ego Terrorist]

"Here's to you kiddo." Yorke then raised his mug to salute her and drank from it. He'd finished the autopsy on Private Rebecca Stalk about half an hour ago, the report was finished and Yorke was now alone in the sick bay's mortuary, where bodies were stored and where the autopsy's would be performed. Most of the medical staff were off duty, a few doctors and nurses, were on duty in the sickbay, but none of them needed to come down to the mortuary, hence it was deathly silent, even the noise from the ships engines were muted, as if in respect of the dead.

 

Stalk had been a fairly good medic, nothing special, but she did her job well enough. Now she was dead. Yorke shook his head and took another look at the report, it had been archived to the ships computer and forwarded to the CO and XO. It didn't make pleasant reading, but it detailed his autopsy findings. With a full medical staff Yorke had a good few assistants to help him with the autopsy's, and once it was finished he sent them off early, he'd be able to finish up on his own, he'd done it enough times.

 

"Excuse me Doctor."

 

"Oh hey Tony." Said Yorke, as he took another sip from his mug, Tony was one of the Nurses on duty tonight a good lad, inexperienced though. He took the file that Tony offered. "This the preliminary report on the Aquatoids?" He said as he flicked though it scanning the pages, it seemed to be the report, it would need signing and then the proper autopsy would have to be performed.

 

"What you drinking?" Asked Tony a little puzzled about the odd contents of the mug.

 

"Hm?" Yorke looked into the mug and then signed the report. He'd take a more though look through it tommorow. "Whiskey." He noticed the look on Tony's face and then spoke. "My shift finished about half an hour ago."

 

"What were up to earlier?"

 

Yorke pointed to where Stalk lay.

 

"Is that er..."

 

"Yeah." Sighed Yorke, he then opened the one of the body freezers, where Stalk's body would remain, either until they returned to Earth,or until they made some funeral arrangement. He pushed the trolley with Stalk on it to the wall slid the tray with Stalk's body into the freezer and then closed the door, locking it and then finished off the remaining whiskey in his mug. Turning off his computer he then handed the folder back to Tony and then looked around the mortuary. "It never gets any easier." He said to himself.

 

"Pardon sir?"

 

Yorke made his way to the door, it was time to get some food. "It never gets any easier." He said out louder this time.

[Andrew_175]

Laughing at Xiggy as he sampled Jacksons "Chicken fried snake(man)", his sudden change of colour to a wonderful shade of green and a rapid exit in the direction of the lavatory.

 

Necro finished his coffee, placed the cup in the dishwasher, avoided Jacko's latest creation and left the mess hall heading in the direction of his quaters. Now that the crew compliment was up dramatically, minus the death of Stalk which sadly still played on the mind of the old crew, there was now paperwork to finish and he was behind, not just a little behind as in one or two memos but there was enough paper in his office to make up a forest.

 

On his way back he happened to pass the sickbay and the morge as Yorke was stepping out of the doorway followed by a medic who carried the name tag of Tony.

 

Necro nodded to Yorke who replied with a half hearted smile and a 'hullo'.

 

Andy guessed what Yorke had been doing and wasn't going to dwell on it, "you finished your shift?" he asked. "Yeah" replied Yorke "I'm going to get something to eat".

 

"I wouldn't" Necro laughed "Jackson's in his culinary creative mode, and Xiggy was his first casulaty. I got some food in my quaters and a bottle of something strong if you need anyone to talk to."

[DragonHawk]

>

 

 

* CPL_Necro ACTION sitting in his quaters about an hour later watching a vid from the past there is a knock on his door, turning down the volume on his monitor he yells "It's open"

 

CPL_Jackson: ::Jackson bounds into the room with his usual energy, carrying a platter of... something.:: AAAAAANNNNNNDDDDDDDYYYYYY!! Whatcha watching? I brought the munchies!!!

 

CPL_Necro: oh, erm hi Jackson! ::he replies somwhat started at a) because he thought it would be Yorke and B) at the shear amount of enery that Jackson always seems to have and minus any chocolate bars, he looks at the plate of munchies:: whatya got there Jacko my lad?

 

CPL_Jackson: You'll love this! ::He lifts the lid on his concoction. On the plate is a vaguely lobster shaped blob of... something.:: I got this from some of the gits onplanet! I was asking them about lobsters, and the locals seemed to know exactly what I was talking about. So they sold me this meat paste, which they said was lobster...I tihnk... and yeah, so I shaped it into a lobster! Neat, huh??

 

CPL_Necro: erm yea of course Jackson ::removing the tiniest part of the 'paste' he tastes it:: ....

 

DragonHawk ACTION - It tastes vaguely fishy... but nothing really like lobster. At least, not what most people would consider to be lobster. It tastes more like fish gone rancid after too many days in the sun...

 

CPL_Jackson: ::Jackson took a fork and rammed it into the lobster's claw and lifted it to his mouth.:: Lobster made of MEAT.... and good stuff at that!! ::He chomps down on the paste happily...::

 

CPL_Necro: ::Attempting to disguse his utter distaste for the so called lobster sandwich spread he quickly reached for his wastepaper bin in case Jacko too thought like he did, but in a more vomity way::

 

CPL_Jackson: ::Jackson was extremely satisfied with the way the whole thing tasted. The texture was a bit thin, but the taste... Wait a minute... Suddenly, Jackson's stomach starts to roil and his bowels start to turn...:: Ugh... Andy... I think... Ugghhhhhh

 

CPL_Necro: ::grabbing the back of Jacksons head and ramming it rather sharply into his wastpaper basket before anything can hit the carpet or anywhere else a projectile vomit can range to:: Obviously Lobster doesn't stick to stomach

 

CPL_Necro: "if you taste a lobster and you gotta vomit" Necro hums

 

CPL_Jackson: ::The quick movement of his brain, not to mention the quick stop against the edge of the wastebasket, combines with the stomach sensation. Jackson spasms violently as he throws up into Necro's wastebin. It passes quickly, with the stench of rotten fish and bile filling the room.::

 

CPL_Necro: mmm, yummy - warm and lumpy just how I like it! ::He places the basket carefully on the floor as it slops about:: I think we should leave here now

 

CPL_Jackson: Erghh... sorry about that, Andy. My bad... ::Jackson can't muster up quite enough energy to make a witty comment; he's still quite nauseous.:: Yeah, maybe we should leave that for the janitor, ha ha.

 

CPL_Necro: thats not fair, I am the janitor!

 

CPL_Jackson: I meant... uhh... the OTHER janitor, yeah, that's it! ::A light comes to Jackson's eye, though he still looks pretty bleary.::

 

CPL_Necro: looking a little green there Jacko, be cafeful someone might mistake you for an aquatoid!

 

CPL_Jackson: ::Jackson grinned and tried to revive himself. He could feel some sort of force pooling in his stomach, but he wasn't sure what it was.:: I'd better perk up. We should go harass someone, who's around?

 

CPL_Necro: i think Yorkes about, be he may kill you if you vomit in his vicinity, but if you can move fast enough I saw Xiggy in the lab earlier

 

CPL_Jackson: XIIIIIIIGGGGGGGGGYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!! ::Jackson bolts off to the lab, his personal discomfiture nonwithstanding.:: Where is heeee????

 

CPL_Necro: ::sencing a vomit wave approaching, he dives into an off corridor and locks himself in a room until the hurling is over::

 

* CPL_Necro Action after a while the base is all riding the Vomit Comet and the next day everyone has a bad stomach, asprin and andrew anti-acid all round cried Yorke! END SIM

[DragonHawk]

Sim Background - Sunday 6 March 2005

 

Story: Underwater Labyrinth

 

Mission Briefing: Light Duty

 

Logs:

Rooftop Assault

Trapper Men

 

Mission Report: Summary

[DragonHawk]

Sim Background - Sunday 13 March 2005

 

Mission Briefing: Real UFOs

 

Mission Log: Real UFOs

[Atzel]

<<Joint Post - Xathia Anadere (Atzel) and Sgt. Faith Redwood (DH)>>

 

Setting: An Ascidian military hospital, where the alien survivor from the crashsite was transported.

 

[03:15] <Xathia> ::Is laying in her hospital bed, apperantly sleeping, because her eyes are closed and she's breathing rythmically.. she's covered with a blanket from the waist down and has large bandage over her chest where the ascidian surgeons had to operate to patch up her lung and fix her ribs.. she's got several stitches in her face and seems a bit swollen, otherwise alright.

 

[03:17] <SGT_Redwood> ::Faith stood outside the door, debating with herself. She knew her hatred of aliens wasn't terribly logical, Jon had made her see that, but that didn't make it easier to think about. Of course, she had in her tow a translator, so really she was already committed. She took a breath, then stepped through the door.:: Uhh... hi.

 

[03:25] <Xathia> ::Opens her eyes and they turn to focus on Faith. She doesn't move a limb, not change her expression... her gaze passes between you and the translator. "Hello", she rasps out in a dry voice::

 

[03:26] <SGT_Redwood> ::Technically, this was a new experience. Faith stepped farther into the room and closer to the alien.:: Hi... Uhh, my name is Faith. Who are you? ::Faith felt slightly silly at this - the alien wasn't a child.::

 

[03:31] <Xathia> ::Rolls her eyes and sits up in the bed, scooting back to make herself more comfortable:: Xathia....Anadere... ::she rasps it out, her throat most likely worse for fear after having breathed so much smoke:: I sense that you're not here to do pleasant small talk...Faith. What would you have of me?

 

[03:33] <SGT_Redwood> I actually have no purpose here, except to check up on the life I hope I helped. ::That part, the part of her that was purely human, still remembered that compassion, and it was not a distasteful or painful memory:: I grow curious about your health in this place. I know very few who have been under Ascidian care.

 

[03:40] <Xathia> ::Hrmps:: Yes.. I remember that.. And you have my thanks ::she bows her head slightly, the jewlery in her crest tinkling:: and the Ascidian are treating me all right but.. ::she looks around, slightly wild eyed:: They won't let me leave.. I've tried.. I need to get out of here.. if I stay for two long, I'm dead. Do you understand?

 

[03:41] <SGT_Redwood> ::Fatih frowned. The military hospital wasn't what she would call safe, but it wasn't exactly an easy place for this Xathia to be found.:: I understand what you are saying, but I do not understand why you say this.

 

[03:44] <Xathia> Don't you understand? We were running, me and my comrades.. from bounty hunters of my own race.. we are fugitives.. I'm dead if I stay here for too long, they will find out where I am.. ::she pauses, concidering what she just said::...err..I'm innocent, err, of course. Wrongly accused ::she carries on half heartedly::

 

[03:45] <SGT_Redwood> ::This was tricky territory to be conversing about, especially with a virtual unknown.:: I don't believe that anything but a sizable quantity of bounty hunters would retrieve you here, nor would I think that the Ascidians would simply tell them where you are, as a majority simply do not know.

 

[03:50] <Xathia> ::Growls, baring her menacing teeth:: You think so, do you? I've already lost two of my comrades to the Wraiths.. they are craftier than you think. They might not know where I am yet.. but the doctors say I have to stay here until I'm healed.. ::her eyes glance about the room.. you can tell that she's scared shitless:: ... I know I am already in your dept.. but...

 

[03:52] <SGT_Redwood> You cannot simply leave. Even if you were turned loose right now, where would you go? There is nowhere. ::Faith shook her head sadly. It was highly unlikely, in any event. Bounty hunters might have connections, but few Ascidians even knew of this race... Her eyes hardened as her mind latched onto the last.:: Do you have a request of me?

 

[03:56] <Xathia> ::Looks up, seeming to collect her thought... she seems sadned for a moment:: ... could you help me out of this place? I need... somewhere else to be ::the translator seems slightly confused, possibly grammatic error on her part:: I.. we... had the Wraith on our tail when we crashed.. this is the type of place they'll start looking in

 

[03:58] <SGT_Redwood> ... ::Faith thought. It was unlikely that even many Wraiths could simply just walk in and out of hospitals... What Xathia did not know was that there was a war going on, and that war had produced dozens if not hundreds of such facilities over the globe. Maybe not many could handle an alien biology.:: I would not know where to try. Will you keep running?

 

[04:06] <Xathia> ::looks at Faith for a few seconds she blinks.. she leans back, concidering this.. after a while she says:: Yes. If I can not hide, I will have to run. I have a death sentence hanging over me, so the Wraith will kill me on sight.. but... ::she sighs:: I do not wish to.. and now, I am alone....

 

[04:08] <SGT_Redwood> In a way, I too am alone here, but I have found a refuge with my brother and his comrades... ::Faith thought about that statement carefully. Maybe it was worth considering later.:: Perhaps I can speak with my commander.

 

[04:15] <Xathia> ::Raises a brow and glances at Faith:: ...that reminds me... who are you people and... if its no offense in asking so.. what are you... I've never seen anything quite like you...

 

[04:17] <SGT_Redwood> No, no offense. We call ourselves Humans. We come from... we come from a long way from here. We've encountered the... ::Faith looked at the Ascidian, then back to Xathia.:: ...the Starspawn in our home too, and we've formed an alliance with these people, the Ascidians.

 

[04:24] <Xathia> ::Growls at the mention of Star Spawn:: ...I see ::she says, simply:: Interesting... well then.. if you would care to make inquiries concerning the possibility to offer my any help, I would indeed be deeply indepted to you. ::she bows her massive head slightly to you::

 

[04:25] <SGT_Redwood> I will do so. And I will return when I have an answer. ::Faith adjusted her uniform. The fit of it didn't seem quite right... it wasn't what she was used to.:: I will return, I promise it will be so.

 

[04:35] <Xathia> ::Nods and smiles.. at least you can hope it's a smile:: Thank you... I won't be going anywhere

 

<<End>>

 

Dum dum daaaaa!

 

The plot has reached a thickness of lukewarm peasoup, what will Cyriacus say? What manner of crime did Xathia get convicted to?

Stay tuned for the next epidose of: "The Fugitive SF series - We couldn't buy Ford"

[DragonHawk]

Paronnen II, 3 April 2068

 

"You must be kidding." Sinclaire shook his head. "That's ridiculous."

 

Faith felt somewhat beleaguered, but she pressed on. "It's not ridiculous, it provides us with a number of significant advantages."

 

"It provides this Xathia with a number of advantages, that is true, but I'm not so sure it provides us with advantages." Sinclaire frowned. "Not to mention it puts a hole in Alpha Squad."

 

"Hear me out. The Ascidians aren't going to utilize Xathia as a resource, but her position puts her in a situation that you were in when you first came here. It may, one day, add another race to our alliance. Isn't that worth something?"

 

Sinclaire listened to the somewhat pleading note in her voice somewhat impassively. She wore her feelings on her sleeve, that was to be sure. "It's worth something, but as a part of a line unit?"

 

"The other thing is that Sgt. Hasegawa could be pulled back for some more training. The Vipers aren't exactly what she's used to - Atz is a better natural pilot, and we need her to do the tough flying." The Vipers were complicated shuttles to fly, if nothing else because they were Ascidian-built.

 

Colonel Cyriacus, who had just been listening in the conversation, leaned forward slightly. To Cyriacus, the political angle was just as important, and he was a bit more maverick of an officer - he liked to take big risks if the rewards were high enough. "These people have repelled the Aliens before?"

 

Faith's heart skipped. She didn't know for sure, but she had no reason to distrust reports. "Yes sir, that's what the Ascidians tell me."

 

Cyriacus nodded. "Very well. Lennox, get Joe to transfer Evander to Alpha pilot. Sergeant Redwood," he said, with a look at Faith, "will take Evander's place as squad sergeant, and Xathia will be an attachment." His voice softened somewhat. "Faith, you will be responsible to me personally for this, do you understand?"

 

"Yes sir"

 

"Have her brought in when she is ready."

[DragonHawk]

Sim Log for 27 March 2005: Training Raid

[DragonHawk]

Sim Log - 3 April 2005

[DragonHawk]

Paronnen II, 3 April 2068

 

"Let me get this straight. Wraiths were collaborating with the rebels."

 

"Yes, Colonel."

 

"The rebels were also sending messages to what we presume are Starspawn recipients located.... somewhere."

 

"Yes, Colonel."

 

"Why doesnt' this s*** ever stop?"

 

Sinclaire allowed himself a slight grin as he locked eyes with Shadow. If anything, Shadow was starting to look bored with the whole routine; he had already gone over it with Sinclaire himself. Cyriacus had wanted to hear it straight from the horse's mouth, so to speak. He certainly had by now.

 

Alpha Squad had, in addition to taking out one of Xathia's 'Wraiths', had also just intercept a message destined for Alien eyes. The message had still been in Ascidian when Alpha stormed the communications outpost, and they had been lucky - the message had been about 80% complete and the translator had checked it against their rather crude translation program.

 

The Wraith wasn't a huge worry in Sinclaire's opinion. From his understanding, they tended to work alone or in small groups. It was unlikely they would share information amongst themselves, since they were technically competitors. This particular Wraith was likely in the process of searching for Xathia; Sinclaire had no idea what other target would be here, though perhaps the Wraiths had been hired by the Aliens... anyway, that was much less likely.

 

The Aliens were the bigger problem. It had been hoped by pretty much everyone that the Aliens had taken off for good, but apparently they still manitained either a hold or a design on the Paronnen system. The transmission that had been detected earlier and the transmission capabilities of the communications office led Sinclaire to believe that the destination was in-system; there simply wasn't enough power to project a ground-based communication across interstellar distances. Such things were usually beamed to a satellite first, where resistance would be much less. Satellite reports indicated that nothing suspicious had passed through to interstellar communications, but the local communications log would take more time to sort out.

 

The communications had been pointed to either the third or the fifth planets, which were roughly in the same alignment from Paronnen II. Both worlds were essentially uninhabitable, though they did contain domed colonies for the purposes of resource extraction. The fifth planet also had a number of moons that could be used as bases... it was all sort of sketchy, Sinclaire reflected.

 

"Lennox."

 

Sinclaire looked to Colonel Cyriacus. "Sir?"

 

"You assessment?"

 

"From the intelligence standpoint, I'd say that the rebels are too fractured here on Paronnen II - too many different groups trying to grab a piece of the pie. Therefore, just because one cell works with the aliens doesn't mean that cell is a threat. Realistically, the threat posed by API or Black Spear collaboration would be much worse because those organizations are much larger. Rebel influence here does not extend past this system.

 

"Having said that, the presence of Aliens is still a problem. We don't know what they are doing, but we can't allow them to sit idly here. We'll need to purge them and make sure of it too, because there are heavy risks to letting them stay." Lennox called up a system map on the room's viewscreen. "I'd choose Paronnen V as the place to start. The local garrison commander is friendlier to X-Com involvement and the planet itself is larger, along with having more moons. In general, more hiding spots, which requires more resources to search. Other units can search other planets - I would recommend we look at Paronnen V."

 

"Gentlemen, make it happen."

 

 

In orbit around Paronnen V, 5 April 2068

 

Faith stumbled out of bed as the klaxon screeched in her ear. "Dammit" she roared as she banged her knee against the nighttable. Her uniform was on within minutes and she was out the door, dashing for the assembly area.

 

When she got there, she found all the squads gathering in their respective areas. She waved to her former squad-mates in Beta, then joined the Alpha assembly.

 

"Hey, no fraternizing with the Betas," joked Necro as he pulled up into the area.

 

Shadow laughed at that, then put on his game face as Colonel Cyriacus entered the room.

 

"Good... morning, troopers." Cyriacus grinned slightly.

 

"Good morning, sir" There was some laughter amongst the Betas - they had been on their shift when the klaxon had sounded, unlike the Alphas who had been asleep.

 

"As you know, we entered orbit of Paronnen V nearly two hours ago. At that time, we started our scans for Alien vessels as well as informing the Ascidian garrison commander as to how to do the same with his ground based units. We have been extremely fortunate."

 

The large screen at the front flared to life. "Two UFOs have been detected. Ascidian fighters are currently scrambling to intercept, but one of these UFOs," Cyriacus said as he indicated the larger of the two, "looks to be making a run for these mountains, where we may lose them by the time the Ascidians are airborne.

 

"Serpent Wing, I want this brought down immediately. Your crews should have loaded your fighters up by now. Any questions? No? Dismissed, get it done." Anderson, Donovan, and Vonaire departed the room.

 

"Alpha and Beta - you'll be on UFO detail. Alpha, you have the larger, Beta, the smaller. Your Lieutenants," he said, as he indicated Shadow and Brewster, "will fill you in when we have more information Dismissed."

 

 

Paronnen V, 5 April 2068

 

"Sassy bastard. He's not going to let us do him in that easy, huh?"

 

"I guess not. Lock on missiles. Once he gets to the mountain, the Alpha boys are going to have some issues. Let's see if we can get it down at least in the foothills, where it won't be so ugly."

 

"Gotcha boss, locking on."

 

Faith listened to the radio chatter as she suited up. Suiting up for a short engagement was not a problem. She carried all her power cells on her belt, along with grenades. Her laser was reliable, but she carried a small cleaning kit in case mud got in the barrel. Her sidearm rode at her side as well. All in all, she preferred to work light, keeping her mobile.

 

"Here we go, missiles away."

 

"Dodged, the..."

 

"Can it, Adder. My turn. Missiles away."

 

"See, Adder? That's how it's done, you should copy Viper's technique..."

 

"Shut up, Cobra, I don't need your s*** today"

 

"And she goes down. Easy."

 

Fatih grinned at the grunt of disgust from the comm, then looked to Shadow. "Target is down."

 

Shadow looked up from his preparations and nodded. "Ok guys, let's keep this simple. We're going down there to take a UFO, not to save the world, so keep it reasonable. It's a largish UFO, something like a Terror ship, so watch for nasties like Chryssalids or Cyberdiscs. No crazy heroics - we go in, get the job done, and leave it for the recovery folks. Questions?"

 

There never were any - people knew their job already.

 

"Ok, saddle up."

 

Faith grabbed her rifle and entered the shuttle.

 

Mission Log

[DragonHawk]

UGS Patton, orbitting Paronnen V, 5 April 2068

 

Rallwell watched somewhat nervously as Yorke and Chung opened the package. All of them were in hostile environment suits in the laboratory space, with Yorke and Chung as primary researchers and Rallwell on standby just in case something ugly happened. She could see also that Scott and Fontanna were in the observation room above, looking intently at the procedure.

 

"Ok, the box has been unsealed... Let's try lifting the lid. Are the biodetection monitors in place? If the organics in the room go up by even half a percent..." Lieutenant Yorke looked over at his partner, to make sure that they were clear.

 

"Got it, Doc, it's all set up," Chung said as he indicated the detector head above the box. It was designed to burn organic materials. The process separated the biologics into their combustion products, which were then pumped through a detector. A spike in carbons would likely indicate a biological agent, or so it was hoped.

 

Yorke nodded, then grasped the lid. "Ready? One, two, three, and up." The lid came off relatively easy.

 

Rallwell let out the breath she had been holding in, then nodded quietly to the two. They would be pretty safe in the suits, but the decontamination procedure for the room would be a big pain in the ass. That was the last thing she needed on her list... though maybe she could foist it onto Chung or Xiggores - it was their damn lab after all. "Colonel Cyriacus, the box is open.... Seals still intact, looks like nothing crazy was released."

 

"Thanks, Anne. Let me know when the samples themselves have been contained in our equipment."

 

"Yes sir."

 

In the meantime, Yorke and Chung started to take out what looked to be heavy plastic containers out of the box. They were heavily wrapped with some sort of bubble wrap to prevent damage... All that would need to be incinerated, just in case. Hopefully this wouldn't take too long - she had other stuff to do.

 

 

UGS Patton, orbitting Paronnen V, 7 April 2005

 

"So, where did it come from?" Cyriacus leaned back in his chair as he looked at his subordinate officers.

 

Fontanna was still new to the team and so was still quiet, but both Sinclaire and Scott were noisy enough for three. "Sir, this was a tough one, but we believe it comes from this research facility here. The Ascidians have a name for it, but it's serial number is P-5-12 for us. P-5-12 is on the first moon here. Chung thinks that it is about 80% likely that the weapon came from here."

 

"Based on what?" Fontanna leaned forward. She was most often asking the background questions.

 

"Apparently, for tracking purposes, every lab uses a characteristic tracer in the formation of their biological materials. Non-invasive, from a biological standpoint. It's injected automatically before leaving stores - it matches the signature of the P-5-12 lab."

 

"Ok. I want proof. Deploy Shadow's team to this moon and get them to find that material. The facility is to be captured intact, with casualties at a minimum. Shadow might need to have stun bombs - open up the armoury for him to requisition anything he needs."

 

Scott nodded carefully, then stood. "Yes sir."

 

Mission Log

[DragonHawk]

Paronnen V Alpha, 5 April 2068

 

Faith Redwood-Goorit, flanked by two Beta Squad troopers, entered the almost-oddly pristine lab environment. The scientists looked pretty horrified, because either their samples were being contaminated by the 'unclean' people coming in or they were beginning to suspect they were going to be in a world of crap. Jackson was brandishing his weapon viciously, cowing the Ascidian scientists into submission with threats of impending doom and continued 'yo momma' jokes.

 

"Sir, any luck so far?" asked Faith as she came up to Lieutenant Sinclaire.

 

Sinclaire frowned as he straightened up from the computer. "Nothing. Whoever was involved managed to wipe everything before the team got here." Sinclaire looked pretty disgusted with the machine, and Faith thought he was going to kick it, but his professionalism came back into play. "If there were actual weapons samples here, then it's been dumped. The tracer used can be confirmed to come from here, but past that there isn't much to say. I had hoped that we could use this place to lead us somewhere else, but it looks like a dead end for now."

 

"Any idea on which of these scientists is a traitor?" Faith eyed the Ascidians carefully. There were eleven of them with access to the high-clearance labs - at least one of them had to be a traitor. Could all of them have been in on this?

 

"They're pretty closed lipped, and the damage to their facility is making them indignant. We'll hand the facility over to the Ascidian military to handle, but I don't expect much to come from this."

 

"What's going to be the next step then?"

 

Sinclaire started to shrug, then stopped. "Well, while we were around playing with these people, Ascidian spies have found where the UFO may have originated from. THey believe it is a small on-surface flight base just west of the central meridian near the equator..." Sinclaire pulled an envelope from his jacket pocket and handed it to Faith. "For Jonathan, orders. Just seize the facility - I need more information to nail this thing down..."

 

"Yes sir."

 

Mission Log

[DragonHawk]

Paronnen V, 14 April 2068

 

Paronnen was falling.

 

High Council forces had already fallen back from the inner planets. Dissidents had united in the push to reclaim their planets, and with the popular support of the people they had successfully taken over the majority of Paronnen I, II, and III. Many wielded weapons of Alien manufacture, and the Aliens' joint seizure of Parronen IV and its resources was an open declaration of allegiance with the Paronnen dissidents.

 

Cyriacus shook his head slowly. The command post on Paronnen V had been designed as a fall-back position, but the High Council's flag officers had all withdrawn from the inner systems. Noticably absent were the Emperor's personal commanders - they had chosen to hold on their positions even as the High Council's troops fled. Now, the Council's generals were bickering as what would be best to do next. His understanding of Ascidian was pretty basic, but Cyriacus could pick up some things...

 

"We our losing control of this system. The Starspawn..."

 

"Damn them! Any information on their base?"

 

"Not yet found."

 

That was the problem. In this war, they had not pinned down where the Aliens were actually operating from, and that was the infuriating part. The X-Com raid on the airbase hadn't produced anything; it had been a desperate stab to get something of use, but the Aliens were careful now. They didn't leave anything useful, and their communications had become more sophisticated.

 

Things on Paronnen V were already beginning to look dicey, as Alien forces had swept over the outer moons almost effortlessly. High Council combat units had taken casualties as the local forces had either turned tail or had double-crossed their one-time allies. So far, they maintained administrative control of the planet, but that would change soon, or so Cyriacus thought.

 

"Where is General Oor'ta'ka?"

 

"He should be on his way here now. He hasn't checked in for a while..."

 

General Oor'ta'ka had gone to boost morale on another of the continents, but even his efforts were not likely to be enough... the Aliens seemed to be everywhere.

 

"Report, one of our fighter squadrons has reported that the General's transport was shot down by saucers"

 

"What??? Dispatch a relief team"

 

"YOU."

 

Cyriacus turned to see one of the Ascidian generals looking towards him. This 'you' form of address was becoming tiresome, but Cyriacus ignored it. "Yes?"

 

"Gather your team! Now! You will fly out and bring General Oor'ta'ka back"

[DragonHawk]

Cyriacus went to a communications console. "Joe, have Lieutenant Brewster and her troops saddle up. I'm transmitting orders." He tapped a few buttons, pulsing the transmission up to the Patton.

 

"Orders received. Just informed Brewster; she's boarding now." Lieutenant Scott's voice came in sort of staticky. "What's going on down there? Having fun?"

 

"Oh yeah, lots of it." Cyriacus spared a look at the base commander, but he was already shouting at someone else. Things were not looking sharp. "Things could be a lot better. Let Lori know too, keep the Patton's engines warm. We may need to be running soon..."

 

"We've had some trouble up here as well. Fortunately, their navy isn't exactly impressive."

 

"Let's hope the Aliens don't get too far into this. That would just be a bigger pain in the..."

 

Suddenly, a klaxon sounded inside the base. THere was a slight pause as the flag officers absorbed this new stimulus... then there was a mad rush. "They are attacking! Starspawn" ON a number of screens around the room, UFOs could be seen swarming in, overwhelming the anti-craft defenses and delivering troops.

 

Cyriacus cursed, then spoke into the comm. "Sorry Joe, looks like we're coming back up now."

 

"Yes sir. Patton out."

 

Cyriacus turned to Shadow, who was standing patiently beside. "I think we're done here... I don't see anything worth protecting." Cyriacus looked over at the other Ascidian officers disdainfully. Normally, he wouldn't have let that particular emotion onto his face, but he was losing patience. "Let's go."

 

Cyriacus saw Shadow shake his head slightly as they left. Cyriacus was about to comment... but he didn't. He just didn't know what to say. Sometimes things went to hell... this was one of those times.

 

*****

 

"So that's that, eh?" Weindhoven didn't look particularly pleased. His office in NAO was messy, but he and Cyriacus had cleared some room for wine and walnuts. Random heaps of paper looked to be on the verge of collapse, but Weindhoven didn't move to correct the problem.

 

"Yes sir."

 

"Well, Brad, there's not much to be done about it now."

 

In the aftermath of the rebellion, Paronnen had forcibly separated itself from the government on Arkunis and had inserted their own brand of democracy to rule their planets. The Aliens had, in turn, taken Paronnen V as their share of the system, and had so far left the newly-founded government alone. More importantly, Arkunis had lost a great deal of industrial capacity and military capability there, weakening their overall position. Of course, the High Council refused to acknowledge any such independence, but military planning groups were considering Paronnen to be foreign territory.

 

The High Council's military had suffered greatly in that last push. As the bulk of them had been on Paronnen V, they bore the brunt of the attack. Withdrawl had been messy, but with their capital ships, they had maintained naval superiority over the primary continent.

 

The Emperor's warriors had, as a point of honour, stayed until the High Council troops had retreated, then had withdrawn. Ironically, because the Aliens had stayed in their own area of operations, the Emperor's regiments only had to deal with the rebels and were in much better order as they departed the Paronnen system.

 

So, the brute force method had failed this time. The High Council had expected to roll over the rebels quickly, but no such luck. General Oor'ta'ka was lucky to escape Paronnen with his life, as Lieutenant Brewster's Beta Squad pulled him out just before his crash site had been overrun.

 

Now they were back to square one. The High Council, advised rather forcefully by Du'ran'us, had chosen to pull back from its offensives in the face of the losses taken on Paronnen. All troops, including the special forces teams on Planet Zeta and those hunting the Rommel, were being pulled back temporarily to reassess the combat potential of the Ascidian military.

 

For X-Com, it meant that there was nothing to do. The Alliance still held, but without combat, there was no direct need for so many troops at NAO. They had become a garrison force in short order... and it wasn't necessary. With so many more troops at base, things were getting touchy, and that needed solving.

 

"Well, send Alpha and a few of the other veteran troopers back. Lieutenant Brewster can handle the situation here, but Alpha has been at the frontline for most of the campaign. They could probably use a break. Send 'em back to Earth for a while, call it a month."

 

"Sure. I'll cut and issue the orders presently. Are you going home for a while as well?"

 

"Nah. Don't want to deal with the internal politics. I'd rather take it easy here." Weindhoven frowned. "Besides, I'm sure I'll have my hands full here."

 

"Anything up and coming?" Cyriacus leaned back and took a sip of wine. It wasn't that great, but it was the Commander's favourite.

 

"Hmm... not really. Nothing I should talk about right now." Weindhoven grinned as he picked up a walnut. "But you never know... if you wait around, we might still get to see some interesting stuff here."