Login

Mildred Wolfe · (This post was last modified: 10-18-2019, 12:23 PM by Mildred Wolfe.)

...hack.initiated...connecting.to.Spyglass.Network...decryption.in.progress...
...Master.Assassin.Mildred.Wolfe.recognized...transmission.encrypted...
...uploading.data...

Good Afternoon,

The Lane Hackers have caught the attention of one of your new prized warships. What you refer to as the KKS-Sirene.

Until now the Inner Circle has disregarded any concerns on the vessel in question until recent discoveries made by our logistics division analysts and field operatives. The vessel in question you know as the KKS-Sirene is actually the old Spyglass vessel Fu Manchu. The process was verified by radio signals and heat signatures emitting from the vessel.

The Fu Manchu emits these unique signatures that fall in parallel with the Sirene, and was lost in deep space some time ago. Connecting the dots with your discovery of the supposed "KKS-Sirene" rather than its construction from scratch. The case goes beyond any doubt that the vessel is in fact the same one, a Lane Hacker originated design that we have been searching for for some time now.

The Lane Hackers would like to reward you generously for uncovering the Fu Manchu. The rewards list can be found below.

REWARDS

However, with this as well. Given the vessel's origin and likewise it's claim - the Inner Circle will demand it's return based on the case provided prior and below. We trust our faithful relationship with the Unioners and our rewards will take effect when it comes to property the Lane Hackers take much pride in. Your acceptance is awaited.

Additional evidence

...encryption.in.progress...disconnecting.from.network....hack.terminated...

Mildred Wolfe · 10-20-2019, 11:31 PM,

...Re.Transmitting...

The Syndicate Leagues · (This post was last modified: 10-21-2019, 02:02 AM by The Syndicate Leagues.)

Incoming Transmission...
Decrypting User ID...
Displaying Message...

---------------Welcome, Arbeiter ---------------

Terms of use

Arbeitsdirektor Corin Frei

Incoming Transmission

Unionised Peoples of Syndicalist Advocacy

To: Mildred Wolfe.
From: Corin Frei, Arbeitsdirektor.
Subject: The SLF Siren (Sirene).

Unpacking videofile...
Scanning for malware...
Linking attachments...
Video play...

Frei appears bemused, if unsurprised. It was something of an inevitability that the Lane Hackers would come for the erzatz chimera of loosely assembled parts that was the SLF Siren. Although the claim itself was grandiose - the Fu Manchu?

"Miss Wolfe. You a certainly full of surprises. And a high assignment this would be, if you were recovering the Fu Manchu."

He chuckles. There's nothing amusing about the situation other than to draw attention to its enormity.

"Marza is a virtual intelligence used by the crew of the ship we call the Siren, to make limited conn decisions. It takes its awareness of the vessel from a series of hard storage devices that the previous Junker owners of this ship used to store vessel-wide data on. Marza is an alloy of variant systems administration software using a speech interface for outside communication beyond the ship. The previous... occupants... of this vessel believed they had a replica of a Vespucci Triurmivate electronic warfare dreadnaught, which they modified for their own purposes. They believed it was a mark one spyglass - by hull configuration, it is not far from the original concept. Beyond that, and some technical solutions which may have been present on older vessels, its ancestry is difficult to parse together. We call the vessel 'The Siren' because it generates a sizable amount of electronic noise, that for over a year Unioner pilots associated with the paranormal in the Volkhoven Nebula. Ghosts and Sirens are fanciful, of course, but spacers are welcome to their superstitions. Engineers are curious. Smugglers are even curiouser. The Unioners sitting in the fulcrum, we had to know the truth. Marza does not have that truth in its datalogs."

"Then there is the hull of the vessel. Individual panels match the Libertonian and lanehacker make - but they have no production codes, no traceable matter to them. We would need to see the Manchu's blueprints to make a granular comparison. Then there is the lack of unexpected components that one would expect from old Lane Hacker technology - and our own retrofits. Much of the vessel has been re-engineered with Unioner craftsmanship. There is little of the ship that has not been touched - you might have seen the voluminous heat exchanger on the lower hull. The additional turret bores on the vessel's upperworks. The alternative arrangement and retrofit of the ship's interior spaces. The propulsion plasma ducts are unshielded on the Sirene, where on the Arbiter and Spyglass they are enclosed. And so forth. "

"The ship bleeds electromagnetism due to its highly unstable powergrid. Much of the vessel's wiring harness - like the connectome in a body - has been pieced together from ships across the sector, from civilian improvisations to solutions that we have simply never seen before. Both ingenious and mad. I do not believe that the Lane Hackers would deliberately create a technically inefficent solution in their own spacecraft, especially not one as successful in service as the Manchu was."

"If the Siren was the Fu Manchu, it would have matching serial numbers, evidence of Lane Hacker technology, or a spyglass array as sophisticated as that on the original ship. The Siren has none of those qualities in the design. She misses the antennae that the spyglass's closest modern counterpart, the Arbiter, shares. Unioner records on the Fu Manchu are sparse, but was that famed vessel not captured by the... apt named... Hellfire Legion?"

"Then there is the ship of Theseus question. If the Siren is the Fu Manchu, not enough of it is left to be known as the Fu Manchu, or even identified as the Fu Manchu. Could it qualify as the same ship?"

"There are many parts in the Siren's story we are still struggling to piece together. As to how the ship ended up in the Volkhoeven, there was once passages between Liberty and Rheinland that headed through Cologne. The old Unioner Tanner belt depot of Mackenzie was such a passage. Or the Siren slipped in from Zurich, via the then-unknown anomaly. That would raise even more questions as the Manchu was lost before Gallia itself was discovered by Sirius at large. These details might imply the Siren to be the Manchu, but again, she might not be. Any more than any other spyglass of that time."

"Our original theory was that the Spyglass was the Metropolis - but the Metropolis lies at the bottom of Wichita's gravity well. The Vagrant Raiders have not contested the hull with us, and they know of the Siren's existence. They were the first to remark on deviations from the Spyglass template they themselves had seen before."

"Miss Wolfe - if we had possession of your old homebase for as long as we have held the Sirene, I am sure that you would see evidence of its fecundity in our ship designs.

"Your theory is notable. If it is true, then the professorship has a claim to the vessel. But you will need hard evidence. What were the circumstances of last time a Lane Hacker left the decks of the Fu Manchu?. Can you prove that the vessel did not come from another spyglass operator, such as the Neo-Terrans? We ourselves have run into them before. Any information you could provide would be of use, Miss Wolfe. The Ship likely finding its birth in Vespucci is not enough to lay the ship as the Fu Manchu."

"We will ask our own questions. Delve into this one. We have contacts in Commonwealth defector groups. They may have useful intelligence. I would also be very much interested in that signal data."

You cannot cut off the tongue, of a man who speaks through his acts.
C.Frei.
143rd Arbeitsdirektorate, Syndicate Leagues of the aligned Unioner Syndicates and the LWB.

Transmission Complete

Scrambling access point...
Decompiling neuratrace...
Signal lost.

"Though the past is scarred and the future untold"
" Be the boot heavy, the vacuum cold."
"I of the Liga, do not fold"
"For suits or saints or beggar's gold.
Information - Recruitment - Message Dump - Feedback

The Syndicate Leagues · (This post was last modified: 10-21-2019, 02:12 PM by The Syndicate Leagues.)

Incoming Transmission...
Decrypting User ID...
Displaying Message...

---------------Welcome, Arbeiter ---------------

Terms of use

Arbeitsdirektor Corin Frei

Incoming Transmission

Unionised Peoples of Syndicalist Advocacy

To: Mildred Wolfe.
From: Corin Frei, Arbeitsdirektor.
Subject: The SLF Siren (Sirene).

Unpacking videofile...
Scanning for malware...
Linking attachments...
Video play...

Another message ping from Frei, over ten hours since his previous transmission. The Direktor is conventionally tough to reach - he's clearly been doing his homework.

"No luck on our Libertonian sources, Miss Wolfe. But there is much that can be dug up from the archives of the pre-Liga cells, scattered as they are. One record particularly is a goldmine."

Corin flashes up a link.

"This was the Sirene's signal intelligence as first traced by the Unioners, long before we knew exactly what the ship was, or who it belonged. Ownership is a canny problem for a pirate. "

"Miss hunter was on the end of the line. I am... well. I am certain that the former Professor Provocateur knows the ins and outs of the Fu Manchu. If the Hackers had the intelligence to point to the Manchu, you played the data close to your chest over two years ago. The word around the table was that the Sirene was in actuality the Belisarius. That lead again leads to only more mystery."

"I would be interested to know what has caused a change in the assessment. "

[File attached: 1]

You cannot cut off the tongue, of a man who speaks through his acts.
C.Frei.
143rd Arbeitsdirektorate, Syndicate Leagues of the aligned Unioner Syndicates and the LWB.

Transmission Complete

Scrambling access point...
Decompiling neuratrace...
Signal lost.

"Though the past is scarred and the future untold"
" Be the boot heavy, the vacuum cold."
"I of the Liga, do not fold"
"For suits or saints or beggar's gold.
Information - Recruitment - Message Dump - Feedback

Mildred Wolfe · 10-21-2019, 04:09 PM,

...hack.initiated...connecting.to.Spyglass.Network...decryption.in.progress...
...Master.Assassin.Mildred.Wolfe.recognized...transmission.encrypted...
...uploading.data...

Direktor,

Previous Junker owners you say? Are we to assume that this ship was not in fact as lost as you've had us believe? Direktor, eluding the case from us will not bring it to a quicker end, this has the Inner Circle questioning every other claim you've stacked up following that sentence. Especially since as well there would be no spyglass network technology onboard the vessel as the original network designs were completed after the ship was lost. The supposed evidence of Lane Hacker technology comes into question as well if the ship was previously inhabited by Junkers and not yourselves.

The Inner Circle has decided to take a more concrete approach to verify the ins and outs of the ship that former professor -believe it or not- would have missed. ID numbers onboard the ship do not fall under the collective method of ID for what should be, even to the least intelligent of those in Sirius - obvious. If our vessels could be traced so easily with ID numbers Ageria and the LSF would probably have started selling our ships on the open market to our adversaries with profane paint jobs.

Assuming you knew the how to uncover the ID number to the Fu-Manchu, never-mind what the number was. There would still be a legitimacy claim to this statement based on your indication that the vessel was previously owned by the Junkers and not found by yourselves.

I will arrive within a few hours with a team of specialists to collect the vessel for an inspection that will put the case to rest once and for all. The inspection will take no later than one weeks time. The analysts will be thorough in verifying what is and what is not legitimate in this case.

...encryption.in.progress...disconnecting.from.network....hack.terminated...

The Syndicate Leagues · (This post was last modified: 10-22-2019, 10:07 AM by The Syndicate Leagues.)

Incoming Transmission...
Decrypting User ID...
Displaying Message...

---------------Welcome, Arbeiter ---------------

Terms of use

Arbeitsdirektor Corin Frei

Incoming Transmission

Unionised Peoples of Syndicalist Advocacy

To: Mildred Wolfe.
From: Corin Frei, Arbeitsdirektor.
Subject: The SLF Siren (Sirene).

Unpacking videofile...
Scanning for malware...
Linking attachments...
Video play...

Mildred Wolfe. The resemblance to Felicity Willing was, to Frei, far to close to the chest. He sucked the back of his teeth, struggling to draw the perception out of himself. Willing had been another young hacker who had taken an immediate dislike to Frei, just as Wolfe had. Alike Wolfe, she was one of the minority of Lane Hackers who had the outward impression of holding all the cards ciphered with the reality of where they stood. To a knife, everything looked as if it should be cut or scored. To a shark, all would be paired into food or disinterest. If Wolfe and Willing shared more than alliteration, they represented a certain kind of Sirian that Corin balked against; the nascent individualist, furious in their self-belief.

Frei softened. Reaccepted that Wolfe was likely brighter than the direktor credited her for. He knew it was a faliure of elected men such as himself to doubt those who had claimed the right to speak for themselves by fiat. He started to tease over the predicate that the Hacker wasn't searching for the ship at all, and that the exercise was simply a test of composure. To see how far she could push before she'd hit resistance. She must know that her assertion stood on uneven ground. Perhaps she would seek the truth in the mystery of the Sirens that Frei himself did once her imperiousness wore off.

Curious that she accused a Unioner of technical ignorance. Technical ignorance of spacecraft, too. That was the kind of statement that'd get a beerglass pile-driven into your eyesocket anywhere in the Rhein'. Wolfe must know that her childing was outrageously inaccurate. Perhaps she was testing him. Frei was not in the mood for fencing with unknown belligerents. Correcting her was pointless - she would argue back. He briefly flirted with the idea of posting up the legions of documentation available on the Sirene within the encrypted files to Wolfe, hoping that the legion of paperwork would keep the irascible little minx and her well-conditioned hair north of the border. Eh.

She'll learn the hard way.

"Miss Wolfe."

"The ship's logs speak for themselves, in the order I describe. This is a ship that was lost, twice. The first crew is unknown, the second, likely Junker. The third is known to you. The fourth? Ourselves."

He laconically left out the BDM, of course. That detail could wait until Mildred was shipboard.

"Your technicians will be welcome aboard the vessel if they do not interfere with the operations of the ship. The vessel's recovered logs and previous history will be available to you. I advise that you listen to the crew you encounter, and pay the Unioners who assist you in your objective with diligent respect. You will be surrounded by men and women who breathe experience. Ask questions, don't make statements or lectures, and you will make headway."

"Young lady. You are in Rheinland now. Be stable and respectful, and you will have no trouble."

Cause no trouble. The inference was obvious. If Wolfe found herself thrown neatly out of an airlock by a disgruntled underArbeiter within the Sirene's maintenance bays, the cause, effect, and accountability would end, and start, with her bloated corpse.

Hm. Put like that, perhaps it would be best to arm the young criminal. We were all headstrong once.

enclosed prebrief files. {Mission critical} Wrote:Maintainence files extracted from the Metropolis for the Sirene - Sourced from the Natio Octavarium.

GEIST Arbitrage files. Discussion of 'Neural Dark' active hulks made during the Siren Mystery.

Unknown Log Partition recovered from the Siren's residential section. Infers previously Libertonian crew. Charts vessel on a course towards the Barrier.

University of Hamburg Lecture on the potential existence of lost major fleet elements from the post 801 period.

"I have attached a prebrief on files that will corroborate my testimony. Welcome to Rheinland, for we are all friends out here. The drinks are on us."

You cannot cut off the tongue, of a man who speaks through his acts.
C.Frei.
143rd Arbeitsdirektorate, Syndicate Leagues of the aligned Unioner Syndicates and the LWB.

Transmission Complete

Scrambling access point...
Decompiling neuratrace...
Signal lost.

"Though the past is scarred and the future untold"
" Be the boot heavy, the vacuum cold."
"I of the Liga, do not fold"
"For suits or saints or beggar's gold.
Information - Recruitment - Message Dump - Feedback

Mildred Wolfe · 10-22-2019, 12:12 AM,

...hack.initiated...connecting.to.Spyglass.Network...decryption.in.progress...
...Master.Assassin.Mildred.Wolfe.recognized...transmission.encrypted...
...uploading.data...

Direktor,

Anticipate our arrival tomorrow.

...encryption.in.progress...disconnecting.from.network....hack.terminated...

The Syndicate Leagues · (This post was last modified: 10-22-2019, 09:22 PM by The Syndicate Leagues.)

Incoming Transmission...
Decrypting User ID...
Displaying Message...

---------------Welcome, Arbeiter ---------------

Terms of use

Arbeitsdirektor Corin Frei

Incoming Transmission

Unionised Peoples of Syndicalist Advocacy

To: Mildred Wolfe.
From: Corin Frei, Arbeitsdirektor.
Subject: The SLF Siren (Sirene).

Unpacking videofile...
Scanning for malware...
Linking attachments...
Video play...

The log data from the encounter at Vierlande bothered Corin. If there was ever a personification of confirmation bias...

He winced. Rows upon rows of Lane Hackers - all armed to the teeth. The survey team Mildred had promised had turned out to be a wing of strike fighters and bombers.

The only positive from the encounter had been the ambiguity within the Lane Hackers themselves. Wolfgang Weisen, who Corin had pegged as reasonable enough, had seemed uncertain of Mildred's account. He had been a welcome check on the firebrand. Weisen had strategically hedged around stating that the vessel was the Fu Manchu, and had instead called the interference sources in accordance with the Unioner testimony. A tacit checkmate. The man seemed determined on ending up on what was, to Corin, the right side of history. Good. Wolfgang's honesty had won the day. The generous old curmudgeon had Frei's respect, and he likely knew it.

His presence implied that there was a greater game afoot.

Given Wolfe's aggression in the field, Weisen had probably prevented a dogfight. If only Corin could see the message traffic on the Lane Hacker's internal comms. The dissapearence, then re-appearence, of several of the Lane Hackers wing certainly implied that violence was on the Hackers' minds, until the Wedel volenteer squadron arrived. That was the difficulty with challenging the home team: The Lane Hackers knew they would not have won the day, if it had come down to it. Marza's superstition in requesting antifighter backup the moment the five-man assault wing of Mactan's finest reached Vierlande airspace was warranted, evidently.

Corin toyed with his words before re-opening the commlink. How best to resolve the situation without conflict? Did Wolfe truly carry the influence in the inner circle that she claimed?

Some questions, Corin believed, were better left unanswered.

He refocused. As much as Wolfe was likely only interested in the Sirene, and not its history, the matter remained. Until the true history of the Fu Manchu - along with its wreck - was discovered, opportunists would use the pretence of the Sirene's structural similarities to test the Unioner - Lane Hacker relationship. Until then, it was best to provide Mildred with as little ammunition as possible for making the Unioners appear uncooperative to her superiors. She would have her access. Her team would have access to the Sirene's decks. However, from Mildred's creative interpretation of the Sirene's data, it was evident Wolfe could not be relied upon to detail the truth. It would be essential to release the Sirene's internal manifest data.

Corin believed in the Unioner - Lane Hacker alliance, as much as not every Lane Hacker personally believed in him. He had gone to extreme private loss to defend its principles before, and, if tested, he would struggle to preserve it once again. The Syndicate Leagues were an experiment so close to making measurable, beneficial results. They couldn't be derailed by what was, at the end of it, simply another ship.

"A team of specialists". You had us expecting a transport full of engineers and technicians. Not a wing of combat specialists. Creatively interpreted, Miss Wolfe."

"Miss Wolfe. Due to the number of Lane Hackers you brought with you, including other members of the Inner Circle, I am patching this matter over of elect of the Sirene's cell, Comrade Schultzky. Or, as he is wont to style himself, Admiral. He would be better equipped to answer you, ya'?"

Frei hoped that the situation would begin to de-escalate. He struggled not to let the emotion reach his face; Wolfe would likely see such sentimentality as an avenue to pressuring the Directorate.

"I have sent a request to the Vierlande cell for wet-dock access so that you may make a ship-board investigation of the Sirene's systems. Inform us via this channel if you need any other resources. You will have your week, perhaps two weeks, in a Unioner shipyard."

"To the health of our alliance."

You cannot cut off the tongue, of a man who speaks through his acts.
C.Frei.
143rd Arbeitsdirektorate, Syndicate Leagues of the aligned Unioner Syndicates and the LWB.

[indent]Transmission Complete

Scrambling access point...
Decompiling neuratrace...
Signal lost.

"Though the past is scarred and the future untold"
" Be the boot heavy, the vacuum cold."
"I of the Liga, do not fold"
"For suits or saints or beggar's gold.
Information - Recruitment - Message Dump - Feedback

Login
Username:
Password:	Lost Password?
	Remember me