Willard Research StationBingham-class orbital, California
______________________Between the idea ______________________And the reality ______________________Between the motion ______________________And the act ______________________Falls the Shadow __________________________- T.S Elliot, The Hollow Men
Welcome Aboard
The air feels cold, even for such a small station, as you walk out of the main dock, it probably doesn't help that the station is made out of a giant chunk of ice. You follow the directions you received in the message, following one poorly lit hallway after another. As you turn a corner, you're met with a glaringly bright light, temporarily blinding you.
Once your eyes adjust to the bright lights, you see a Marine in solid black armor, his helmet has an opaque visor, blocking his face from view. He takes a step forward. "Identification, please." You slowly pull out the appropriate paperwork, handing it to the Marine, waiting as he reads it. "This all seems to be in order, proceed." The Marine steps out of the way, the door behind him, unnoticed until now, opens by itself, beckoning you forward.
You take a moment to be sure of your resolve, walking forward into the brightly lit room...
--------------- INCOMING TRANSMISSION ---------------
ESRD EYES ONLY
Report - 12 January 823
ID: FADM Fieldson, High Command
High Command has received an automated ticket recently, regarding the use of Lt.Commander Grahams personal code, while he had been declared KIA, to access one of our orbital storage facilities. It is now a responsibility of the ESRD to investigate this matter and report directly to FADM Fieldson regarding any relevant findings at the earliest possibility.
Lieutenant Tyler, reporting. I have been assigned, along with other agents of WILLARD section, to follow up on this 'Graham' incident.
According to Houston flight control, an unauthorized launch was made from the Austin Drydocks, matching the vessel ID reported by ACIS. The vessel in question was an impounded Montante-class gunboat, and it quickly vectored toward the Bering system before dropping off our scopes entirely. Given the path of the vessel, its likely that it intends to escape into Rheinland, and perhaps the Edge Worlds beyond. Our strained relationship with the Bundesrepublik will make this difficult to follow up on.
I'd recommend that officers assigned to this case investigate the Coral Sea's wreck site, as well as Graham's quarters aboard NOF Long Island. We may have an impostor in our midst, some lowly recruit or janitor who thought he'd be clever, snatching up a still-active identcode and making off with a ship. Let's let a dead war hero lie, and catch this [--------] before he causes any more harm.
Lieutenant Clara Tyler, out.
Important:This communication remains the property of the Liberty Defence Forces and is subject to the jurisdiction of the Neural Net Communications Act 807A.S, Section 30. If you have received this message in error, you are requested to contact the sender and delete the communication.
I have been instructed by the Fleet Admiral to post here every important news regarding the defecting vessel, The.Cincinnati.
First batch of information comes from Battlegroup Auxesia. Following continuous troublemaking from their activity in Liberty, Command authorized that the ESRD try an unofficial approach to this group's leadership in attempt to resolve this problem. I personally volunteered to uptake that duty. Even though it proved ineffective, in accordance with the recent notification from Command, I was able to retrieve some information regarding the fugutive vessel. Based on evidence from the then Vice Admiral Fieldson, I conducted an interrogation which proved to give us useful information, regarding the vessels, the network involved as well as their intentions.
Below I will attach the report along with the evidence used.
17.01.2016 00:36:25] [LN]-ESRD|Guard: Perhaps. Having sorted out the first point, we may move to the second.
[17.01.2016 00:36:30] [LN]-ESRD|Guard: The Cincinnati.
[17.01.2016 00:36:33] A/)-Sapphire.Raven: The Cinncinati.
[17.01.2016 00:36:40] A/)-Sapphire.Raven: Right.
[17.01.2016 00:36:41] A/)-Sapphire.Raven: Well.
[17.01.2016 00:36:53] A/)-Sapphire.Raven: I only assisted for one reason.
[17.01.2016 00:36:57] A/)-Sapphire.Raven: To find out their hideout.
[17.01.2016 00:37:06] A/)-Sapphire.Raven: Even if I was not there, they still would have got away.
[17.01.2016 00:37:27] [LN]-ESRD|Guard: What about this hideout?
[17.01.2016 00:37:27] A/)-Sapphire.Raven: What I tell you, must be kept secure, at utmost discretion.
[17.01.2016 00:37:42] A/)-Sapphire.Raven: As 'they' might have listeners in the Navy too, I'm not too sure.
[17.01.2016 00:37:45] A/)-Sapphire.Raven: Basically.
[17.01.2016 00:37:51] A/)-Sapphire.Raven: Maverick appeared to be... insane.
[17.01.2016 00:37:53] A/)-Sapphire.Raven: Really unstable.
[17.01.2016 00:37:59] [LN]-ESRD|Guard: The ESRD only responds to the Fleet Admiral and the Director.
[17.01.2016 00:38:07] [LN]-ESRD|Guard: Noticed.
[17.01.2016 00:38:14] A/)-Sapphire.Raven: He ran off to a group called the Initiative, who claim to be people who wish to 'fight' the Nomads
[17.01.2016 00:38:20] A/)-Sapphire.Raven: Reality; they're lead by a mad man, desiring power.
[17.01.2016 00:38:33] A/)-Sapphire.Raven: He wishes to 'unite' everyone by using a K'Haran superweapon.
[17.01.2016 00:38:37] A/)-Sapphire.Raven: Destroying what stands in his way.
[17.01.2016 00:38:41] A/)-Sapphire.Raven: Now.
[17.01.2016 00:38:48] A/)-Sapphire.Raven: Here's some news concerning it.
[17.01.2016 00:38:55] A/)-Sapphire.Raven: Originally, they ran off to an Outpost in Omega-9
[17.01.2016 00:39:51] [LN]-ESRD|Guard: Interesting..
[17.01.2016 00:39:57] A/)-Sapphire.Raven: But that Outpost was destroyed.
[17.01.2016 00:40:00] A/)-Sapphire.Raven: So their plans are set back.
[17.01.2016 00:40:13] [LN]-ESRD|Guard: Any names?
[17.01.2016 00:40:37] A/)-Sapphire.Raven: Their 'spies' are marked by Phantom-1, Phantom-2 - so on, so forth.
[17.01.2016 00:40:48] [LN]-ESRD|Guard: Oddly familiar.. damn.
[17.01.2016 00:41:23] A/)-Sapphire.Raven: Yeah...
[17.01.2016 00:41:31] A/)-Sapphire.Raven: We're keeping a very close eye on them.
[17.01.2016 00:41:36] A/)-Sapphire.Raven: Infact, they're our next plan.
[17.01.2016 00:41:42] A/)-Sapphire.Raven: Once our ship is repaired.
[17.01.2016 00:41:47] A/)-Sapphire.Raven: Operations can begin normally.
[17.01.2016 00:42:00] A/)-Sapphire.Raven: I'm going to assume you want this Capital back to Liberty.
[17.01.2016 00:42:08] A/)-Sapphire.Raven: But they're inevitably going to edit it.
[17.01.2016 00:42:11] A/)-Sapphire.Raven: They've already tried.
[17.01.2016 00:42:16] [LN]-ESRD|Guard: Or destroyed.
[17.01.2016 00:42:21] A/)-Sapphire.Raven: They tried to goto the Corsairs, then... uh.
[17.01.2016 00:42:24] A/)-Sapphire.Raven: No.
[17.01.2016 00:42:30] A/)-Sapphire.Raven: It's still around.
[17.01.2016 00:42:33] A/)-Sapphire.Raven: But.
[17.01.2016 00:42:39] A/)-Sapphire.Raven: We can ensure it's destruction if really need-be.
[17.01.2016 00:43:46] [LN]-ESRD|Guard: Interesting.
[17.01.2016 00:43:53] [LN]-ESRD|Guard: Is that all you know?
[17.01.2016 00:44:05] [LN]-ESRD|Guard: Anything else?
[17.01.2016 00:44:06] A/)-Sapphire.Raven: Besides :: CLASSIFIED: FOXTROT ALPHA ::, and their ships, and where they are right now? Not really.
This interrogation proved a real treasure in terms of information retrieved. The plausibility of this information may be doubtful, but taking into account the pressure the Liberty Forces were putting on them, they might have used this as a "trump card" to help them maintain their status quo with the Liberty Republic.
Some sensitive information however, has been made available to the Fleet Admiral only, at their own request.
The other case is about a freelancer by the name of Inge Wexler than contacted the navy regarding a sighting of this vessel out in the omicrons. Her report involved some sort of an organization named the "Blackguard" that I believe has contacted the Navy relatively recently. Bellow I will attach the relevant recordings.
[31.01.2016 21:21:02] [LN]-ESRD|Hunter: ??: Howdy.
[31.01.2016 21:21:07] Inge.Wexler: Hello.
[31.01.2016 21:21:50] Inge.Wexler: Can I help you, officer?
[31.01.2016 21:22:03] [LN]-ESRD|Hunter: ??: Yes indeed.
[31.01.2016 21:22:08] [LN]-ESRD|Hunter: ??: Follow me.
[31.01.2016 21:22:13] Cloak Disruptor engaged. Cooldown: 30 seconds.
[31.01.2016 21:22:15] Inge.Wexler: as you wish.
[31.01.2016 21:22:43] Cloak Disruptor cooldown complete.
[31.01.2016 21:24:23] [LN]-ESRD|Hunter: ??: So, how's it going Wexler?
[31.01.2016 21:24:33] Inge.Wexler: Going alright, I've had better days.
[31.01.2016 21:24:54] Inge.Wexler: I guess I know what this is about.
[31.01.2016 21:24:59] [LN]-ESRD|Hunter: ??: I see.
[31.01.2016 21:25:13] [LN]-ESRD|Hunter: :: Voice scrambler offline::
[31.01.2016 21:25:27] [LN]-ESRD|Hunter: Elisabeth DeGrange: You guessed it.
[31.01.2016 21:25:58] Inge.Wexler: Wasn't too difficult I suppose.
[31.01.2016 21:26:10] Inge.Wexler: Not everyday a Navy vessels comes to look me up in Bretonia.
[31.01.2016 21:26:41] [LN]-ESRD|Hunter: DeGrange: Yeah, Lexington picked up your signal and I shortly set out.
[31.01.2016 21:27:13] Inge.Wexler: Sorry about the Carrier, I suppose.
[31.01.2016 21:27:27] Inge.Wexler: Let's see if I can pull this information back up.
[31.01.2016 21:27:31] [LN]-ESRD|Hunter: It did it's duty.
[31.01.2016 21:28:55] Inge.Wexler: Right. The information, from your message it seemed like you were already aware of which vessel I was speaking.
[31.01.2016 21:29:33] [LN]-ESRD|Hunter: DeGrange: Indeed we are. Sadly we're not much aware of it's intentions or where's it going.
[31.01.2016 21:29:58] Inge.Wexler: I can only help so much with it.
[31.01.2016 21:30:10] Inge.Wexler: it was pure luck I ran by it while performing an escort job.
[31.01.2016 21:30:13] [LN]-ESRD|Hunter: Anything helps.
[31.01.2016 21:31:04] Inge.Wexler: heh... my comms are a mess, a lot of things went down at the time.
[31.01.2016 21:31:16] Inge.Wexler: As for the location, it was Omicron Delta.
[31.01.2016 21:31:55] Inge.Wexler: Freeport 11, to be a bit more exact, it seemed to use the place as a safe harbor.
[31.01.2016 21:32:21] [LN]-ESRD|Hunter: Mhm, a bit against zoner regulations.. though I'll make sure of things alter..
[31.01.2016 21:32:57] [LN]-ESRD|Hunter: Did it mention anything regarding it's next move, or anything like that?
[31.01.2016 21:32:57] Inge.Wexler: "Mav" seemed to the one handling the vessel comms.
[31.01.2016 21:33:00] [LN]-LNS-Normandie: I'm basically doing false flag right now
[31.01.2016 21:33:15] Inge.Wexler: let me dig through what I managed to catch.
[31.01.2016 21:34:15] Inge.Wexler: are you familiar with a man going by the name 'joker'?
[31.01.2016 21:34:24] Inge.Wexler: seemed to have a brief chat with him.
[31.01.2016 21:35:02] [LN]-ESRD|Hunter: A blackwatch thingy?
[31.01.2016 21:35:18] Inge.Wexler: Blackguard rather, they seemed to like each other
[31.01.2016 21:35:32] [LN]-ESRD|Hunter: Interesting..
[31.01.2016 21:35:47] Inge.Wexler: He seems familiar with the operations of this 'run-away' vessel.
[31.01.2016 21:36:32] Inge.Wexler: oh this is interesting
[31.01.2016 21:36:51] [LN]-ESRD|Hunter: Did he mention anything about where its going or so?
[31.01.2016 21:37:15] Inge.Wexler: and I quote: "Mav: We're attempting to be front line of the Nomadic threat. So if you're on the same page, see what about...
[31.01.2016 21:37:23] Inge.Wexler: making an alliance or friendly of some kind"
[31.01.2016 21:37:26] Inge.Wexler: end quote.
[31.01.2016 21:37:33] Inge.Wexler: That was to these Blackguard people.
[31.01.2016 21:38:00] [LN]-ESRD|Hunter: Interesting.. most interesting..
[31.01.2016 21:38:08] Inge.Wexler: He didn't mention a place where he'd be heading.
[31.01.2016 21:38:37] Inge.Wexler: But as far as I can tell he seems to enjoy the Omicrons, considering there are enough Nomads to be found
[31.01.2016 21:38:41] Inge.Wexler: if that is truly what he's there for.
[31.01.2016 21:38:57] [LN]-ESRD|Hunter: Well if the nomads is what it's after, then we'll just need to get the nomads to him, mhm.
[31.01.2016 21:39:48] Inge.Wexler: I don't have much beyond the chatter between him and the Joker figure of the blackguard.
[31.01.2016 21:40:00] Inge.Wexler: where they mumbled about friendship and chasing nomads.
[31.01.2016 21:40:10] [LN]-ESRD|Hunter: Don't worry, leave that to us. Pretty fine job nonetheless Wexler, must say.
[31.01.2016 21:40:19] Death: Security.Force was put out of action by a hostile vessel.
[31.01.2016 21:40:50] Inge.Wexler: Just job I had wasn't that worthwhile, this seemed to give the trip to the Omicrons more purpose.
[31.01.2016 21:41:22] [LN]-ESRD|Hunter: DeGrange: Pretty generous of ya. I'll see to you getting a reward for it.
[31.01.2016 21:41:40] Inge.Wexler: That would be appreciated.
[31.01.2016 21:42:23] [LN]-ESRD|Hunter: And that counts for more information on the future.
[31.01.2016 21:42:29] Death: console.killer was divided by zero.
[31.01.2016 21:42:40] Inge.Wexler: I'll see what I cna gather.
[31.01.2016 21:42:44] Inge.Wexler: can, even.
[31.01.2016 21:43:03] Inge.Wexler: Soon I have another run to the Omicrons, we'll see what we can find.
[31.01.2016 21:43:18] [LN]-ESRD|Hunter: Good to hear. Let me know if anything.
The plausibility of this information is slightly doubtful too, however considering the money oriented nature of the freelancer, it has high chances of being quite useful. Either way, considering this "Joker" from the Blackguard seems to have relations with Maverick O'Howel, we must allow a meeting with this individual as it may prove as another way into finding out more about the ship and the network it is involved.
I am ready to handle this task if needed as well as provide a full report afterwards.
Commander Elisabeth DeGrange, over and out.
Important:This communication remains the property of the Liberty Defence Forces and is subject to the jurisdiction of the Neural Net Communications Act 807A.S, Section 30. If you have received this message in error, you are requested to contact the sender and delete the communication.
ESRD & HIGH COMMAND EYES ONLY
Report - 21 - March - 823
Greetings.
This report is to confirm the successful extraction to Headquarters of the samples of liquid cardamine along with Nomad biological remains, 'seized' from the Freelancer known as SirLagsalot. What I am more concerned about is the Freelancer in question. A bounty of 150 million credits is no small feat for a man to achieve. Someone like that is bound to know something that will interest us. Not only this, but the Freelancer mentioned being familiar with Hayes, which only brings us more questions. An entity named the AEGIS 'initiative' was apparently behind the hit. I'm afraid I'm not personally familiar with them, but I'll dig deeper into this. If they're willing to go so far for only one pilot, who knows what they're truly after?
As I understand, you've also put the crew of the Star Pathfinder under arrest. This is my best lead on them so far. If allowed, I will interrogate the Captain myself, test the waters and see what I can get, though considering their greedy tone, I doubt they know much besides there was a large sum of credits involved.
As for the cargo - our science team has already confirmed to me that the nomad remains included what essentially are batteries for their cloaking veil. They will immediatly get to work on them and see what they can gather for theoritical and practical purposes. The other goods will follow standard ESRD procedure for exotic commodities.
Important:This communication remains the property of the Liberty Defence Forces and is subject to the jurisdiction of the Neural Net Communications Act 807A.S, Section 30. If you have received this message in error, you are requested to contact the sender and delete the communication.
COMM ID:Vice Admiral Alan Jones TARGET ID:ESRD reporting center; HIGHCOM SUBJECT: Liquid Cardamine and nomad biological remains; SirLagsalot ENCRYPTION:ESRD ALPHA PRIORITY:HIGH
Greetings.
Agent Mary, good job out there. The liquid cardamine units will be deposited aboard Willard Research station until they can be moved to Liberty Research stations in the classified restricted areas.
We've had reports before regarding some extraordinary activity going on. Fleet Admiral Fieldson might be aware of more, though before we start putting the pieces of this puzzle together we first need to collect them all. I got the feeling this is just the tip of the iceberg and this network probably reaches who knows where.
You're given the green light from High Command to Proceed with the interrogation of the Individual "John Silverstone" going by the alias of "Sirlagsalot". My gut tells me he's a loose end, and a hundred and fifty is a good amount in trying to cutting it, so I think he'll prove a real treasure in terms of amount of information we can retrieve. Make sure he is safe and is not harmed.
Afterwards you are to interrogate the person behind "Star.Pathfinder". Extract as much as you can from him, and then we'll perhaps prosecute him accordingly. But it's important to know what he can reveal about the reasons behind the bounty and his contractors, I'm afraid it won't be much but I'd like to hear what he'll have to say.
Keep us posted once you're done, then we'll put whatever we've got together and figure out what the whole picture is.
Vice Admiral Jones.
Important:This communication remains the property of the Liberty Defence Forces and is subject to the jurisdiction of the Neural Net Communications Act 807A.S, Section 30. If you have received this message in error, you are requested to contact the sender and delete the communication.
In light of the recent changes to my status on the personnel roster, I've been reactivated and my transfer to the External Security and Research Division has been completed. High Command knows everything necessary and on their orders I'll be serving within this unit, and out of the public eye for the time being.
Gunslinger Out.
Important:This communication remains the property of the Liberty Defence Forces and is subject to the jurisdiction of the Neural Net Communications Act 807A.S, Section 30. If you have received this message in error, you are requested to contact the sender and delete the communication.
I thought it best to submit the information I had acquired during my time spent independently in Omicron Delta.
Firstly the living conditions aboard Freeport-11 are terrible, and with the amount of people currently aboard with no place to go, this is hardly the life they should be forced to lead.
The effectiveness of Core assaults seem to have been on a slant since the first bombardment, the first being the most effective. As of now a defense force of mixed origins may frequent the system, ready to defend it from any core attackers.
The Rheinland Military has been officially sent to scout and survey the system in order 'to bring peace' to it again, I have noticed them get into engagements with certain core ships and in fact seen a core ship destroyed by a Rheinland war vessel at one point.
Battlegroup Auxesia and the Order also periodically deploy war vessels to defend Freeport.
The Cincinnati being close to Freport-11 is not an uncommon sight, it has been there from nearly the beginning of the conflict and rarely seemed to leave the sector if not to re-arm or resupply.
The Core does not seem to have grown any less hostile and will probably resume further attacks when prepared to do so without any form of hesitation. I am unable to pinpoint the true source of these attacks. And as such have been unable to establish any motive to cause such a large scale of destruction as well as loss of life.
All parties involved have suffered heavy losses and the quality of life around and within the station does not seem like it will improve much further, given its stellar location and the natural tensions of the area around it. It is however worth considering, that rectifying the tensions in the area will give us more easy as well as clandestine access to alien materials, the remote nature of space might also serve well for a distant research post.
These are my notes and all the information I have collected thus far, I await further orders on what to do next.
Lieutenant Reeves, over and out.
Important:This communication remains the property of the Liberty Defence Forces and is subject to the jurisdiction of the Neural Net Communications Act 807A.S, Section 30. If you have received this message in error, you are requested to contact the sender and delete the communication.
COMM ID:Commander DEGRANGE, Elisabeth TARGET ID:Lieutenant Avery Reeves SUBJECT: ------ ENCRYPTION:ESRD ALPHA PRIORITY:HIGH
Reeves.
While information may be of use regarding the situation, as we are to soon operate in the area for a cargo pickup duty, the Republic of Liberty and the Liberty Navy, are not going to interfere or take part in anyway in the events of Omicron Delta, unless otherwise specified by the Department of Defense. Our relationship with the core have so far has proven to be unaffected by their policies in the region and have provided themselves as a friendly entity to the Navy. The involvement of the Rheinland Military does raise a few eyebrows, yet if Liberty is to be involved there in any way it would be the LSF, as it's their profile. Remember we're military intelligence, not an intelligence agency. Anything we do is always relevant to homeland security or of use to the Navy's operational duties and showing our presence in the midst of those events is not something the Navy wants.
And one more thing, there's no such thing as operating independently and unprecedented in territories of that nature without confirmation. We need people who can follow their orders correctly, not heroes. Wouldn't want to hear that again. Either way we've got things to discuss.
Commander DeGrange, over and out.
Important:This communication remains the property of the Liberty Defence Forces and is subject to the jurisdiction of the Neural Net Communications Act 807A.S, Section 30. If you have received this message in error, you are requested to contact the sender and delete the communication.
This may or may not come as a shock, but we do have an issue now. I had been monitoring the Shamrock Bay ever since Hemlock expressed eagerness to go out to the Deltas, he did not know it was me since I was under my ESRD call-sign. He was supposedly granted permission to perform medical and supply duties at Freeport-11. I kept monitoring even then, since staying on top of a situation I have a bad feeling about seemed a key thing to do at the time.
A few days later, a cruiser was spotted by Order forces in Omicron Mu, which was the Shamrock Bay. Hemlock, the person in charge of the ship disclosed that he was an Order Agent and his identification number checked out to be legitimate. He had been doing this for the past twelve years and had been in serious deep cover. Having heard this, I stowed aboard his ship with a small contingency of agents, I could not allow him to defect with the Bay, at least not with it intact. We tried to get his crew to stand down and transfer control over to us, but they opened fire, so we returned the same. The entire ship broke into a war-zone for several minutes. In a fit of sheer desperation we tried to sabotage the drive systems and destroy the bay, but it failed since the agents charged with this were shot. We managed to shut down the drives in hopes of keeping the ship stationary and calling for reinforcements, but they activated a device that jammed all communications. Several crew members were killed in the cross fire along with one agent, and a few wounded. Those of us able to move managed to hijack a few pods and escape. We were unable to stop Hemlock from defecting and unable to cripple the ship from leaving Omicron Delta. But now his operations are out in the open and we can react accordingly. It is now in our best interest to see what Hemlock has done for the past twelve years does not continue any further. I will await further instructions on the matter and was not able to file this report sooner. We aren't in the dark anymore, perhaps this can serve as an advantage despite us being unable to stop him from keeping the Bay and defecting with it.
On a relevant side note, how the LSF let this go on so long without knowing is beyond me, but I guess we were all a little blind to what was happening regarding this.
Lieutenant Reeves, over and out.
Important:This communication remains the property of the Liberty Defence Forces and is subject to the jurisdiction of the Neural Net Communications Act 807A.S, Section 30. If you have received this message in error, you are requested to contact the sender and delete the communication.