To: Alan Jones, you won a free pack of Quanta Cola !!!Read now!!!

[Alley]

!!! CONGRATULATIONS !!!

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DATA CORRUPTED, SUBROUTINE INITIALIZED

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BEGINNING TRANSMISSION...

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SENDER: Commander Catherine Ellington
LOCATION: Battleship Normandie, UNKNOWN


RECIPIENT: Alan Jones
ENCRYPTION TYPE: Phoenix Rising


SUBJECT: SITREP

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Admiral,

Apologies for sending a military grade virus to your personal inbox, however the situation appears to require it given the elements in my possession.

As you will recall, for the past few months the Normandie has been EMCON in the Omicrons to investigate the recent increase in activity of the Nomads. On our way back to Liberty, two weeks earlier than planned, we picked up a distress beacon bearing Navy signatures and proceeded to an emergency FTL exit.

Arriving on scene, we encountered several naval assets belonging to Battlegroup Harmony. After breaking EMCON, we started to receive priority updates from OPS invalidating the credentials of the entire Battlegroup and others. I gave them a chance to explain themselves before resorting to force, and all I can say is the words spoken and evidence provided were quite unbelievable.

They have provided substancial evidence of nomad influence and possible infestation of naval assets, evidence solid enough to have made Princess DeFrance refuse to head back to Liberty and require an immediate return to EMCON. I suspect what she witnessed in Gallia is still deeply engraved in her memory.

The virus has created an encrypted tunnel routing through several navy and civilian satellites in order for this exchange to be untraceable. In exactly eight hours from this message, I will establish a new connection to this tunnel in order to pull a reply of yours.

I need to know what is going on within our own ranks, Admiral.

Respectfully yours,
Cmdr. C. Ellington,
Primary Fleet,
Special Operations.

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Alley was right.

[Arbs]

****INCOMING TRANSMISSION****

COMM ID: Fleet Admiral Alan Jones
TARGET ID: Commander Ellington
ENCRYPTION: FOXTROT ALPHA - CHARLIE ECHO

Commander Ellington,

As far as viruses go, I might be fine with this one as long as it's useful. Now, I'm not really a egg-head, but I do have to say that "Quanta Cola" works a lot better compared to the usual junk-mail like, forgotten cousins of Gallic Nobelty, Zoner tech repair guys, enlargement of certain objects, Coalition mail order bride, being the 9999th winner of a price and so on. I'm quite impressed with it's functionality too actually. Nonetheless, It's certainly good to hear from you and even better to hear that both yourself and the princess are safe and sound from your mission in the Omicrons.

Now as far as Battlegroup Harmony goes, things do get complicated. Their "separatist" movement is a direct result of what we consider, and with confidence, to be nomad influence. While not all of them "directly" influenced by the nomads, we suspect that a group of ranking officers are. So far we have a confirmed suspect and suspect more to be infected. It is unclear whether Rear Admiral Victoria Knight is infected or not, but nonetheless, we believe that she is a victim of false information (claiming that the Navy command is infected) intended to cause turmoil by who we suspect is the main perpetrator.

During the past months, namely around the end of July, continuing in August as well some point in early September, an insurgency arised when an incident involving a bomber pilot of Battlegroup Harmony who opened fire on the First Fleet dreadnought LNS Malrone and another Fifth Fleet capital with the LNS Harmony defending said bomber (perhaps due to the influence of the infectee's false information) happened in the Alaska system. Shortly after, the situation caught the attention of the LSF, who suspected rogue actions by the Military and decided to take matters into their own hands, eventually ending up with an intense exchange of fire in the Alaska system. Following that we managed to isolate the conflict inside of the Restricted systems, with eventually contaminating the "separatists" to the Kodiak Research Station, with some fleeing.

But quite some has happened since then and their capabilities have been severely reduced with most of things returning back to normal. What you have encountered must've been a part of them trying to find a way out. In any case, advise extreme caution when encountering them as while the threat is suppressed, it still remains. We're still working on it.

I believe that should summarize it, if you're in need of more exact information, details and evidence, do not hesitate to as and I will provide you with all the intelligence gathered.

It's unfortunate for the princess to have encountered such on her way back. If you require support let us know and we will dispatch a heavy escort or specialized teams to aid in your way to the safety of Washington Shipyard.

Don't hesitate to ask for anything.

PS: Say uh, Commander Ellington, ever since your "virus" got into my inbox, I keep hearing this sound constantly unless I am on viewing your communique. I have attached a sample of it below. Could you perhaps be able to help me out with that?

Respectfully,

Alan Jones
Fleet Admiral, First Fleet
CiC Liberty Navy

Attachement: :::::

****TRANSMISSION TERMINATED****

[Alley]

!!! CONGRATULATIONS !!!

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DATA CORRUPTED, SUBROUTINE INITIALIZED

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BEGINNING TRANSMISSION...

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SENDER: Commander Catherine Ellington
LOCATION: Battleship Normandie, UNKNOWN


RECIPIENT: Alan Jones
ENCRYPTION TYPE: Phoenix Rising


SUBJECT: SITREP

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Admiral,

The virus has been updated with a bugfixed version, you shouln't hear the cat noises anymore. They were intended to inform you of a new message on this communication link.

By comparing the evidence supplied by Rear Admiral Knight and your statement above, I find myself in a difficult position. Not to sound paranoid, but -if- the nomads already got you or anyone else from High Command, I cannot risk putting one of our most important assets within their reach. The Harmony is however much more manageable for us in the event there are infesteds in their ranks, and that is both in terms of logistics and combat.

I currently have the ability to play ball with Knight after an encounter in New Hampshire. I intend to use this opportunity to have every single member of the battlegroup go through a mandatory medical exam. With our own research and equipment, combined with some black market Order technology we've been able to negociate on Freeport 11 (I certainly expect an angry letter from Admiral Golanski in the near future regarding this illegal exchange, no doubt it's been traced), I believe our chances of ensuring the battlegroup is free from Nomad influence are quite high.

The real issue might be Knight herself. It's easy to implant an idea into someone, it's way harder to kill it if it turns out she's wrong.

Respectfully yours,
Cmdr. C. Ellington,
Primary Fleet,
Special Operations.

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Alley was right.