"Major Orine!" A loud, rough voice called. Jacob recognized it as Colonel Adam Blackwell instantly. The man was not particularly good with subtlety, but he was an exceptional bomber pilot.
"Yessir?" Jacob replied, not taking his attention away from his computer. He had been analyzing maps of Omicron Minor to determine the best places to ambush Nomads, and narrowed it down to five.
"I have an assignment for you. Not your flight, only you." This got his attention fast. Normally, any assignments for him were assigned to Wizard Squadron's Gamma flight, rather than only him. Mapping, recon, light combat support, that sort of thing was what the squadron was known for, and too dangerous for one man alone to handle.
"I'm listening."
"Many of our contacts in Bretonia, Rheinland, and Liberty have stopped reporting to us. I don't know if they've been caught, if they're just too scared, or if they haven't had anything to report. But, that doesn't matter to you. The Redwings are looking into that. You are to locate potential new informants, as well as a safe base for the rest of Gamma flight to operate from."
"I have a place in mind already. An old friend of mine, one of the Cartographers, lives on Freeport 6 and is pretty influential there. That gives us easy access to both Kusari and Bretonia."
"That won't work, we've got issues in Kusari. We have reports of activity in Leeds. However, we are also suspicious of Liberty and Rheinland, and would like something a little closer. Freeport 2 is not a viable choice currently, either."
"I'll see what I can do. But, with all due respect, why have you chosen me alone for this mission?"
"This is not something we can send an entire wing to handle," Colonel Blackwell seemed to have difficulty with that statement, "and we need ships that can sneak in without anyone getting suspicious. Your Eagle fits the bill perfectly, and is one of the only ships like that we have. The rest of the details are in this file." The colonel handed a small storage disk to Jacob and left the room. Jacob put it into his computer, and reviewed the mission parameters...
.:| Mission 3139-R/I
.:| Objectives:
.:| Recruit civilian and freelancer contacts in all House space.
.:| Patrol Leeds to ascertain nature of Nomad activity.
.:| Do not engage lawful forces when avoidable. Retreat is preferable over
.:| combat. If you cannot retreat, you may engage and terminate. This applies to
.:| Bounty Hunters as well.
.:| Remain out of Kusari until further notice.
.:| Terminate any Nomad entities.
.:| Locate a potential base for Gamma flight to operate from.
.:|
.:| Notes:
.:| Exercise caution around any Kusari organizations.
.:| Avoid Liberty core space when possible.
.:| You may work with any other Order vessels in the area on this mission,
.:| so long as they are Fighter, Bomber, or Freighter-class.
This was going to be a rough one. But... he did run the Cartographers before joining The Order. He knew quite a bit about Sirius, and could easily work around these obstacles. Besides, he was a respected member of Wizard Squadron, well-versed in their stealth tactics and subterfuge. The mission wouldn't have been assigned to him if he couldn't handle it.