2954-03-04 – Tales from the Service: The Emissary’s Welcome
Despite Bel’itec’s promises, the little group clambered through the bedlam of urban ruin for the rest of the day. The bluish-tinted local sun had already fallen behind the gap-toothed ruins before they halted again, in the shelter provided by the twisted, jagged shell of what had once been a metal-framed, glass dome.
The air was eerily silent, without wind or the creaking and groaning even a whispering breeze might set off in such a wrecked place. Vasili M. didn’t dare to even break open a ration-bar, much less ask their guide for a status update, and his trio of Marine escorts were, as usual, grimly silent.
“We are crossed the redoubt perimeter.” Bel’itec, seemingly ignorant of the hushed atmosphere, used his normal booming Kyaroh voice. Vasili wondered if his kind could even whisper; possibly not, since he’d never heard it. “We will be located shortly.”
“Located?” One of the Marines, Sergeant Ver, lifted up his head. “What do you mean, located?”
“Redoubt Kirznha is well defended by listening posts and sensor pickets, which I am not permitted to describe to your kind.” Bel’itec didn’t turn to look at the Marine. “We have been detected, and will be confronted momentarily.”
“And what do you mean-”
The big man didn’t get to finish his question. A series of rapid clicking sounds echoed through the broken dome, seeming to come from an object rapidly circling the group. All three Marines raised their weapons in a flash, but Bel’itec stood still, his lumpy hands pressed together in front of his body. “My kin are always watchful.”
The clicks faded into silence, and at first, nothing happened. “Bel...” Vasili kept his voice low. “What precisely do you expect to happen?”
“Once they are assured you are not our oppressors, we will be permitted to enter the Redoubt.”
Of course, Vasili knew quite well, he was the same damned species as their “oppressors,” namely, the Incarnation garrison. “How can they tell?”
Bel’itec turned his head a fraction toward Vasili. “You do not bear the electronic leash.”
“The-” Vasili stopped short. “Right. No implants. How can they tell?”
The Kyaroh did not answer, only inclined his head slightly, his dark eyes flickering to fix on something in the gloom behind Vasili.
Slowly, Vasili turned around, and something flitted into the shadows just as he did. Whatever it was, it was small, inky black, and floating or flying without sound. “Sensor drones. I see. Probably looking for the EM scatter off implants, but what if they were turned off?” Incarnation personnel couldn’t turn their implants off, of course, but he wasn’t sure the Kyaroh knew that. Most of the Incarnation troops themselves didn’t seem to know it, after all, so trained were they to rely on the devices for coordination.
“A solved problem.” Bel’itec turned toward the location of the skulking drone. “The oppressor has used specially implanted Kyaroh turncoats to infiltrate the redoubts before. But the implants cannot be hidden.”
The clicking echoed through the area again, this time louder, and seeming to come from several places at once. The Marines put their backs together, and Ver gestured for Vasili to join them.
Vasili, shaking his head at the Marines, stayed where he was. They were the only Confederated personnel on a whole occupied planet; if either the locals or the occupiers decided to kill them, a defensive last stand wouldn’t do any good. Besides, the sound had given him an idea. “Acoustic sensors.” Sound waves, at the right frequencies, could penetrate flesh and reflect off harder substances within; this was an archaic, but still occasionally used, sensing principle, usually found in medical devices.
“If I understand your language correctly, yes.” Bel’itec nodded once. “Had we been found to be Incarnation slaves, we would already be dead.”
Ver scowled at the Kyaroh. “So, what now?”
“Now we will be greeted.”
“By who?”
As if to answer the Marine’s question, a heavy thump reverberated through the pavement at their feet, followed by the ominous sound of many heavy, methodical footsteps coming closer.
As this account is currently unverifiable, I have little to comment on. Additionally, while I will acknowledge receipt of both questions and dubious accounts related to some sort of new weapon system tried out during Operation SLEDGEHAMMER, I will not be posting anything of note on this. I took some of the more credible versions of this story to my Naval Intelligence contact and she laughed so hard I was worried she broke something. No, there seems to be nothing to this. After all, if there had been, you would think the skirmish might have gone better for Seventh Fleet.