Tales from the Service: The Heist of Seven SRC

2951-11-29 – Tales from the Service: The Heist of Seven SRC 

Duncan here. As Nojus seems to have told you all, I was on leave to see my family for the first time in several years. I found their impressions of The Sprawl and the Gap transit quite interesting, but it was good to see them all the same. 

This week, we’ll be continuing with the account Nojus started about the Seventh Special Reconnaissance Company. Though he seems to have omitted this warning, I must stress that Naval Intelligence would not confirm this story’s veracity, and since the submitter is a member of Seven SRC, I find it highly likely that there are elements that are more than a bit embellished. On the other hand, if a bunch of F.V.D.A. commandos really did steal espionage hardware from their own attached intelligence unit, I doubt the intelligence people would openly confirm it even if it were completely accurate. That they scrubbed some details only proves that the sender was a member of Seven SRC at the time the account is placed, or in touch with a member at that time. 

Arjan Marchetti followed Sergeant Levitt out of the barracks compartment and down the hall to the lift. They both knew not to speak outside the barracks, where the ship’s normal security system was recording their every move and every word. As long as the Navy crew of Olivia Maria didn’t have definitive proof of anything before Seven SRC boarded its dropships, all excesses of creative supply sourcing would be forgiven when they returned triumphant. 

In the lift, Levitt slipped Arjan a piece of paper. Real paper was all but unheard of on Navy ships, but it was part of the standard F.V.D.A. field kit. Invariably, instructions passed on paper were those that were not intended for members of any other service to see. 

“Lieutenant Turati really thinks this drop’s going to be a breeze?” Arjan stuffed the paper into his pocket without looking at it. “Intelligence really seems to want us all killed.” 

“Nah.” Levitt clapped Arjan on the back hard enough to almost knock him to his knees. “When you’ve been in the services long enough, you see that Intelligence doesn’t want any of us killed. They just don’t really care much one way or the other. They do think we can complete the mission, at least.” 

“Ah.” Arjan nodded. “That’s... reassuring, Sarge. I guess.” 

“Caring about people living or dying makes a spook’s job harder.” The lift stopped on Deck Five and Levitt stepped out. “That’s why we’ve got to care. See you back at the racks, Marchetti.” 

Arjan saluted until the doors closed between them, then ordered the lift to take him up to the observation gallery on Deck Three. Olivia Maria was a Navy ship, but she had started construction as a passenger liner, and she still possessed many vestigial features of this career that had never been. Seven SRC’s troopers spent much of their off-duty time in the observation gallery, since it was one of the largest pressurized compartments on the whole ship, and because the spacers of the ship’s regular crew seemed to avoid it as an embarrassing reminder of the lowly half-breed status of their vessel. 

Only when he was standing in front of one of the big armor-glass windows did Arjan unfold the little piece of paper the sergeant had slipped him. As long as he was facing outward, no security system could see what was in his hands. Lieutenant Turati had tested this extensively in the first few weeks of the company’s presence aboard Olivia Maria, and strangely the ever-suspicious Navy crew had neglected to correct this problem. They probably figured that if they did, the Seventh would spend even more time scheming inside its surveillance-free barracks and even less time out and about in the rest of the ship where someone could see what they were doing, and it would be even harder to interrupt any creative requisition schemes than it already was. 

Arjan expected to find a cargo-crate identifier or a compartment code scrawled on Levitt’s note, but instead he saw a name: “Marianne Nicolescu.” Below that name, a set of shorthand Frontiersman glyphs appeared, indicating a time and that this person was to be kept occupied by any means until that time. Checking his wristcuff chronometer, Arjan saw that the time was more than twelve hours away. 

“Just how am I supposed to do that?” Arjan crumpled the slip of paper up and crammed it back into his pocket. Nicolescu was the name of the Naval Intelligence captain in charge of all the Intelligence goons on the whole ship. He’d never met her before, of course; he only knew that she existed because her imprint appeared on most of the official briefing material that was sent to his reader to be dutifully ignored before every mission.  

Annoyed that he was to be the distraction rather than the actual thief, Arjan returned to the lift. When the doors opened, he was surprised by an attractive blonde woman in the blue-pinstriped-black uniform of Naval Intelligence striding out. 

“Excuse me.” Arjan caught up with the woman’s hurried pace. “Where can I find Captain Nicolescu?” 

The woman glanced sidelong at Arjan without breaking stride. “Where I’m going. Which SRC are you with, trooper?” 

“The Seventh, ma’am.” Arjan smiled. “Is the Captain very busy?” 

“That information is above a trooper’s pay-rate.” The intelligence officer smirked. “But she’d be a lot less busy if you buccanners in the Seventh weren’t aboard.” 

“Buccaneers?” Arjan gasped in mock offense. “Is that really what you lot think of us?” 

The blonde scoffed. “Oh, please. Turati’s methods get results, but don’t pretend they win any favors outside the F.V.D.A. What do you need to see Nicolescu about?” 

“That information is above a spook’s pay-rate.” Arjan arched one eyebrow and decided to hazard a guess. “But you aren’t just another underling. Without shoulder-insignias, Captain, it’s hard for a lowly trooper to know who to salute to.” 

The woman smiled. “That is by design. If I wanted to be saluted, you would know it.” 

“Lieutenant Turati is like that too.” Arjan shrugged. “When we’re out on operation, he turns off everyone’s rank insignias. Really, Captain, if you’re busy, I can wait an hour or two.” 

“Tell Turati we don’t have Nate comm-spoofers.” Nicolescu massaged her forehead with one hand. “The answer doesn’t change no matter who he sends.” 

“Comm-spoofers?” Arjan was only confused for an instant, but it made his reply sound all the more genuine. No doubt, this was what Levitt wanted stolen. “I don’t know anything about that.” 

“Really.” Nicolescu stopped and turned to face Arjan. “Okay. What’s your name, trooper, and what is it that Turati was hoping you’d steal from me?” 

“Marchetti, ma’am. Arjan Marchetti.” Arjan saluted. “And Turati didn’t tell me to steal anything from you. I was actually rather wondering if you had the forms for a transfer request.” 

“You want to transfer out of the Special Reconnaissance Companies into Intelligence?” Nicolescu frowned. “Why?” 

“During the briefing this morning, ma’am, I got to thinking. I’m too damned smart and too damned pretty to buy the plot in a shootout with Nate troops.” Arjan hoped this was interesting and convincing enough to at least pique Nicolescu’s interest. “Turati picked me up to do a bunch of his dirty work, it’s true, but I signed up for F.V.D.A to get out of the dirty work life.” 

“Well, Mr. Marchetti.” Nicolescu smiled. “I have a posting open right this moment. Chief of Internal Security. It comes with a master-sergeant's pay rate, but it does involve mainly keeping the SRC troopers from stealing the fittings off this ship before every drop.” 

Arjan feigned hesitation. “Well, I don’t know. That sounds awful nice, but the Lieutenant’s methods do work, you said it yourself. If I got in the way and people got killed...” 

“If you got in the way and prevented the theft, Turati and the other SRC commanders would think of something less expensive to get the job done.” Nicolescu put an arm around Arjan’s shoulder. “Come with me.” 

Arjan allowed himself to be led into a wardroom that he had never been in before. To his surprise, most of the officers of Olivia Maria were present, most of them boredly scanning data on their readers.  

The scowling, mustachioed Captain Adams stood and placed his palms on the table as Nicolescu towed Arjan inside and closed the door. 

“Sorry for the delay, Skipper.” Nicolescu led Arjan to a seat and sat down next to him. “Please proceed.” 

“There is only one agenda item for this conference.” Adams fixed a disapproving glare on Arjan. “And it is an item which his presence disrupts.” 

“Oh?” Nicolescu glanced over at Arjan. “How so?” 

“If he overhears our preventative measures, then he will take that to his fellows.” Adams turned his glare on Nicolescu. “I thought you believed in information security.” 

“Let me introduce Chief Marchetti, my provisional head of Internal Security.” Nicolescu gestured toward Arjan. “Formerly of Turati’s Seventh.” 

Adams’s scowl deepened. “How formerly?” 

“I’m still scheduled on this upcoming mission, Captain.” Arjan tried to sound helpful. “But I’m hoping to make it my last drop with the SRC.” 

“Mr. Marchetti has been doing a lot of Turati’s dirty work already. You may recall his name from my report about the missing Puma parts, for example.” 

“I deny that I was involved in any thefts.” Arjan folded his arms. “For the record.” 

Adams sighed. “So we hire a thief to catch the thieves?” 

“Catch them?” Nicolescu laughed. “Skipper, we don’t need to catch them. We just need to... Channel their energy a bit more constructively. Chief, how would you begin?” 

Arjan smiled nervously and looked around, trying to look intimidated by all those Navy rank insignias. In reality, he thought them all pompous fools, but if they caught a whiff of that in his bearing, he was sunk. “Well, ah. This drop, you can bet the Seventh isn’t going to like relying on the flyboys to take out the triple-A around that landing pad. We-ah, they, will want to take that into their own hands.” 

“They don’t trust us to get them there?” The squadron commander slapped the table with one palm. “Skipper, if they take my Pumas apart one more time-” 

“Nicolescu, you and your Chief can go down to the hangar and keep those brigands from getting to anything.” Adams fixed a glare on Arjan. “And Marchetti, do be aware of exactly how provisional your new title is.” 

“Y-yes, Skipper.” Arjan stood and saluted. “I know exactly where to start.” This, at least was true; Arjan had perhaps been more involved in the liberation of the nose cannons of three Puma interceptors than he would admit on the record, and could credibly secure the hangar against what he’d done that time. Stretching that into twelve hours would be the main problem. 

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Tales from the Service: The Brigands of Seven SRC

2951-11-22 – Tales from the Service: The Brigands of Seven SRC 

“This is the target.” The officer in charge of the briefing whisked a metal pointer through the holographic terrain map for everyone to see. A red orb blinked sullenly on one side of the rugged mountain at the center of the display. “There are several entrances to the complex, but the VTOL landing pads here are going to be the least well defended. That’s where you’ll be dropped.” 

 Arjan Marchetti knew the score; ground defenses would be light at the landing pads because stiff anti-air defenses would theoretically prevent hostile troops from landing. Most likely, every shoulder of the mountain hid a nest of air-search sensors, guided missile batteries, and rapid-fire laser emplacements, all of which would shred any troop-transport long before it landed on the VTOL pads. 

The briefing was leaving that out because none of the men in the room could do anything about the anti-air, of course. The thirty-six men and four women of the Frontier Volunteer Defense Army’s Seventh Special Reconnaissance Company needed to rely on someone else to solve those problems. 

As the officer continued to explain what was known about the layout of the underground complex and the best routes to the command center, Arjan glanced over at Lieutenant Turati, sitting a few seats to his left. Turati was scowling, but that was nothing to be concerned about. According to bunkroom legend, the Seven SRC commander had fought his way off Adimari Valis three months after the planet had fallen to the Incarnation after having been marooned there by a wrecked dropship during the final battle. How he’d accomplished this escape, nobody knew for sure, but everyone knew that nothing since had been sufficiently dangerous to engage his interest. As long as Turati was scowling, the mission was nothing to be worried about. 

“Any questions?” The briefing officer set his pointer down and folded his hands behind his back.  

There were no questions, as usual. Since probably only half of Seven SRC had paid attention to the whole briefing, this probably dismayed the man tasked to give it, but they all knew not to take Naval Intelligence too seriously. Seven SRC had seen too many intelligence fiascos to believe that knowing what the spooks had come up with would be of any value in the field.  

Turati stood up first, gave perfunctory thanks for the intelligence update, then led the way out into the corridor. Seven SRC rose to follow him with barely a word.  

The forty members of the unit said little until they were back in the barracks compartment assigned to them aboard Olivia Maria. Few FVDA troops ever saw the inside of a Marine troopship, but the men of the Special Reserve were among the exceptions. The brass needed them for operations all along the Frontier, and so they were moved by the fast transports rather than by the FVDA’s usual bulk troopships. 

“All right, Lieutenant.” Sergeant Levitt, the unit’s second in command, raised his rough baritone as soon as the compartment had closed behind the last SRC trooper. “This seems like a damned death sentence. But you aren’t concerned, are you?” Levitt had been retired from the Confederated Marines only four months when the war had started, and had been wounded on Margaux before being transferred to the SRC program. 

“Three or four killed. Five wounded.” Lieutenant Turati shrugged. “That’s the worst case.” 

Arjan shook his head. “How do you figure that one, Sir?” He didn’t like the sound of ten percent dead in the unit, but it certainly wasn’t worse than other assignments Seven SRC had been given lately. 

Turati smiled, his cold blue eyes sweeping the room. “Intelligence is a bunch of idiots. We’re not going in the way they told us to. That’s damned suicide. We’d never reach the platform. We’ll set down in the foothills while the Navy flyboys are tangling with the triple-A and walk the rest of the way to the front door, and grab the base commander the next time he comes out. Then we just have to hide until someone comes to pick us up.” 

“That’ll take days, won’t it?” Levitt frowned. “There’s no way the Brass is going to be that patient.” 

“It’s Intelligence that wants this done wrong.” Turati sat down on a bunk at random. “But a few days won’t make any difference to the Brass. Most of this operation is going to be damned dull.” 

Arjan nodded. "Sounds like we’re going to spend a few days collecting wilderness kit.” 

“That’s right.” Turati held out his hands. “No doubt there’s plenty aboard this ship, but none of it is assigned to us. We have seven days to fix that.” 

Levitt grinned. “The usual fix, Sir?” 

“The usual fix.” Turati waved his hand. “The Navy can send us the bill later.” 

A wave of chuckles swept through the compartment. Within minutes, most of the company had congealed into groups of three or four, talking in low tones around one member’s bunk. 

Arjan felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to see that it belonged to Sergeant Levitt. “Sarge?” 

“You’re with me on this one, Marchetti.” Levitt winked. “Lieutenant wants something special for this mission, and with your help I’m going to get it.” 

Arjan winced. “Yessir.” Though he’d lied creatively to get into the FVDA in the first place, he was quite free with his SRC fellows about his few years as a cartel enforcer. No doubt, this was what Levitt was referring to. 

“Ah, don’t worry.”  Levitt clapped Arjan on the back. “We won’t hurt anyone, and we’re only stealing from people who had it coming. The spooks, in this case.” 

“Oh.” Arjan brightened. “For a moment you had me worried. What’s the plan?” 

Nojus here. This is Duncan’s last week of leave. In fact, he’s due back here in three days as of the posting of this feed item. I was able to sit down for dinner with the Chaudhri family this week. They are very private people who would not want anything we discussed to appear in this space, but it was a nice evening all around. 

The FVDA’s Special Reconnaissance Companies program is perhaps the most tight-lipped portion of the normally fairly media-welcoming FVDA service, and it is a shame that we haven’t had an opportunity to mention them here before. When a story about their activities does reach us, Naval Intelligence invariably cuts it to pieces, citing operational security. If you ask me, it’s just as likely that the Intelligence boys have an unwritten rule not to permit good press for the SRC, as the SRC seem to despise Intelligence more even than they do the enemy. 

This particular account refers to preparation for an operation that was completed in mid-2950. Intelligence still scrubbed all specific details about the operation except for the name of their troopship before permitting me to bring the story to this feed. 

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Tales from the Inbox: The Forgotten Casualty

2951-11-08 – Tales from the Inbox: The Forgotten Casualty

Nojus here. Duncan is still spending time with his family, and I’ll be honest I would have preferred to leave this one for him, but that didn’t feel right.

We focus on this war as a conflict between adults. We have to, to stay sane, I guess. Because combatants are not the only people who are suffering and dying out there, especially on the Coreward Frontier.

This account came in a few days after Duncan went over to The Sprawl to meet his family, and I’d be lying if I said I slept well the next few nights after I read it. I have no idea what these two were doing on MacNeil's, nor how they got off, and I am not going to dig into it too much. Sometimes, we all need a reminder that many people are suffering every day. In the words of an ancient general, we should keep in mind that war is terrible, so we do not get over-fond of it.

Sophia Carrie held her breath as a trio of Incarnation cargo crawlers rumbled past on the road above. The metal-lined drainage culvert in which she had hidden carried the roar of their air-breathing turbine engines just as if they’d been passing six inches in front of her face.

She counted to thirty after the last crawler had passed before letting out her breath. In theory, breathing shouldn’t have given her away, but with as many sensors as Nate technicians had studded the hulls of those vehicles with, it didn’t hurt to be safe.

Only when she could hear the hiss of the day’s gentle rain again over the ringing in her ears and the fading sounds of engines humming and tracks squeaking against their bogeys did Sophia move, slumping back into a more comfortable position against the ridged wall of the culvert and letting her hand fall from the Ignatov cartridge-gun hanging from her web-belt.

“That’s the third convoy today.” Abe Lithgow put a hand on Sophia’s shoulder. “Our luck is going to run out eventually. We should get away from this road and go overland.”

“No.” Sophia shook her head. “We’d be wandering around out there until we starve.”

“Only if we got really lost.” Abe shook his head. “Even without sat-nav, I could-”

“You could get us there, just like you did at Point Kruger?”

“That-” Abe fell silent for a long moment, and his hand fell off Sophie’s shoulder. “That was different.”

“I don’t care.” Sophie sloshed toward the circle of gray light at the end of the culvert. “We stay near the road.”

After a few steps, Sophie heard Abe’s footfalls behind her in the ankle-deep water. She hated to shut him down like that, but this time, there was no room to take the sorts of risks he would normally accept. Their ride off MacNeil’s End wouldn’t wait too long if they were late to the rendezvous, and neither of them was particularly prepared to make an Incarnation-occupied planet their long-term home.

At the end of the culvert where it spilled out into a deep, waterlogged ditch. Sophia listened to the rain for several seconds before stooping and cupping her hands to boost Abe up. He grabbed the upper lip of the tunnel and she helped him clamber up to the roadside, then stooped to pull her up as soon as the coast was clear. The packed-dirt road, empty but for puddles, wound out of sight in both directions into the rain.

Pulling her hood over her head, Sophia checked the compass on her wristcuff and led the way along the roadside.

“Soph?”

Sophia turned to find Abe on the other side of the road, stooping over a lump in the mud. “What is it?”

“Not sure.” Abe flicked open an extensible multitool and prodded the object. “Wasn’t here before those crawlers went by, and Nate troops never litter.”

“Given how much they seem to hate MacNeil’s, they might make an exception here.” Sophia shook her head. Rumor had it that the garrison duty on MacNeil’s End was a punishment assignment for Incarnation troops. “Come on.”

“Oh, God.” Abe dropped his tool and reached for the bundle. “It’s a kid, Soph.”

Sophia hurried to where he was stooping and saw the small, pale arm below a layer of sopping rags. A few more layers, and Abe revealed the boy’s lifeless face, his unblinking eyes staring up into the rain-clouds. He couldn’t have been more than ten T-years old.

“Oh God.” Abe repeated, letting the cloth fall back over those glazed eyes. “They just threw him out of the crawler. Like trash.”

Sophia shivered, knowing what this meant about what the crawlers were carrying. Not all of the settlers on MacNeil’s End had evacuated in the face of invasion; tens of thousands had gone to the hills in the hopes that the war would pass them by. Nate had spent a lot of effort rounding up these potentially hostile, often well-armed civilians and shipping them to their own forced-labor colonies, where it was said the conditions were hellish.

“Who would just…” Abe shook his head. “Never mind. I guess I know who. Bastards, the lot of them.”

Sophia put her hand on his shoulder. “Abe. We have to go. If we don’t make that rendezvous-”

“No.” Abe turned to Sophia. “We can’t just leave him like this. We can’t. Just a kid, Soph.”

“We can’t.” Sophia shook her head. “Those crawlers will come back, and if they see someone moved him, they’ll know we’re out here.”

“I don’t care.” Abe shook off Sophia’s hand and straightened his shoulders. “I just don’t care anymore. I’m going to bury him.”

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Tales from the Service: A View from Headquarters, Part 10

2951-03-22 – Tales from the Service: A View from Headquarters, Part 10 

Nojus here. I’m back at Sagittarius Gate this week. There’s a lot more material from my trip to Quickley, but some of it – the best bits really – will have to go through the Naval Intelligence wringer before we can use it. 

Duncan will be taking a few weeks off his usual duties; his parents and sister arrived at The Sprawl the night before last and he’s spending time with them. Things are pretty quiet out here, and he’s left me plenty of material from the backlog to work with just in case nothing really interesting shows up. 

Before he left on leave, though, Duncan and I shuttled over to Philadelphia for another conversation with Admiral Abarca. The commander of Seventh Fleet seemed in good spirits, and our conversation mainly focused on the operation in the Lee-Hosha system. 

This interview was conducted in-person aboard the battleship Philadelphia in the Sagittarius Gate system on 29 Octobert. 

D.L.C. - Duncan Chaudhri is a junior editor and wartime head field reporter for Cosmic Background.     

N.T.B. - Nojus Brand is a long-time explorer, datasphere personality, and wartime field reporter for Cosmic Background.    

K.T.K. - Captain Kenneth Kempf is the Naval Intelligence attaché to Seventh Fleet commander Admiral Shun Abarca.  

S.R.A. - Admiral Shun R. Abarca is the commander of Seventh Fleet. 

[S.R.A.] - Gentlemen, it is good to see you in person again. Mr. Brand, how was your trip out to Lee-Hosha? 

[N.T.B.] - They didn’t let me get too close to any of the real fighting, Admiral, but it was good to have dirt under my feet for a few weeks. Quickley is pleasant, and whichever colonists end up getting it will be quite happy there. 

[S.R.A.] - Coming from you, that is not an endorsement. Too safe for one of your famous rambles? 

[N.T.B.] - Damned right it is. You can break a sweat hacking through the woods, but there’s nothing there to present a challenge. 

[K.T.K.] - Didn’t the last time you encountered some of this challenge put you in a geltank for more than a month? 

[N.T.B.] - At least it wasn’t boring. If there weren’t a war on, what would a man do down there? 

[S.R.A.] - I suppose he’d build a house and plant a garden. 

[N.T.B.] - Eh, I was never much of a gardener, Admiral. 

[D.L.C.] - You should see what happened to the terrarium Captain Mendoza gave him. Everything inside died within two weeks. 

[K.T.K.] - I will make a note in the Admiral’s records that this sort of gift is to be avoided. 

[D.L.C.] - To turn our attention to more important matters, gentlemen, I thought we’d use this time to discuss the war situation. At least as it pertains to the Sagittarius front. 

[S.R.A.] - Yes, that would be far more interesting to your audience than Mr. Brand’s black thumb. 

[N.T.B.] - Black thumb? 

[K.T.K.] - It is an archaic term for someone who cannot care for plants, from an era when such things were far more important. 

[N.T.B.] - Ah. If that is the case, I may have several black fingers. 

[K.T.K.] - That’s not really how it- 

[S.R.A.] - I suppose your audience knows very well by now how successful our operation in the Lee-Hosha system has been. The opposition there was light, and the Marines and Navy contingent were able to secure the spaceport site and surrounding area with few casualties. A few enemy soldiers remain in the hills far south of the operational area, but they are irrelevant to effective control of the planet. 

[D.L.C.] - And this wasn’t just a raid. Confederated troops are staying there. 

[K.T.K.] - That is correct, and we make no secret of it. Lee-Hosha is close enough to Sagittarius Gate that any attack there can be countered by the main body of Seventh Fleet.  

[S.R.A.] - I do not expect an attack on Lee-Hosha. If they have the forces here to overwhelm Seventh Fleet, they will attack us here directly. If they do not, they will limit themselves to fast raids, or leave the place entirely alone. 

[N.T.B.] - That makes sense. You could take out most of the listening posts and supply bases encircling Sagittarius Gate without risking a major battle. 

[S.R.A.] - Indeed. The Incarnation would have to sortie a major fleet element to stop such an attack, and I have seen no evidence that they would risk their cruiser squadrons to save a listening post or a depot world. If I were in their place, neither would I. Very little was invested in any of these places, certainly not enough to devote major fleet elements to save it. 

[D.L.C.] - They’ve been trying to take Sagittarius Gate for years. Why not build one of these depot worlds up into a forward base?  

[S.R.A.] - I prefer not to speculate. 

[K.T.K.] - Fifth Fleet command thinks their engineering elements are mainly focused on reinforcing systens on the other side of the Gap. 

[N.T.B.] - That sounds like as good an explanation as any. They took all those systems over there at great cost and don’t want to just give them away. 

[D.L.C.] - Concentrating them over there leaves Sagittarius exposed. Their home systems -  

[S.R.A.] - Their home systems were doubtless fortified against attack by the Grand Journey or the Kyaroh. The Incarnation is not well liked among its neighbors on this side of the Gap. 

[K.T.K.] - We think this is why they have been invading Kyaroh space recently; they were only content to leave this lesser hostile power alone until it was a hostile power in their rear as they attacked us. 

[N.T.B.] - Those poor Cutters. I had a chat with one before I left for Quickley, and it said they’re getting crushed. 

[S.R.A.] - There’s truth in that, though I don’t doubt the one you talked to exaggerates. They are putting up a real fight, and the more we can make the Incarnation look in this direction, the less forces will be sent to the Kyaroh front. 

[D.L.C.] - We can hope, anyway. 

[K.T.K.] - That is not the primary goal of our operations, but it is at least a positive side-effect. 

[S.R.A.] - The Kyaroh are not a very populous species; they have long lives and reproduce only very slowly. They have been spacefaring for longer than the Incarnation’s presence, but they only ever settled about a dozen worlds. It would not take long for the Incarnation to wipe them out, if that were its only focus. 

[N.T.B.] - Fortunately for our friends the Cutters, we’re the bigger threat right now. 

[S.R.A.] - And I intend to be a very noisy threat at that, but I think I am out of town today. Gentlemen, I must go, I am being summoned on priority channels. 

[D.L.C.] - Thank you for your time, Admiral Abarca. Captain Kempf. 

[S.R.A.] - Always a pleasure, gentlemen. 

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