Mission of Mercy (poetlore and dunruffle)

[PoetLore]

Jenn blinked as she watched Natalya. The woman was obviously insane, but the little she heard her speaking in English didn't sound encouraging. She nodded and began looking for anything written in the crazy code. She found ten pages and handed them to her and went to the next pile to weed through it.

Cass pushed Natalya back into the chair, "You sit..tell us what you need..." She grabbed a shirt she saw and tied it around Natalya's rib cage. "I can't do better until we're out of here...sorry." She frowned as she listened to what Natalya was saying. Obviously they knew something was up here and then planned this 'vacation' for the group. Why the medical team had been brought along wasn't clear to her yet, but she figured eventually she'd either be told directly, or she'd be thrust into something headlong.

She looked at the encoded page and blinked a few times. "Hey..." she blinked again and again as she looked at the page. "Harrison must have put something in my implant..." She kept blinking until she could actually read the pages. "The man is a genius..." She grinned and began writing in English as she was handed page after page. She then gave them to Natalya. "I'm not sure what all this means...but I can decode it." That was true until she got to the seventh page Jenn had found. THAT page made total sense to her and had her writing frantically as she went down the page, "Oh ...no no no no..." She wrote more and shook her head. "They are planning to use the plants...oh no..." She closed her eyes and then turned her head to Natalya, "Losing our supply chain will only be the beginning of the problems if they have developed those plants into usable weapons. that exhibit I went to earlier is just a front for weapons development." she handed her to page and then continued decoding.

Jenn kept looking through files pulling out anything that contained the code. The room rumbled again and a pile of debris fell and blocked the way they'd come into the room. "Well so much for retreating...how are we going to get out of here?"

Cass looked at Jenn, "It'll be ok...somehow...Maybe there is a communication device here that's operational..."

 

[Dunruffle]

Natalya slammed her fist on the table and pointed at the holographic map. "You are missing the most important part! They have control of the orbital defense network! Tell me you have at least heard of the ODIN system?! Thousands of automated weapons platforms that are the bulwark for preventing a confederate fleet from taking the planet! These sleeper agents have taken control of the control center! All these personnel files are confederate agents who have slowly infiltrated the control center over the past few years! That was what the informant was trying to tell us! With the ODIN system under their control our fleet in orbit is a sitting duck! These bio-weapon plant things are just the icing on the cake, a way for them to cause even more havoc since regular scanners are tuned for mechanical devices." Doubling over in another violent coughing fit, Natalya spat some more bloody phlegm to the side and straightened up. "The Confederacy means to take Mendilo. With the ODIN system and bio weapons they have effectively cut off any means of reinforcement and neutered any possible retaliation from the local army garrison. From now on we will assume the planet has fallen to the enemy, our priority is to contact the Director. He will know what to do." Growling in pain, Natalya tightened the shirt around her ribs and wheeled herself over to the communication device and began experimentally fiddling with the controls. "It is a long shot, but I might be able to at least get a short range signal out to any friendlies nearby." Suddenly the speakers stopped emitting static and a smooth but somewhat haughty voice could be heard. "-and you deserve more! People of Mendilo, this is General Langston of the Confederate Public Relations Corps. I speak to those who toil away in the undercity while the rich and wealthy party above you. Now is the time for you to rise up! The Confederacy knows who really run Mendilo. It is the workers, the builders, the people who work themselves to the bone every single day! Unlike the politicians of the Alliance I am more than willing to spread the wealth you all so rightfully deserve! Now is the time! Cast off your shackles of servitude and help us turn this planet into something that everyone can take part in! As I speak Confederate ships are already arriving full of food, aid, and supplies for the blue-collar people who need it. I can guarantee you that the soft and sheltered citizens will try to run and hide like the spoiled rats they are! Help us teach them a lesson and take what is rightfully yours!"

Natalya groaned in a mix of frustration and pain as the smooth talking General continued to talk and preach. Slumping in her chair, the normally composed Major rubbed the bridge of her nose. "Just when I thought it could not get any worse. I will admit, if I was him I would do the same thing. If you convince the population of the planet you are liberating them instead of invading them it makes your job so much easier." Shaking her head in dismay Natalya angrily kicked a waste can over. "Fuck...we are totally fucked...how did we not even have any intel on this? I guess I underestimated the Confederacy's espionage ability..." Natalya trailed off and simply mumbled to herself as she anxiously chewed on a fingernail and looked at the papers on the desk. "Some intelligence officer I am. I got outsmarted and outplayed without even realizing it. Now this whole planet is fucked six ways to Sunday and all I can do is sit here and watch everything fall apart."

 

[PoetLore]

Jenn blinked, "I have no idea what you're talking about..."

Cass frowned, "I know what ODIN is..." And as Natalya continued on, she looked at the files..dozens of them and her eyes widened in shocked horror. "Patience in espionage is a good tactic it seems..." She began scanning files with her implanted eye and then stared at the wall while she sorted and gathered information. "They have six officers and more than twenty others working on the halo. We need to..."

Before she could continue a voice broke through the static on the radio and began speaking in general platitudes and empty flattering, listening as the general rattled off his empty promises. Oh she'd heard that rhetoric before and seen its consequences, promise the world and deliver nothing. In the end the working people were always worse off than before and in many cases enslaved. But, if THAT message could come IN...

However Jenn was a second ahead of her, "Hey though....if THAT message got in, can't another on get out??"

Cass looked at Natalya who seemed about ready to give up, "Pull it together Major, nothing is over til it's over. The Saints taught me that clearly and you did too battling those unbelievable odds when we got that biological weapon intel. NOW...figure out how to reach Kirst...I'll load the names into the system for you to send..." She went to a console and began tapping on the surface. She stared as she copied names and ranks and assignments. It didn't take long before she sealed the file and sent it to where Natalya was sitting. "Send it...if they can isolate the traitors there's a chance this whole thing will turn around in our favor."

 

[Dunruffle]

Natalya straightened up as Cassandra gave her some verbal motivation. "You are right. We need to fight till the end if need be." Once Cassandra had prepared the file, Natalya made some adjustments to the communication device and sent the electronic message with a press of a button. "I set this device to transmit the file on a periodic basis along with the standard encrypted channel. With luck anyone who has access to this channel will get the message, but now we need to find a way out of here." Another rumble shook the room and Natalya bit her lip as she shakily stood up and went over to the other heavy steel door. "This seems to be our only way out. Grab whatever might be useful and follow me." Taking one of the cheap and disposable pistols, Natalya shoved the door open and peeked out carefully. A sewer access tunnel stretched out into murky darkness, the only sources of light the occasional dim utility light and oatchtes of bioluminescent moss. Wrinkling her nose at the foul smell, Natalya stepped into the tunnel and leaned against the wall. "Come on you two. We need to get to the upper levels."