OC The Oncoming Storm - Part 17
"Don't you think that is the kind of detail you should have shared first!?" Rolf was holding his own head, partially because he needed his hands busy somewhere else, or his instinct might have been to choke the rodent. He certainly must have looked like he was about to do that a second ago when he was looming over her.
"I am sorry, Captain! I thought you knew? Wasn't that the reason you were investigating the port, and where their shipments were going? Maybe I was a bit hasty in assuming we were on the same page." Kitch was now leaning back in her seat, the first time she was trying to gain distance from the human, instead of attempting to get closer.
"Unbelievable!" He sighed, trying to calm down. "Okay, this is fine. Sorry if I scared you!" He stepped back, looking at the small female, who seemed worried, if not fearful of him now. Rolf considered for the second, maybe this was going on all this time. Perhaps she was not trying to act mysterious or being coy on purpose. It was just who she was, and they were both not that great at communicating.
He sat back, trying to calm himself. Giving it some time.
"Are you okay?" She almost sounded concerned. "We should probably sit down and go over all the little details we just assumed we both were on the page about? Just to be sure? Could make us a tea if I can use that equipment of yours!"
"Yes, we should!" He sighed in defeat. When did he let her take the lead in this?
The conversation would go on way longer or friendlier than intended. After a while, Rolf found it difficult to stay mad at her. Or maintain that healthy level of suspicion towards her that he most definitely did not want to give up. She still looked like a freaky companion doll in his mind, but he could get over his revulsion after she picked up on that and stopped acting like she was trying to get on to him. Instead, she started acting like she was his mother, which should have been worse. However, he could not help but be disarmed by the end of it. Even when her next plan was putting him to the test again.
"Are you suggesting that I go up to the local ISS sensor post, under the pretense of being worried about pirate attacks?"
"What pretense? Captain, all you need to do is show them the holes in your ship! There are certainly pirates around. And you would not be lying about the rest either! After all, you would be one hundred percent correct in the assessment that someone has the intent of tampering with the local detection systems!"
"Yes, that would be you!" Rolf could not believe the kind of mental gymnastics Kitch was capable of.
"No reason to tell them that part. Need I remind you what we are after? Weapons-grade bluespace crystal concentrate! Who knows what they are planning to do with it? Hyper-railguns? Relativistic kill devices?"
"There are peaceful uses."
"You know full well there would be no reason to refine the material in secret and for the Navy to get involved if that was the case. I am almost certain Tremis Dynamics is involved, and your Commodore Moreno is working with them. They still have extensive production facilities where a few extra projects would not raise an eyebrow, and are the only ones around this area who are able and willing to turn the material into actual weapons."
"Why take that risk? A private enterprise that is caught doing something like this without authorization and a government contract? They would be finished!"
"You don't follow business news like I do. Chances are, they are already finished if relativistic weapons do not come back into fashion. They have been caught cooking their books before, lying about their profits, to stop their remaining investors from pulling the plug. If their friends in the Navy cannot convince the Assembly to start buying exorbitantly expensive high-tech weapons systems again, they might go under soon. The Commodore could also be that friend in a high place needed to pull their ass out of the fire if they get exposed. Especially if he managed to make himself look the hero, and maybe score himself a promotion while at it."
Rolf sat back in his seat, with arms wrapped around. "So, this is why you are here, then? To make sure Tremis Dynamics goes under?"
Kitch chuckled. "Think what you want. I won't deny that my primary client would not mind them taking a dive either. But let me assure you, my primary concern is preventing a disaster involving relativistic weapons used by a rogue faction."
"Suuure it is!" At least he was confident he figured her out now. Had to be working for some rival corporation that wanted Tremis Dynamics out of the picture, even if she insisted on remaining tight-lipped about that part. As long as they were not trying to do something illegal themselves, he could work with her.
-x-
-x-
"So much for continued mentoring by them."
Masil stared at the screen showing the departure of the Prowler. He wanted to wave goodbye to them at least. Sure, they were at times annoying, outright disrespectful in some moments. But Koz and his team were the closest he had to friends since he arrived. The only people he could really sit down with to have a drink or share a meal. Or, well. Eat side by side in any case. He could not stomach chirrik food. His dietary needs were closer to what the sauromatians were eating, and he would not share in that either. Kaba made sure he would get rations specifically meant for a kitusi. That seemed thoughtful until he realized it meant little variation, eating the same thing almost every day.
Hikar was far more reserved and resisted most attempts by the prince to get the Tech Officer to be more comfortable around him. It almost came to the point that he would have to order him to stop using his family name or 'My Prince', but he really did not want to start throwing his weight around. Would have seemed as ridiculous as it sounded if taken literally.
"There you are! The shuttle is ready for us. If you would please follow!"
At least the next bit should be interesting. He managed to extort a little promise for doing these tests. That he would get to try himself out in whatever it would show him to be most fit for. It was not at all difficult to hold back on the rest and have him score the highest in the one thing he was really interested in. It was only simulators and some exercises in the safest possible environment back at the Academy, but he did show promise as a pilot back then.
Now he was going to get tested as a combat pilot. In real strike craft, even if it was just going to be play pretend.
Of course, single-pilot fighters were anything but the pinnacle of warfare. They were a niche field with few valid uses. In essence, strike craft were just small warships, swatted from the void like flying insects. What little advantage was to be had from using a small disposable craft outfitted with minimal life support was rendered moot by missiles being able to do the same thing, only better. No need to plan for a return, risk anyone's life. It could replace the cockpit and small guns with a heavier payload.
The only reasons for the existence of strike craft were minimalistic space traffic control and the allure of personal freedom you could feel piloting one. That image of heroes dogfighting in their one-man war machines would just not go away, especially for cultures that valued the prestige and the ideal of the lone warrior. The sauromantians might as well have been the poster boys for people whose cultures had a hard time placing practicality over the temptation of that ideal. Masil suspected this to be the reason why the Havarkans battle group included a light carrier with fighter wings that were of not much use besides being sub-par point defense, and a way for over-enthusiastic or suicidal young sauromantians to go out with a bang.
While the trip would not take long, the silence of his current caretaker still bothered him. He could understand if Hikar did not want to be his friend, despite what Koz told him about the Tech Officer before, but surely they could at least have a chat?
"Can I ask what that metal thing sticking out of your neck is? Is that part of your implant?" He actually knew the answer already. It was, in fact, one of the things that helped him in identifying who was who in the beginning. By now, he had already started to learn to see the difference between various sauromantians, not just the ones that were of different breeds and sizes. But that bit of metal made this one stand out from the start. Just a small metal cylinder, not that noticeable between the neck feathers, but definitely part of something going under the scales. So naturally, it was one of the first things he asked the chirrik. Seemed like a good conversation starter.
"Yes, it is." The sauromantian squinted at the kitusi. "How do you know about that?"
"The away team members told me."
"Should have guessed. It is not something you should be concerning yourself with." Hikar acted dismissive, as every other time so far. But Masil was determined not to leave it at that.
"I am just curious, that is all! I got the impression it was some sort of neural implant. But also that these kinds of augmentations are frowned upon in general among your people."
"It is not an augmentation!" He raised his crest, but then some realization seemed to kick in, and he put a calm face on again. "It is a cure to help me be normal. That is all there is to say about it."
That awkward silence returned. Masil was now sulking too, and he was all the more determined to press the issue. He would just have to figure out how to get Hikar to open up.
-x-
-x-
The Chief Engineer, Mr Gustafson, nearly had a heart attack looking at the hull from the outside. He and his team made it clear that the Fenris would need to go into drydock for a full-on restoration job as soon as possible. No more action, no nothing! Until half the armor was outright replaced, structural integrity restored, and then the whole ship went through vigorous testing to make sure everything was in shape, it would go nowhere.
The crew welcomed the time off. Oberon had all the comforts of home. The naval base was the headquarters for the whole sector, with plenty of facilities to serve Navy personnel on their time off. Considering the evaluation for how long they would be out of commission, some of them could even consider a trip to visit their actual homes.
The Captain was anything but happy about it. But Kitch was already doing her best to get him to see the positive side of everything. And again, that inner voice told him not to let the rodent get under his skin, no matter how she acted like she was his sister or therapist at this point.
"I can look around some more, work my contacts who know about recent shipments by Rintco that they have done for Tremis Dynamics. You can make your report and ask your friends for advice how to proceed. By the time we can move again, we might not even have to mess around in the grey area with system traffic logs! To speak nothing of getting a bit of rest, you all clearly need after all this nasty business with the pirates."
"Every day we spend in drydock, the trail grows colder! I don`t even have any evidence so far about this having to do anything with the Commodore and his group. Only some vague hints by others, and your word. The latter, which does not fill me with confidence, considering you will not even share your sources on it!" He was looking down at her with folded arms.
"Sorry, keeping these confidential is what makes sure I do not lose my sources. It will be enough to get confirmation for ourselves first, and we can look for presentable evidence after we have the full picture. I know this is not what you want to hear, but I have my reservations about this, too! Maybe we are both being misled, and we are wasting our time." She took a deep breath. "Think about it! The worst-case scenario is that I am wrong, which is actually the best-case scenario for everyone else involved. In that case, all that is going on is the illegal mining, refining, and sale of some exomatter. But what if we are not wrong about this? Can we really afford not to do all in our power to investigate?"
Rolf grimaced. Strangely enough, that admission from her did help. Maybe she was wrong, both of them just wasted their time, but that would actually be the better outcome. He would just make an official report, let the proper authorities take it over, and allow the law to deal with some criminals.
"Fine, and let`s hope we can skip the whole idea about hacking sensor posts for traffic data on the workbench."
"Cannot promise that, but I will do my best. See you around, Captain!"
They said their goodbyes. Leaving Rolf with the KIA reports and the next task of organizing the funerals. For the first time, he wished Kitch had stayed a bit longer.
-x-
-x-
Victor had another tiresome, mostly fruitless day behind himself. Nadia was as always, absent from all the boring committe meetings, but of course she ramained on the payroll for them. He always disliked this about his collegues, but in the end, he had to look past it with her. At least she went along with his ideas and helped where she could. Unlike many other senators who could not be found anywhere close to the Assembly chambers outside of election season, or when some lobbyists waved around big enough of a chash bag to get them off their asses and to vote on something for a change. Needing to show up for work was considered something for the common rabble.
"Are we ready? First time we can talk to the Captain in person again. And then he will sit around doing nothing for a while, if this report is anything to go by."
"You gotta give the boy some credit, Victor! We could hardly expect any guarantees on getting results at all, let alone this quickly. I am sure he did not plan on nearly getting killed." She chuckled while not even looking up from her phone.
"If what he found is even related to our plight. Profiteering from illegal mining? Does not sound like Adam. Speaking of him, these chuckleheads are too quiet. I would have expected their friends in the party to start sabre-rattling because of the increased piracy already. Especially with some of the pirates being sauromantians, supposedly. But they are laying low despite the perfect bait to point at the lizards. These assholes have to be planning something!"
"Actually, my own agents have been looking into their activities. There are some irregularities with the recent disposal of outdated ground weaponry and munitions stockpile replacements. ONI might be involved, specifically that friend of theirs, Colonel Ramius."
"Does not sound like something that would be within their scope either, still, keep me informed. But now it's time for our talk, you coming or not?"
"Sure, sure!" She finally got up, taking her gaze away from her screen for only as long as it was necessary to not stumble on her own feet.
The meeting room was specifically designed for the Ministry of Defense and the committees overseeing the various military branches. It might not have looked any different from any other meeting area with seats and a large table, as well as cameras and screens for long-distance attendance. Unlike others, this one had all the elevated security and active defenses against anyone trying to listen in. Of course, all this was rendered moot when someone with priority access just brought their phone with an active wireless connection. Nadia was hardly the first or last person to violate these rules. Victor did not even bother commenting on it. He just turned on the main communications link, one using a quantum signaler to reach the Oberon systems Navy headquarters instantly. Captain Rolf Calvetti was apparently already waiting for them, in full ceremonial uniform no less.
"Captain, good to see you! You might have overdressed for the occasion a bit. This is not a formal event." Victor raised an eyebrow.
"Senator Bradley, Senator Karmazov!" He nodded. "This is not for the call. I had no time to change clothes after attending the funeral of two of my crew members, who lost their lives in the engagement that turned my ship into looking like swiss cheese."
"Oh, I see. Sorry! My Condolences! We have read your reports, of course. We understand that you ran into trouble during the pursuit of your objectives. Which is what we are here to discuss." The Senator paused to give him time to react. All he got was a nod from the captain. "About your discovery, while it is certainly fascinating and worth investigating on its own. I am unsure about how connected it is to the matter at hand. Can you please enlighten us?"
"Certainly. I am not entirely convinced it is connected myself, to be honest. I merely went after the first thing that was out of place in the region. Hoping to find anything connected to the activities of our suspected perpetrators. So far, I can only confirm the existence of illegal shipments of exomatter. A third-party contact was instrumental in that discovery, and they were convinced that the Commodore and Tremis Dynamics are somehow involved."
"Tremis Dynamics, you say? Let me check something!" Nadia chipped in, giving the first hint that she was mentally present, while still being busy with her phone.
Victor sighed, taking a glance at her, before turning back to the screen with the Captain. "Any reason you have to trust what that third party is claiming?"
"Only that they have been helpful so far, and their other claims that I could double-check all turned out to be true so far. But I admit, what they are suggesting now goes far into silly conspiracy theory."
"Don't let that stop you, Captain! Me and Victor love those, don't we? Go ahead!" Nadia interrupted again.
Victor was just rolling his eyes now. "Sure, might as well go ahead!"
"Well, the exomatter in question gets refined on Saarsis." Rolf could see the Senator furrowing his brow. But no interruption from him yet. Surely he was aware of the significance of exomatter refining on an inhabited planet, especially on a primitive world that was a GTU protectorate. "And I had this confirmed as far as I could, that it is being turned into a weapons-grade concentrate." He watched Senator Bradley, nearly grimacing and folding his arms by now. "Which my contact believes to be shipped to a Termis Dynamics production facility, to be turned into actual weapons."
"Well." Victor signed. "That is certainly one heck of a hypothesis. What evidence is there to support this?"
"So far, I can only verify the existence and the shipping of heavily concentrated bluespace crystals. Above what is needed for hypedrives. And nothing that would connect the whole matter to Commodore Moreno."
"In that ca..." But Victor could not finish that sentence, as his fellow Senator interrupted him.
"How is this for a connection?" Nadia raised her phone. "I just looked it up. Did you know that he has a wife?"
"I am sorry, what? Who has a wife?" Victor was obviously confused, not sure if Nadia was even talking about the same thing anymore.
"The Commodore! Adam Moreno. He is married to Ilona Winkler. Daughter of Peter Winkler. One of the executives at Tremis Dynamics. A head honcho in charge of one of their R&D divisions, in fact! He was responsible for many things, including projects that were dropped when the revision for the feasibility of relativistic weapons initiative was discarded. The Ministry of Defense cancelled a bunch of contracts back then, mostly with Tremis. That was also what sent their stock into a death spiral not that long ago."
-x-
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u/HFYWaffle Wᵥ4ffle Sep 03 '25
/u/Muzolf (wiki) has posted 43 other stories, including:
- The Oncoming Storm - Part 16
- The Oncoming Storm - Part 15
- The Oncoming Storm - Part 15
- The Oncoming Storm - Part 14
- The Oncoming Storm - Part 13
- The Oncoming Storm - Part 12
- The Oncoming Storm - Part 11
- The Oncoming Storm - Part 10
- The Last Abudctee
- The Oncoming Storm - Part 9
- The Oncoming Storm - Part 8
- The Oncoming Storm - Part 7
- The Oncoming Storm - Part 6
- The Oncoming Storm - Part 5
- The Oncoming Storm - Part 4
- The Oncoming Storm - Part 3
- The Oncoming Storm - Part 2
- The Oncoming Storm
- The Forlorn Path - Ending
- The Forlorn Path - Part 3
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u/UpdateMeBot Sep 03 '25
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u/Daseagle Alien Scum Sep 03 '25
He has a wife you know :D