Peering into the Fog
12 Mar 2024Ryuko Ntsikana
Peering into the Fog
Colonia Region
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Sites like this industrial one were always easiest to farm after the faction had won a local conflict. Their personnel were tired and complacent. I watched them for a brief moment, getting a sense of their security procedures before moving in. It would have been easy enough to gather information about their activities without alerting anyone, but I was also here for their bounties; I didn’t work for anyone for free, including myself.
What started as a normal snatch and grab turned into something more unusual at the end. My bag was heavy with loot, and I managed to snag a paltry bounty from each of the personnel, but it was the contents of my bag that weighed on my mind as I hopped back to my ship, under the low gravity.
Aby stared at me as I lifted off, pointing the Vulture’s nose at an approaching ship. It was a Type-7 cargo ship, registered to the same group that owned the industrial facility. It was common to see ships of the same faction during planetary transits to fly near their bases, even if their ships were too large for the smaller pad. It was what they saw as a safe zone. Then there were those like myself who saw it as a zone of opportunity.
“I watched the feed of your helmet camera from here on the ship. You realize you ended 12 lives?”
I couldn’t focus on educating Aby and taking down a pirate cargo transport at the same time.
“Since you were watching, I need a complete accounting of everything I brought back.”
That would keep him busy as I positioned the Vulture near the thrusters of the Type-7, locking my weapons onto it.
“What are your intentions with this ship?”
I ignored Aby as I triggered a three-round burst from my fragmentation cannon. At the point-blank range, the buckshot pattern was more of a solid kinetic hit, as it did not have the range to spread. In rapid succession, all 3 rounds hit, with the second neutralizing the ship’s shields and the third destroying the right thruster housing. My burst laser went to work on the left thruster housing, its tight surgical burst wrecking its internal workings and cutting neatly through the housing, as jets of escaping helium plasma created a temporary halo before the engine ceased.
As the ship began to tumble, I lowered the Vulture below it, targeting the cargo bay doors, giving them a few bursts from the laser, destroying its magnetic locking mechanisms, causing them to fling open.
I backed away, watching the Type-7's tumble begin to accelerate as inertia took control, flinging its no-longer-secured cargo across the planetary sky.
“Why did you attack that ship? We do not have the capacity on this ship to take any of that ship's cargo.”
I shook my head as I pointed the Vulture’s nose towards the stars above, leaving the tumbling Type-7 to its fate, as the microgravity of the moon began to pull at it, causing its altitude to reduce.
“With the damage you did to that transport, it will not survive its eventual impact with the surface.”
In less than a minute, we were far enough away from the moon’s gravitational attraction to jump out of the system, to a nearby uninhabited system that would not contain a navigational beacon.
***
I moved my ship more than ten thousand light seconds from the system’s host star before reducing my speed from luminal velocities, entering normal space once more.
“Did you catalog all I had taken?”
Aby nodded. “Yes, and if my calculations are correct, you are not going to like it.”
Imagine my lack of surprise. They were pirates. It wouldn’t have shocked me if they had a Voodoo doll and tiki torches.
“What has you troubled?”
“I went over the experiment data you downloaded, and they were using people as their test subjects.”
I looked at Aby with a raised eyebrow. Again I wasn’t surprised. Pirates came in all shapes, sizes, flavors, and moralities. Some of the worst offenders hid themselves under corporate titles, with funding from whatever hosting powers were over the system they infested.
“The chemical samples you obtained do not match any that would be useful for normal industrial processes.”
I shrugged. “Figured whatever it was they were working on needed a wrench thrown into the works. That's why I put that pyrolytic catalyst container I found into their machine."
“Yes, I noted that act. It will degrade and destroy their current work, and hinder any return to operative status until properly cleaned and sanitized. The issue is not with the temporary disruption of their processes but what this sample might represent in the broader context of the other items you acquired.”
I admit I didn’t think much about all of it in a broader context. Everything was done by pure muscle memory. What could have decent resale or blackmail value.
“I have analyzed the maintenance and personal logs along with the payroll information, faction associates, and donation list.”
“Alright, so you are telling me there are people we can make additional profit from?”
“Incorrect. The lists include names with ties to other organizations, some rivals of the faction that owns that facility.”
I caught myself, not saying a word. That some accepted bribes, payoffs, and everything in between was standard business for everyone, not only pirates.
“While morally questionable, it is not what was unusual. It was who these people represented that broadened the implications. The genetic repair meds you obtained from the location were not manufactured at this facility, and not for use by local personnel, but were used as part of their experiments in conjunction with the chemicals they were producing here.”
I looked away for a moment, trying to picture what Aby was alluding to.
“This could all be part of a process for some new manufacturing technology. They may want to reverse whatever reaction it could cause.”
Aby shook his head. “Not likely. The highly explosive trinitrophenyl nitramide, RDX compound you found in quantity there, has no use in industrial processes, being more attuned for mining and agriculture."
“It isn’t uncommon for a facility to hold cargo meant for other locations.”
“True, but look at your monitor.”
The scene on my screen changed to a replay of my helmet camera as I went through the facility.
“Your fast pattern of movements was predictable, indicative of one who was experienced at such things. This pattern causes a form of focus, which is labeled as tunnel vision. You moved past a set of containers that had no meaning to your instinctive pattern, being dismissed by your own brain as having no worth. Look closely at the container.”
The frozen image of the video on my screen showed cases of multi-cannon emissive rounds.
“So, they are stupid and stockpile worthless munitions. I don’t understand what this has to do with any of it, including the RDX.”
“You make a chemical that when combined with the experiment data causes hideous mutations in its subject. These can only be countered by genetic repair medication. You also stockpile emissive rounds that, like you said, are near worthless, but per their design are used to scatter a substance. Replace one substance for another.”
“You also mentioned the personal logs and donation list I took?”
“Yes, this project has outside funding, but we need more information before a solid link can be established.”
I didn’t need more information. It wasn’t unusual for a larger entity to pay another for discreet shenanigans. These clever, evil little shits are being paid to create a problem so their donors can profit from the cure. How corporate of them.
“Well, I planned on doing a little more raiding. At least we have this part out of service.”
Aby’s gaze fixed on the frozen display screen image. “We do not know the quantity produced or if any has left this facility.”