LOG #086 - Commander A. Adair - TITAN Contractors
06 Dec 2021Aurora Adair (Radiumio)
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LOG: #086
RECORDING TYPE: Personal Log LOG PUBLICISED
What does Log Publicised mean?
In our squadron lore, these logbooks are not supposed to be publicly viewable by Commanders. However, in some circumstances, a log may be compromised OR publicised, allowing it to be considered publicly viewable - in this case, the information within can be used for story or discussion purposes in-character. Compromised implies the logbook has been leaked, whereas publicised means the logbook has been willingly released for story purposes.
In our squadron lore, these logbooks are not supposed to be publicly viewable by Commanders. However, in some circumstances, a log may be compromised OR publicised, allowing it to be considered publicly viewable - in this case, the information within can be used for story or discussion purposes in-character. Compromised implies the logbook has been leaked, whereas publicised means the logbook has been willingly released for story purposes.
RECORDING LOCATION: T.O.C. Solaris (Drake-class Carrier, Q4V-40N)
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Heya. It's been a little bit... Don't worry... I wasn't in another coma again.
So... things were kinda going well in the squadron for a little bit, until recently... but I'll get to that just now, I guess.
Since my last log... I haven't really been doing much. Just exploring occasionally, visiting the others. Got to visit Sharales after all this time again, after he came to get a box of that wine Solix sent. It was nice to see him again... after the last time I saw him, things weren't exactly... great, I guess. And we got to have a little chat about stuff, which was nice. Interesting, to say the least.
Ontop of that, Thallia finally got that movie night together, and the group got a chance to get together and hang out. Though, it was weird... I guess. We watched a few movies, and it was Sharales, Thal, Novus and Solix... but Connor was busy, Alexis too, and Isabella didn't show up. Not sure why, Thal didn't speak much about it... so I guess she either didn't know or - at the time, I thought maybe something happened between them.
Well, that wasn't really the case, as I now know... but I'll get to that a bit later. I wanted to mention that some stuff has been going on with the whole investigation into the Crimson Venators. We're 8000ly from the bubble now, on a little survey operation, but there's still a team back there, continuing the investigation. And while I might be suspended, I've been trying to keep up with the news. So... on the 1st of December, things kinda started to kick off with the investigation.
I don't think I mentioned it, but throughout this whole investigation we've had both an Interpol team and one or two Federal agents helping us with the case. Those Federal agents got replaced by a team of operatives that were really... uh... covert, I guess. Black-ink looking, special ops kind of guys. They wanted to take over the case after we found encrypted signal data that might lead us to one of the Crimson Venators' Corvettes, and there was a lot of debate about it, until they threatened us with legal action on the 1st of December... after one of Mantis' specialists leaked the data to the rest of the squadron.
So that was kind of a tinderbox waiting to happen... But, long story short, Solix actually was one of the people who got their hands on the data, and he decrypted it pretty quickly... and he accidentally ended up exposing that Federal team as fake. Well... actually, they weren't 'fake', but their warrant was forged and they didn't really have the authority to take over the case. We're still not sure why, but I guess they had something to do with the Crimson Venators, and were trying to cover up the location of the Corvette. Fun...
Speaking of which, when Solix decrypted that data, it led us to a settlement in HIP 74304. Castillo Genetics. Yep, the same settlement I went to last time, and obtained all that data... the data Paladin was using to keep eyes on a few of us. A CSF team were sent out along with a technical team, and - long story short again - they found an abandoned Corvette belonging to that 'Dawn' guy... that operative that we keep getting mention of. Can't remember if I mentioned that either, so basically; Dawn is a callsign for one of the Venators' operatives... they seem to all use codenames and no real names, at all.
The technical team spent like... a few hours trying to get into that Corvette, and when they managed it, they were able to access the ship for a few minutes before it... uhm...
Well, the ship detonated. Self-destructed. Killed the entire tech team and injured a few CSF soldiers. Then that team started to take fire from the settlement, so they fought back and quickly took over the settlement. Guessing the settlement was in on it, and the Corvette probably detonated as some kind of contingency or whatever, but... losing the tech team slowed a lot of things down.
The CSF team tried exploiting the settlement for intel themselves, and they were feeding back what they found to Mantis through their ship's uplink, but after spending a few hours trying to sweep the network themselves, they suddenly cut communications and went dark. They were saying it could've been a technical issue or interference, or something... but some CSF officers believed the team intentionally cut themselves off and dropped off the grid for a reason.
When a backup Mantis team arrived at the settlement - who were originally going to replace the technical team we lost - they didn't find the squad there. No signs of any dead CSF soldiers... and the network was wiped clean... which kind of further confirms the theory that they went dark intentionally. So I dunno. That was on the 4th of December, and that same day... Mantis recalled their teams and announced plans for a new survey operation. Sounds like it was in the works for a while, but I'm not sure why they thought now would be a good time, considering the CSF team went missing and everything... and we still don't know where they are.
There's some talk about it being a way to cover up a covert attempt to continue searching for the team - but it doesn't seem too covert when you realize that CSF sent out a taskforce to one of our squadron carriers, with the sole purpose of staying behind to continue "normal protection duties". So... I dunno. Can't really say for sure since I'm still suspended, and they don't tell me all that much. Even with this survey operation, which has gone something like 8000ly out, I played a tiny part in deciding to start this little venture.
Honestly, I'd rather stay back in the bubble right now... but that kind of leads me to my next part, so let me jump back to the... uh... the 2nd of December...
So, I get this weird message... from some random sender, on the 2nd. Apparently... Isabella was arrested by the Empire for having ties to the NMLA. That's why she wasn't at the movie night... apparently she "assisted terrorists by supplying materials to create bombs"... Yeah, right. Like Isabella would do that. The sender believed that too... said the information obtained by the Agent on the case was doctored, and whoever this sender was gave us a system... CC'd a bunch of others, Thal, Sharales, Solix and Novus. Felt like I had to do something so... I took my ship and went to the system this sender gave us.
Eventually arrived at this Coriolis starport... and found my way to the local security office. Honestly, I... hate the entire feel of imperial starports. I know that might as well be a given coming from someone who was born a Federal citizen... though I don't like the Federation either. But... Imperial starports? They have this whole feeling of superiority all over the place. Expensive and sleek designs... most people wearing these fancy uniforms and all that. Just... ugh.
Anyway, I went to the local IISS office, made an inquiry... and had to sit there for several hours alone because of how long it took them to process my request. By then, some of the others arrived, and even by then, there was no update on my inquiry. The receptionist in the waiting room said there was a riot below in the detention centre, which was probably slowing down things a little... and that made my heart sink. Thinking that Isabella was probably in the middle of it... or... something.
Plus... the receptionist was starting to annoy me, so I pushed and asked for a superior. And that's where I met Agent Corbett... God, what a [#$@!]ing asshole... Guy embodies the very meaning of arrogance... and the way he spoke in such a condescending tone... Though I didn't want to make things worse, so I tried to be polite... at least get him to tell us what was going on, and that's where I learnt a bit more about the case. That, basically, it sounds like Isabella took a bad job for a guy a while back... and they arrested him recently, tying him to the NMLA.
Somehow, just because Isabella did that job for him... she was an associate, and the guy they arrested gave her name a second time. So now, not only does the IISS think she lied, but they were about to ship her off to a detention ship... well... they have already, but... That riot I mentioned? Isabella did it. She took an agent hostage after they were preparing her for transfer and was trying to break her way out. She... might've killed a guard too... but... in self-defence, I guess.
They didn't see it like that, though... and they were probably going to kill her now if we didn't do anything. So thankfully, we were able to convince the agent to let us talk to her, and while Thallia did that, I tried to... kind of get my way with the Agent. It didn't really work, and I was half expecting him to arrest me as well, but he just got irritated and dismissive... At least Thallia was able to eventually calm Isabella down and convince her to surrender, but she was about to be shipped off to a detention ship for good.
So... I may or may not have made it a squadron matter. I might be suspended but... Jaiden's reasonable, and who better to contact than the leader of our law agency? So... cutting a long story short again, while Isabella has been shipped off to a detention centre, at least the Peacekeepers are now looking at getting her out. They're making some progress but... I just hope they get the info we need, so we can get her out and arrest that [#$@!]ing Agent.
... I'm so sick of this, honestly. It's not Isabella's fault or anything... but why can't things just be [#$@!]ing normal again, for once? Why do we always have to keep getting dragged into stuff like this, where people who don't deserve this kind of treatment get hurt... Or maybe that's just how things are. I spoke with Thal a little after all of this, when we flew back to the Solaris... and she said something about how the "right way doesn't seem to work".
I guess maybe that's true sometimes. Sure feels like it... and... ah, I don't know... I have way too much time to think about this stuff. I'll just be quiet and... hopefully, eventually, Isabella gets released some way or another. And hopefully then this thing will be done for good...
Stafford told me the Peacekeeper team is still looking at things, so I guess we'll see what happens. They're still all the way back in the bubble, just like that CSF taskforce is... because the Solaris is 8000ly away, somewhere in the... uh... the Elysian Shore, I think. Not sure why we went all the way out here, but apparently there's stuff related to a project codenamed 'Dynasty'. An old, forgotten expedition something to do with charting habitable worlds for humanity, in case the Thargoids wiped out the bubble.
At least, that's all I can find online. It was discovered some time ago, by other Commanders, so we're following in the steps of others right now. But, it's still pretty cool being this far out into deep space, and I love looking out my quarters window at the galactic core... Feels like I'm at home, yet I'm not at the same time. It's beautiful... I just wish the stress of everything wasn't compounded on top of it...
At this rate, I'll ask to be suspended for a little bit longer, hah... There's never really a break around here, is there?
I just feel bad for Thallia and Isabella... They don't deserve to be ripped apart like this, and it's not fair that Isabella is stuck in the middle of this after all that's happened to her. But... I don't know. Things might just turn around, I hope.
Anyway... I'm gonna go for now. We're 8000ly in deep space, so I can't just sit around and do nothing. I guess I'll go explore, clear my mind... keep an eye on the comms channels in case there's an update on Isabella... and yeah. Fingers crossed...
See ya.
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Credit:
This story is only possible thanks to our squadron and community. Join TITAN Contractors, a diverse and talented squadron, and experience our custom lore and events. This logbook as well as associated images and story is property of TITAN Contractors, CMDR Radiumio. A special thank you to CMDRs Alexis Bright, Isabella Levine, Thallia Thorn, SpectreKryik, Solix and Novus for allowing me to use their characters in the story!
INARA page here.