Abduction - Discovery
29 Jul 2024Kasumi Goto
Direct followup to Abduction - Devious Act and subsequent 'news article'.
"What do you do when you find out your friend's been abducted? Well, in my case, I sure as hell wasn't just going to sit around doing nothing."
July 4, 3310
Xi Wangda system
It was nice to see my fleet carrier come into view as I dropped out from supercruise, after maybe a month and a half in deep space. A rattle in the ship also reminded me it still badly needed some repairs from a proper maintenance crew, not just me doing a quick job of it all on my own. So I wasted no time in getting the ship docked, into the hangar, and setting up some repair requests... also remembering to add a note to not remove the strange glyphs, or pictograms, whatever they were, etched into the hull near the cockpit. I wanted to show that to somebody who actually had some knowledge on the field, at some later point.
I left the ship then, for it to be moved down into the storage and maintenance area located within the carrier - the various pieces of equipment onboard to be transferred into short-term storage, until I decided what ship to take out next... but first, I had a personally important matter to deal with, which I headed to my private space on the carrier for. Because I was still rather annoyed at the mechanical malfunction that led to me getting stuck on an ammonia world for nearly half a month... so I pulled up the Achilles page on the galactic web, specifically their Aerospace division, and opted to leave some feedback on their overcharge drives.
A great thing, but some sloppy engineering on the drive model that I purchased on a station - after the prototype phase ended - resulted in the failure of a regulator component that made me get stuck on a planet for almost half a month, while everything was still operating within proper conditions, and with no notable wear on the components. Now I have to ask myself if all the ones that I bought at that time are faulty... and I never had that issue while running the prototype version.
I tapped on 'Add', and it wasn't even a minute later that I received some kind of automated response. Certainly too quick to be a human on the other end... but Achilles did like their automated systems, so it wasn't surprising.
Thank you for your review. We're sorry you experienced an issue with one of our products. If you would like, we can send over a certified technician to inspect the flaw, and verify any other of your purchases, at the earliest opportunity. And rest assured that we will do everything possible to identify and rectify this issue in our production chain. After all, at Achilles, we only aim to provide the best to our customers.
That message felt a little tone deaf considering what I'd gone through as a result of this flaw, but I didn't let it get to me. Obviously, this was just some kind of pre-generated response text for a negative review, on the basis of certain key words. But I did take up that offer to have one of their workers look over those drives I'd bought, in order to be sure that none of them were going to blow up on any of my other ships. At least that problem hadn't occurred while I was near a neutron star or black hole... because I would not have survived that.
"EDI, make sure the crew know that person is coming... whenever a confirmation with a date and time appear.", I told her. "And tell the maintenance workers to keep the junk from the drive so that technician can look at it and maybe figure out the problem from there."
"Of course, Kira.", the AI answered. "Now that you have concluded with this subject, there is something else you must hear."
"It is going to have to wait. It is ..." I looked at the clock. A few hours past midnight. "... really late, and I just want to sleep. You can tell me about it when I wake up."
My tone indicated I tolerated no counterargument. I valued my sleep as much as I did my big, over-the-top curves, and I was sleepy enough after basically spending the night awake just to return to the Bubble, that nothing could get in the way of it, short of something threatening to kill me. But Azimuth were no longer in control of the system, right now, so I was not even worried about that. Although, if I was that concerned about them, I would not have had my carrier placed here, instead of one of the neighboring locations.
A yawn coming out of my mouth unintentionally, reminded me to stop thinking and start sleeping. I got out of my clothes and slipped into the sleeping bag, drifting off quickly after finishing the struggle to close it up. It always was one, but totally worth what I gained from having the problem.
The following day ...
I woke up in the afternoon, as was to be expected, and I treated it more like morning as a result. Slow startup routine, general laziness on my part that was only amplified - or worsened, depending on who was asked - by my disproportionate body, which also served as an unreasonably exciting distraction while my brain started up and some of its inhibitions were not in place yet. And I, really... was just far too easily 'excited' by my body and how unreasonably big it was. So, after looking at myself in the mirror for a bit, how the bundle of fun on the chest was bunched up in the bra, and the way my hips just tried getting away from the rest of the body, the thighs being in contact pretty much the entire way down... a round of fun in the shower followed, once I'd taken off the underwear in which I had slept.
It was definitely great to not have to worry about being stuck on an alien planet every time I woke up, especially one not habitable to any other human. Biological human, anyhow. Got dry, then wandered over to the food stores, and started a fight with some milk and cereal again, managing a little better than my last attempt at it. EDI spoke up while I was doing that.
"I still have something you need to see, Kira."
"Juft -" I finished munching before I answered. "... just tell me when I'm done eating."
Which didn't take too long, since I was learning how to do this better, but I still had to go and fish some rogue bits of the milk and cereal out of the air when I was done. I picked off the remaining milk on the edges of my mouth with my tongue, then washed what remained in my mouth down with water... wasn't too hungry, right now, so that'd probably do.
"So, what's, this... thing, you want to tell me about, EDI?", I asked, curious, both about it and why it was so important.
"I was monitoring for any transmissions which may be of interest to you, as always.", she started. "Then, one of the beacons in the Anti-Club Accord's network detected a distress signal with a corresponding identifier, thus relaying it to an internal channel. I believe you may wish to hear it."
"O-kay... play it, then."
"... mayday ... -is is... in Pegasi Sec- ... hostile... ships... no identification... -equire... assistance. ... repeat... immediate assist -"
"Unfortunately, it was only detected in that fragmented state.", EDI complemented the playback. "It appears to have originated from somewhere around the Raijin Titan."
I sighed, because I very much recognized the voice. "Anything else? Something, more useful, maybe? Because, there's... a lot of those 'Pegasi' systems. And what the hell is that 'unknown hostiles with no identification' thing about?"
I already had a good guess. If it was trouble with Thargoids, that would not need calling out, at all... and I doubted Far God cultists were about to do anything subversive like that, considering they were all about leaving freedom to act to their 'holy messengers'... even if I was not one, despite their beliefs. If it was a new Thargoid ship released by the Titans, everyone would have known of it by now, too. Instead, this already screamed Black Flight or some other Azimuth fuckery, and it was thoroughly ruining the mood that I'd started settling into.
"In fact, yes.", EDI continued. "There was a news broadcast in the local area around the Titan just this morning."
It flashed up to my right as a holo-screen, allowing me to read it, still sat down.
As the situation at the war front surrounding Titan Raijin continues to evolve, it appears the Thargoids may have struck yet another blow to human resistance forces. Independent pilot Jana Razeki, who has been assisting defensive and counterstrike efforts around Raijin after the fall of Titan Oya, has officially been declared missing, presumably while fighting Thargoid forces, after several days of unexplained absence.
Her last known whereabouts were in the Samnienas system, from where she departed the Avicenna Gateway facility to one of the nearby Thargoid-controlled systems. Some of the local anti-xeno forces reportedly saw her in Pegasi Sector KH-V c2-6, prior to her disappearance, but this has not been verified, and a fragmented distress signal has not provided significant clues to the possible location of a wreckage, or black box recorder. Though, given her presence within Thargoid systems, and no reports of a sighting in other human systems, the disappearance is believed to be tied to the invasion fleet.
Other anti-xeno pilots who were asked could not provide any information either, only able to express that her absence may be felt, as human forces are locally spread thin as it is, unable to yet achieve significant headway against the Titan's forces beyond keeping them contained. And, according to battlefield reports, Jana was capable of rivalling Basilisk and Medusa Interceptors even without the support of a nearby station for repairs, on one occasion making a key difference in bringing low a rampaging Hydra that had taken down dozens of ships on its own. Tales range from her triumphing with grandeur, to barely making it out of the encounter with an intact ship, highlighting the continued need, and rarity, of pilots with such skill.
A spokesperson from DaVinci Corp., one of the primary factions around and affected by Titan Raijin's presence, has said that they are unable to dedicate any search parties to the matter, while the bulk of humanity's forces are occupied around the weaker Titans, and due to the recent shift in Thargoid targeting to populated space. "We cannot make an exception for a single person, no matter how valuable they might seem, when our own people are in danger.", they stated, adding, "However, anyone capable is encouraged to look for her, and determine whether she was captured by the Thargoids or killed. A sizeable reward is available for any useful information or if you find her, as she has proven valuable to local anti-Thargoid efforts. If she was taken alive, hope remains to find her. If she was not, we extend our condolences to any friends and family."
Further updates to the situation will be provided when available. It is hoped that she was not taken captive by the Thargoids after her ship's destruction, but such a possibility cannot be ruled out. And even if the Thargoids succeeded in eliminating her as a threat to them, it is pilots like that who selflessly put themselves on the line to defeat the Thargoid menace, who give us hope. And why hope should not be lost, especially now, when the remaining Titans are on the back foot, finally allowing an end to the war to be in sight.
Her last known whereabouts were in the Samnienas system, from where she departed the Avicenna Gateway facility to one of the nearby Thargoid-controlled systems. Some of the local anti-xeno forces reportedly saw her in Pegasi Sector KH-V c2-6, prior to her disappearance, but this has not been verified, and a fragmented distress signal has not provided significant clues to the possible location of a wreckage, or black box recorder. Though, given her presence within Thargoid systems, and no reports of a sighting in other human systems, the disappearance is believed to be tied to the invasion fleet.
Other anti-xeno pilots who were asked could not provide any information either, only able to express that her absence may be felt, as human forces are locally spread thin as it is, unable to yet achieve significant headway against the Titan's forces beyond keeping them contained. And, according to battlefield reports, Jana was capable of rivalling Basilisk and Medusa Interceptors even without the support of a nearby station for repairs, on one occasion making a key difference in bringing low a rampaging Hydra that had taken down dozens of ships on its own. Tales range from her triumphing with grandeur, to barely making it out of the encounter with an intact ship, highlighting the continued need, and rarity, of pilots with such skill.
A spokesperson from DaVinci Corp., one of the primary factions around and affected by Titan Raijin's presence, has said that they are unable to dedicate any search parties to the matter, while the bulk of humanity's forces are occupied around the weaker Titans, and due to the recent shift in Thargoid targeting to populated space. "We cannot make an exception for a single person, no matter how valuable they might seem, when our own people are in danger.", they stated, adding, "However, anyone capable is encouraged to look for her, and determine whether she was captured by the Thargoids or killed. A sizeable reward is available for any useful information or if you find her, as she has proven valuable to local anti-Thargoid efforts. If she was taken alive, hope remains to find her. If she was not, we extend our condolences to any friends and family."
Further updates to the situation will be provided when available. It is hoped that she was not taken captive by the Thargoids after her ship's destruction, but such a possibility cannot be ruled out. And even if the Thargoids succeeded in eliminating her as a threat to them, it is pilots like that who selflessly put themselves on the line to defeat the Thargoid menace, who give us hope. And why hope should not be lost, especially now, when the remaining Titans are on the back foot, finally allowing an end to the war to be in sight.
"It has a location, in Thargoid space. Best point to start looking." I had my finger pointed at the specific system. "Are we already there, or do I have to wait for this thing to jump?"
"I already had a jump to a nearby system ordered, though no ship is currently prepared. I thought to leave that choice to you.", EDI answered.
"Just... get the Phantom out. The one that hasn't had its Frame Shift Drive explode for no reason." My tone indicated I was still quite annoyed - and would be for a while - about that stupidity. Stuck on a hostile alien planet because some idiot skimped on a piece of the machine. It was enough to make me want to shake my head.
"You are aware that it may be risky to go into Thargoid space, particularly with them having shifted to a defensive focus around the remaining Titans?", EDI remarked, acting like a concerned parent.
"Yes, mum. Thanks.", I replied in a jokingly biting tone, then switched back to serious. "They are not who I'm worried about. And I don't think they'll be an issue." I got off the chair and headed toward the wardrobe to dress up proper. "Thanks for ruining my day, by the way."
I didn't get a response to that, of course. Some fifteen minutes later, I was sat in the cockpit of my Phantom - which I still had to yet give a name to - designed for operations within the Bubble, with appropriately improved shielding and armor, and took off. I couldn't not look for her immediately, without any further delay.
Pegasi Sector KH-V c2-6
Near the main star
The warm glow of an orange K-type star filled the cockpit as I fiddled around with sensors, and displays, trying to find out if Jana's ship was in fact somewhere around here. So far, though, I'd only picked up the usual Thargoid and human ship activity scattered around the system, plus a few spots where more concentrated fighting occurred, primarily around the lone two stars, and one oddly isolated skirmish that just about qualified as a 'low intensity conflict zone' far beyond where light from either the K type or the red dwarf reached. And no distress signal.
"Nothing.", I thought out loud, a little frustrated already. "EDI, is the signal still transmitting?"
"No. It appears to have been a one-off transmission.", she informed me.
I sighed. "Great ..."
There had to be something. I began searching the different general frequencies used for distress beacons, all the while keeping the FSS running, hoping to find something, anything... at least, the fighting between the two idiots on either side of this conflict seemed to be keeping the Thargoids busy enough to not mind me, even if they were probably aware of my presence, either through the implant or locating the ship. Then, I had a spot of luck.
"Bingo.", I muttered to myself. There was a faint signal, roughly in the direction of the low intensity conflict zone, itself about 14,000 light seconds away, the signal, maybe eight thousand. The scanner also picked up faint Thargoid interference roughly in that same location - possibly, a ship that had been interdicted by Thargoids there, on the way to the fighting, but it was far enough off the direct route that anything short of a dedicated search and rescue ship would not have stopped to investigate. Or someone looking for something specific, rather than looking to fight here.
I couldn't be sure if this was going to be her ship - or a remnant thereof - but... somehow, it felt like I 'knew' it would be. Maybe it was just instinct, because that news broadcast had mentioned her possibly being in this system, and likely on the way to support local human forces, so being on the way to that skirmishing spot would make sense. Or, instead, it was something in the Thargoid hivemind drawing me to that location... seeing what that article said about her performances, they probably saw that ship as a higher threat, or something like that.
Dropping in, I could hardly see anything. Triggering night vision mode for the ship revealed some smaller bits and pieces of wreckage, a dead Thargoid Interceptor, and a Krait MKII, all of it slowly drifting out into the void. The Thargoid wreck probably explained why there was a 'buzz' in the hivemind surrounding this particular spot in space. A light caustic remnant surrounded the scene, frozen in time, but not enough to cause any damage to a ship's hull any longer.
Now that I was this close, I was receiving a signal - automated distress beacon from the ship, triggered by absence of the pilot. Or at least absence of action. The hull looked mostly intact, from afar, but not so much for the thrusters. Those had been thoroughly shot up. But if that beacon was active, something had to be stopping the transmission from getting out.
I ran a quick ping of the surrounding area, see if there was anything. Sure enough, one of the pieces of 'wreckage'... was not so much a mangled piece of metal, but something actively jamming outgoing transmissions. And there was one good way I knew of dealing with that nonsense. Two plasma projectiles flew toward the radio jammer, condemning it to become a part of the graveyard. Clearly, someone had put that thing there deliberately... more evidence to the human factor being involved in that disappearance.
Needed to investigate the wrecked Krait. ID matched Jana's, so that was cleared up. There were some marks of Thargoid weaponry, to be sure, but those being quite distinct, it wasn't hard to notice those other spots of damage. Small, precise entry holes. Left only really one possibility.
"EDI, those look like railgun marks. Could you ...?"
"I already scanned the ship. Aside from the damage caused by a Thargoid Interceptor cannon, there is clear evidence it was targeted by precise high-velocity ammunition commonly used in human weapon systems."
"What a surprise ..." But it really wasn't. "Can you connect to the systems remotely?"
"Unfortunately, no. Systems appear to have gone into emergency preservation mode to preserve fuel."
"Well... I guess, I'm going onboard, then."
"Are you sure that is a good idea?"
"Probably not, but I have to find out. Not going to do that unless I go in there."
My mind was already made up, and I'd stood up from the pilot's seat to grab some gear. Rifle and plasma pistol, plus a plasma cutter... in case I needed to break into something, or just cut through a damaged part of the ship. A thruster pack for navigating in zero G too, of course.
I left through the rear airlock of the ship, navigating to the other Krait from there - it was practically stationary, anyway, either by being caught out stationary, or, as I suspected, brought mostly to a halt by whoever did this. The starboard airlock was also left wide open, allowing me to slip inside before giving it some power, and entering the ship. Where to start...
Computer systems seemed like a good idea, to access its records. Wandering through this eerie wreck, though, wasn't the most fun of experiences I'd had, and I was expecting something or somebody to try jumping me at every corner. Or some surprises left behind by the kidnappers, but the only obstacle was getting my body around the corridors, some of which were exposed to vacuum, thanks to the railgun impacts, which had to have missed the thrusters on occasion due to evasive maneuvers.
That, and I had to 'convince' the system to let me into the computer core, which thankfully was intact.
"O-kay... let's see ..."
I plugged in my hacking key to get into it, since Jana wasn't exactly around to give me access... considering I was doing this to try finding her, she probably wouldn't mind.
Nav logs turned up empty, as did recent activity and sensor logs... someone had tried to wipe the data. That left me only with the black box to check, as it was still actively recording and pinging back to the central computer.
"You better have something.", I said in a low tone, as I accessed it, not needing to bypass encryption since I was in the system already.
A lot of corrupted data, here, too. Some sensor readings... emissions, 'identified ship type: Thargoid Interceptor, Basilisk variant', pilot ejecting from the ship following significant structural and reactor damage... nothing that really helped me. But the reactor damage claim definitely confirmed my suspicion that this data had been altered, because my own scans suggested it was perfectly fine, along with most other primary and subsystems. Except the thrusters, anyway.
So I dug further, and, sure enough, found some corrupted data packets left behind, just enough to not be legible by the system, but still be easy to repair. For my stuff, at least - I set a program to that, and quickly had results, within about a minute. Limited internal camera feeds, additional sensor and a comms log.
"There we go ..."
Someone had either just done sloppy work, or didn't quite get to finish simply because the Thargoids interrupted their little party. I accessed the camera feed data first, but all I got to see was a few distorted, grainy shots of some people in pitch black, heavy armor going through the ship, and then a short snippet of some fighting of a camera near the armory, which was followed by an audio-only recording of the 'Commander' ordering one of their squad to wipe the system and create a fake destruction scenario. One external camera had also barely caught a ship with a pitch black paintjob momentarily obscuring the stars... without which it would not have been visible. I'd definitely analyze that particular footage more later.
The extra sensor logs confirmed the Basilisk was not behind this, at hand of it being dead, because they had recorded its destruction... and there was also that one recording of Jana getting quite passionate in the heat of fighting. Plus the things I'd heard in the distress signal - hostile ships with no identification, which was recorded here as well. Coupled with a midnight black paint, the evidence, while still circumstantial, definitely pointed toward those Black Flight idiots, and more competent ones than those sent after Seo over a year ago, coincidentally next to Azimuth's headquarters in the Bubble.
The comms log, which was the recorded distress call in full, only solidified the idea.
"Mayday, mayday! This is Jana Razeki in - in Pegasi Sector KH-V c2-6! I'm under attack by hostile human ships with no identification, and require immediate assistance! I repeat, I need immediate assistance!"
So that was that. I sighed, and connected to ship systems from here. No damage had been recorded since July 1 - that had to have been when this happened. I woke the reactor up and powered the onboard AFMU - probably for field repairs in combat - and told it to restore basic thruster functionality, then programmed in a return course to the nearest inhabited system. Which also turned out to be where it'd last been docked. Jana would probably appreciate having the ship around once she was back. Because I'd certainly be getting her out of that mess, once I knew where those idiots held her. And why, though I had a good guess already.
I downloaded the recovered black box records and left the computer room, remembering to grab my hacking device - basically, an advanced, reusable and even more illegal e-breach, with a couple of extra functions - then headed down toward the armory, even if there was likely nothing useful there. The corridor leading straight to it had a couple of bullet marks and signs of a grenade as well as shield disruptor going off, at some point... so Jana had chosen a reasonably defensible spot to fight from, as the camera footage suggested. The armory itself, of course, showed signs of return fire as well... unsurprisingly. And it was filled with cheap Pioneer toys - those wouldn't have done much against a squad using military-grade equipment, as I assumed those mercs to.
Another nearby hallway had droplets of blood floating in it, a bloodied knife in the immediate vicinity as well. There certainly was enough for a stab wound... possibly lethal, but if so, the body hadn't been left here. It, in some way, pleased me to know that she'd possibly taken one of those bastards with her... even if it hadn't been enough.
There was nothing left for me to find here. Once the AFMU had done its work on the thrusters, the Krait would 'wake up' and return to port on autopilot. At least, the Thargoids hadn't seen any point in shooting down an unmanned ship that was just drifting and posed no threat to anybody. I left through the same airlock that I had entered, making sure that Jana's ship did in fact successfully jump out, before returning to my carrier's location. No Thargoids bothered me throughout, so it was good that my assumptions about the relation I had to them held up, at least to some degree.
Once back on the carrier itself, I quickly set to analyzing that brief recording of the ship. It was blurry, perhaps residual interference caused by the dead Thargoid ship lowering the quality of the recording, but I could still, kind of, make out what looked like an identifier painted on the exterior hull.
"EDI, can you zoom in on that spot? And try to clean it up a little.", I requested, pointing at where I could see the - presumed - ID.
When the AI followed through on that request, it wasn't perfect, but clear enough to remove any doubt. That was an SVI identifier as used by Black Flight, even if I couldn't make out the precise number. Seemed there was more than one, anyway, so I couldn't look for one specific ship in particular. Still, it confirmed it - Azimuth were behind this, or almost certainly.
"Goddamn bastards.", I muttered, while activating a secure link to the ACA network, telling them about the situation in brief, that I wanted help finding a friend, and would not be going in quietly - I knew they hated Azimuth just as much as the Club, so there was a good chance someone there would be able or willing to assist me, also making it clear I'd go in alone if I had to. That, and they were free to any loot found at the sites, if they wanted it.
Then I closed that channel again, aside from monitoring for any response, and set a carrier jump for an unpopulated system next to LHS 1163. That was the only placeI could possibly imagine for where to look, that wasn't Mbooni - since Azimuth had lost literally everything except the Musashi in Xi Wangda during the month and a half of my absence. But Mbooni was simply too obvious, in part from it only having a single official station within it... meaning that anything else found in there would stick out like a sore thumb. So the neighboring system it was.
"You know that this could be a bait, Kira.", EDI pointed out.
"Oh, I'm well aware. But, with a little luck, I won't be going into this alone.", I replied to her.
"That still means Azimuth may expect you to take this course of action."
I scoffed. "I bet those bastards think I'll come running for one of my only friends. But they won't like how I'm coming."
Author's note - This, like the Stranded logs, is something I've been planning out in my head for a while. There will be a lot more action soon, as you might guess by that last sentence. And speaking of - because my brain does not do brain things sometimes, I forgot to put an ending note to that prior set of logs. So I'll just say, I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing that stuff.