Lament
23 Aug 2022RedivivusCrowd
"Can you develop a countermeasure?" Silence filled the air in response to this question. The faces around the oval shaped conference table, five in total were wrinkled with worry, many bore dark circles under their eyes from sleepless nights in the wake of the single worst military disaster in the history of the Alliance Defence Forces.
I bet that I look much the same but there's just not enough time. Not for them.
Not for any of us.
Seated at the head of the table, the man who had spoken bore attire similar to that worn by naval officers serving in the ADF, a dark green dress uniform supplemented by a black tie and a white shirt. His eyes were a stormy grey and his hair was shaved high and tight, black and greying at the sides. On the desk in front of him rested a light blue beret bearing an insignia depicting three white spindles intersecting over a blue circle.
Fleet Marshal Alan Graves regarded the man to his right calmly, still awaiting a response. Dr. Erwin Reed, the Legion's foremost expert on Guardian technology had been sleeping in his bunk aboard Bethe Station just a few hours ago.
His eyes didn't
bear quite the same fatigue as many of the others around the table, his bald head gleamed and the mustache under his nose was nigh impeccable as ever.
"It's too soon to say sir, we require more material and data from these..." As the man spoke his hands worked the controls of the holoprojector in the center if the table. An image of a Guardian relic appeared in the air above the table. "... new xeno artifacts that have been popping up around the pleiades sector, these 'unclassified relics'".
Dr. Reed huffed, clearly irritated at his ignorance of this new phenomenon and it's inner workings. Graves shared his irritation at his lack of any useful information but suppressed it and simply said "Thank you for your contribution Dr. Reed."
If lack of progress and telling me what I already know can be called a contribution.
Another voice from further down the table wondered aloud, "It looks... corrupted? Contaminated?"
The image in question differed greatly from the Relics the Legion had become accustomed to. Instead of a light cyan the artifact now emitted a sickly green hue and occasionally crackled with green energy.
The woman who had spoken wore a uniform similar to Graves', her shoulders and collar bearing the rank of a Commodore. Her brown hair was shaved tight and her round eyes were focused on the image of the relic. "Are they corrosive like other thargoid devices? Do they need specialised cargo racks?"
Dr. Reed cleared his throat. "That would be correct Commodore Royez, reports from our operatives who have been conducting testing at these Thargoid surface sites indicate that upon exposure to the central machine at the heart of the facility, the Guardian relics will adopt several new properties, one of them being corrosive."
Graves listened on silently to the back and forth that continued for a time, watching the image of the relic above the table for a time before speaking up.
"Our stations are reinforced against Thargoid interference but will that work against these new relics? Our shutdown field neutralisers didn't work in Hip 22460 if the logs from Oath of Tyndareus are anything to go by."
The mention of the vessel brought a cloud over the table, some faces wore pained expressions while others contained thinly veiled fury. There had been a handful of legionnaires aboard the ship when Salvation's weapon backfired, some of the officers in the room knew them personally.
"Our only priority at the moment must be to develop a countermeasure to prevent a disaster like this from happening a second time, we cannot afford another Oath of Tyndareus".
Graves looked at Dr. Reed specifically now, "Whatever you need..." Without looking away Graves gestured towards another man across the table from the Doctor, unlike most of the people in the room this person was not wearing a uniform, instead he was wearing business attire consisting of a light grey three piece suit accompanied by a bright green waist coat and tie. "... talk to this man and he will get it for you, credits, personnel and/or equipment."
Graves turned to look at the other man now, "Understood Mr Tran?" Gustavo Tran, Vice President of SAP Corporation and public face the Sap Core Legion presented to the public sat up straighter.
"Of course Fleet Marshal, whatever he needs." Graves nodded and looked at Reed again, adopting a smile which didn't quite reach his eyes. "I look forward to hearing of your progress, hopefully you'll have a bit more to share with us next time". Don't dissappoint me again.
Even an individual as socially oblivious as the researcher couldn't fail to pick up the unspoken threat and wiped his forehead with a handkerchief, "Of course Fleet Marshal Graves! I...I'll get started right away!" He started standing up from his seat to leave while looking questioningly at Graves, wordlessly begging to be excused.
Graves widened his eyes ever so slightly, the smile never leaving his face. "That is an excellent idea, don't let us keep you". Tran was pointedly focusing his gaze on the controls for the holo display in front of him while the other uniformed officers around the table directed blank expressionless gazes at Dr. Reed.
The man hastily bade farewell and exited the room, doing his best not to make eye contact with the two legionnaires standing sentry by the door, their faces obscured behind mirrored visors, hulking plasma shotguns resting in their arms.
Upon the door closing behind Reed Commodore Royez muttered, "Why the hell is his head so damn shiny? He polish it before he came here?" The elicited a few chuckles from around the table, Graves was forced to suppress a smile himself as he glared at Royez for a few moments until the laughter died down.
"Do we have any Intel about what's happening on the surface? Is the Proteus Wave device intact? Has it been moved?" Graves asked. Commodore Royez used the controls in front of her to change the holodisplay to a galaxy map, she then zoomed in on HIP 22460 in particular, leaving the systems in the vicinity visible before speaking.
"As it stands we have 3 DBXs on the edge of the system who are keeping an eye on things, trying to go any further in to get a closer look at the planet would leave them at risk of getting boxed in and cornered."
Graves looked at the map, furrowing his brow. "Closest system is 5.7LY away, that's a long old flight." Royez nodded, "It's pretty slow and there's going to be a three hour delay on any news we receive but having them supercruise in and out of the system is the only way to avoid them getting hyperdicted in transit."
Graves nodded. Good, I would've done the same. Another officer at the table piped up, this man was seated beside Gustavo Tran. The man's uniform marked him as a colonel. Graves suppressed a sigh and fought the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose. He already suspected where this was going.
"Sir, with all due respect I feel that now is the time to strike. Our best option at this time is to launch an assault on the site housing the Proteus Wave device in order to recover or destroy it before the enemy has a chance to study or move it to a location beyond our reach."
Royez used her controls to change the image above them into a photo taken by one of their scouts in the wake of the device's activation, the entire site being engulfed in a aurora of energy visible from orbit.
"You want to send our people into that? Even if the transport ships don't get picked off by Interceptors on their way to the planet they would never make it to the surface."
The Colonel frowned but pressed on undeterred, "I understand that losses would likely be heavy if not total but if we could just get one team in there and set off a nuke from the inside... even if it doesn't destroy the site it would render the device inoperable if not outright destroyed..."
The Commodore butted in, her voice slightly heated. "We don't even know if the device is still on the planet, it could be sitting somewhere in witch space right now for all we know. We'd be sending hundreds of sailors and marines to their deaths for nothing! You can't..."
"Enough." Graves uttered. The two arguing officers immediately fell silent and directed their gaze at the table before them, Graves sighed as he studied the star map before him.
I just want a cup of tea and to lie down, is that so much to ask for? Graves pushed these thoughts aside as he directed his gaze at the Colonel. Lavery had been a decorated officer in the Federal Marine Corps before he'd faced dishonourable discharge for insubordination and mutiny.
What Graves knew and Royez didn't was that he had been ordered to leave a platoon of marines behind in the face of an approaching Thargoid force, the only reason the transport ship had turned around and picked them up had been because Lavery had held the pilot at gunpoint.
Graves knew his recommendation didn't stem from callousness or disregard for the lives of his men but because he truly thought it was necessary.
"Draw up plans for infiltration of a thargoid site and keep two tactical nukes on standby. The time isn't right at the moment but that doesn't mean there won't be opportunities to strike at the enemy here or elsewhere in the future."
Lavery nodded his head and simply responded "Yes sir." Royez furrowed her brow but otherwise remained silent. Graves moved on swiftly "Mr Tran, thank you for taking the time to be here today, I understand Operation Bolstering Bastion is taking up most of your attention these days, your service is appreciated".
Tran ran a hand through his bright blonde hair, while feigning an abashed smile, "I live to serve the Alliance." You live to serve the Legion Gustavo, never forget that. "That will be all, the three of you are dismissed." Graves rose from his seat.
The others around the table did the same, Graves and the other two officers donning their berets as they did so, their Alliance insignia glinting in the light emitted by the holographic stars.
"Long live the Alliance!" Graves barked.
"Long live the Alliance!" The room echoed back to him, they then promptly saluted and made their way out of the room.
Graves then returned to his seat and changed the holodisplay to images taken by search and resuce vessels in the wake of Oath of Tyndareus' loss. The images were horrific but all too familiar to him after years of war, Graves paused, rubbing his face and squeezing his eyes shut for a few moments.
You didn't die for nothing, I promise it wasn't for nothing. Graves sat in the dimly lit room, making sure to take in every image.
Looking for some glimmer, some clue that could unravel the mystery.