Agents of the Empire (IC)

[BananaPhone]

Acina Dro


Acaina's flickering, blue-white-image on the holoprojector was rather expressionless while she typed in a transmission of their clearance codes.

"We are here to investigate the Adamant after its recent encounter with seditious forces," she started, her unusual accent belying the fact that Basic was not her native language. "I request that you prepare a data packet containing all surveillance footage from the Adamant during its recent engagement. Are the docking facilities on the Adamant capable of receiving us?"

[Xetheral]

The response from Senior Controller Haltper is quick and professional: "Sir, the Adamant is currently undergoing repairs at the Foundry and is not with the sector fleet. If you would please briefly hold I will transfer you to Foundry traffic control. Please note that the Foundry is not Navy controlled, and they will be unable to verify your clearance codes. I will nevertheless endeavour to convey to them the urgency of your request." There is a several minute pause before Senior Haltper concludes: "I now have Traffic Director Calin on the line. He can assist you with docking clearance with the Foundry."

A new voice comes on the line with a different accent. "This is Director Calin. I understand that you have requested clearance to dock with the Adamant, and that the Navy considers this a VIP request. Unfortunately the Adamant is actively undergoing hull repair, and for safety reasons we cannot permit direct docking at this time--too much risk of collision with the work skiffs. I can, however, clear you to Dock Alt9c. It's a cargo access point usually reserved for Foundry personnel, but it's the closest I can get you to the Adamant herself on Ring 4. Will that suffice? Or would you prefer one of the diplomatic docks near the station's central core?"

[AvatarVecna]

TH-30 idly hears the call and finishes the side-project he'd been fiddling with - if there were recordings incoming, he'd probably need to analyze the data to ensure nothing had been tampered with, just in case.

[BananaPhone]

Acina Dro


Acina's flickering image did not yield much about her thoughts on the soft denial. If she was irritated, she did not show it.

"Dock Alt9c will suffice. We can arrange an inspection of the craft itself from there. Secondly, I request that you transmit all surveillance footage from inside the Adamant a day before, during and after the attack. We require it for forensic analysis."

[Xetheral]

Director Calin replies: "Very good. You are cleared for a priority approach to dock Alt9c. I am transmitting routing information now. A representative of the Foundry will meet you when you arrive, and I understand that someone from the Adamant will be present as well. Unfortunately I do not have access to Imperial Navy surveillance records, but hopefully the representative from the Adamant can assist you with that."

---

With a priority approach all other traffic is rerouted, and you have a clear path to the Foundry. Docking proceeds smoothly with the Asanguire's starboard airlock. The Director wasn't kidding--this is an industrial access point not intended for public use, and no attention whatsoever was paid to anything except pure functionality. The internal walls of the Foundry's airlock are bare metal, with signage relegated to painted markings made using stencils.

Waiting to meet you are a human male Imperial Navy Senior Lieutenant and a human female Lantillian Shipwrights PR officer. The latter welcomes you on board: "Welcome to the Foundry. My name is Aly Tzan, and I'm pleased to offer you whatever services Lantillian Shipwrights is able to provide. I have been assigned to you full-time, so please don't hesitate to reach out if you need anything. This is Lt. Cori Donenq, who will be escorting you to the Adamant."

The Lieutenant nods a thanks at the PR officer, saying: "If you would follow me please, we can board the Adamant down this hallway." He starts walking that direction, adding: "I'm told you wish to view our security recordings. Due to the battle damage they are incomplete, but I am happy to escort you directly to the Adamant's security office where the records are available. The Adamant's commanding officer, Lt. Commander Malt, has instructed me to provide you with full access. He is also available to meet with you at your convenience." The Lieutenant manages a professional delivery, but it's clear he's stressed, presumably by the sudden arrival of four Inquisitors at once.

[RandomLunatic]

"I would like to see him when we are finished with the footage," said Siefel. "I also want a list of all the captives that were in the brig at the time of the raid. Including which cells they were assigned to."

[BananaPhone]

Acina Dro

Acina's holographic image simply nodded, "Thank you", and then wisped out of existence.

oOo

Holding the yoke on the Decimator, Acina directed the craft towards their designated landing bay. Setting the craft down, she flicked a few buttons in the cockpit to initiate engine to cool down after the long trip.

Getting up out of her chair, she turned to the others, rolling her shoulders after the lengthy flight.

"Another happy landing," she winked.

oOo

"If you would follow me please, we can board the Adamant down this hallway."

Acina remained silent as her lightly armoured figure followed the officer troupe that had come to greet them. She remained alert, however, her eyes moving about her surroundings and her extra-sensory perceptions rolling out acro

[AvatarVecna]

TH-30 follows Acina's lead, collecting his squad as they exit the ship.

[Xetheral]

Lt. Donenq leads you approximately 300 meters along the gently-curving fourth ring of the station, to where the Adamant lies berthed. As you get close, the bulk of the heavy cruiser comes into view through the intermittent windows. It's not a good angle--you can see only the forward 150 meters or so of the ship--but it's enough to see that the damage is indeed extensive. The ship took at least three direct hits just on the parts you can see. One is a crater blasted straight through the dorsal plating, destroying the foremost battery and exposing several decks beneath to open space. The other two hits are located along the thin portside belt--the damage looks less extensive from the outside, but you know that lateral hits like that can inflict brutal damage deep into the ship along the length and breadth of the affected decks. More damage is visible at over a dozen lesser sites, where the ship took glancing blows or the armor was able to mitigate much of the damage. A veritable army of workboats and repair droids are congregated around the damaged areas, cutting away wrecked metal and beginning to replace the damaged plating.

Spoiler: Note for TH-30

Show

Based on the details of the blast patterns, you estimate that all three direct hits were likely caused by capital-grade anti-ship missiles, rather than turbolaser fire. In contrast, the lesser impact points are indeed probably turbolaser hits, each partially mitigated by the cruiser's shields to the point that the armor absorbed most of what was left. Even so, you know from experience that turbolaser hits with that much scorching tend to cause localized internal damage, even when the armor isn't penetrated outright.

Access to the Adamant is via a gangway amidships. A security checkpoint manned by both Lantillian Shipwrights and Imperial Navy personnel controls entry, reinforced by eight Stormtroopers. This is particularly heavy security, even considering that the cruiser is docked at a commercial facility. As you approach, the Navy personnel and the stormtroopers come to attention, and the Lantillian Shipwrights personnel noticeably straighten. The Imperial Junior Lt. supervising the checkpoint requires Lt. Donenq to provide his code cylinder, but makes no move to request credentials from any of you. Once the code cylinder is verified, the Stormtroopers step back from the gangway, and offer a crisp salute in unison.

Spoiler: Note for Acina Dro

Show

Ships smaller than Star Destroyers usually carry Imperial Troopers rather than Stormtroopers. Either the Adamant is an unusual case, or these troops are not part of the ship's normal complement.

[BananaPhone]

Acina Dro


Acina follows the Lieutenant with her eyes watching those around her, both her own party (those to her sides) and the surrounding personnel. For someone who grew up on a feudal world, the logistics and technology of the modern world was still a wonder to her.

The presence of stormtroopers, however, caught Acina's eye. Weren't they normally assigned to larger vessels? They were performing a task usually assigned to Imperial naval troopers, rather than the "elite" of the Empire. Nevertheless, when Acina is granted access, she makes sure to return the Stormtroopers salute with a smaller, more casual but acknowledging one of her own.

"Not enough naval troopers, Lieutenant?" Acina asks under her breath when Lt. Doneng continues with his escort and they've left the ear-shot of the check-point.

[Xetheral]

Lt. Donenq nods to Acina as he leads the group down the gangway. Yes, Sir: of our original complement of 400, over half were casualties of the battle. Many will recover in time, but for near-term security we've been assigned a battalion of the 392nd Legion from the Mauler. I'm told there is concern that the locals may try to target the Adamant again, while it's being repaired. There are checkpoints--three deep--isolating this segment of Ring 4 from the rest of the Foundry, and additional stormtroopers stationed a critical points onboard the Adamant.

---

After passing another checkpoint of Stormtroopers at the Adamant's portside main hatch, Lt. Donenq leads you through corridors swarming with techs and repair drones on a circuitous route to the security office. He apologizes for the inefficient path, saying: "I'm sorry we can't take a more direct route. Several of the ship's major passageways were breached, and some are currently in vacuum while the hull is being repaired."

Finally he leads you into a large office heavily fortified behind substantial blast doors. The room is mostly circular, with consoles around the periphery facing inwards towards a large holo projector that dominates the center of the room. Currently shown on the projector is a frozen image of one of the Adamant's external cameras. The room has sufficient working space for over a dozen, but the room is empty other than an Ensign standing next to the holo projector. He salutes crisply when you come in, saying: "Lieutenant, the footage you requested has been queued and is ready for display." Lt. Donenq nods and closes the blast doors, isolating the room from the bustle of the corridor, replying: "Very good Ensign, please start the playback."

The Ensign nods at the Lieutenant then turns towards your group: "When the battle began, the Adamant was assisting a Local Defense Force gunship with a customs enforcement action against a commercial freighter. The freighter's crew was arrested and was being processed in our detention center, with interrogations scheduled for later that day. The crew of the gunship was also on board, temporarily housed in one of our mess halls, and the Admiral was scheduled to meet with the gunship's senior officers. Before that could happen, six more Local Defense Force gunships emerged from hyperspace and opened fire."

On the holoprojector the image unfreezes, and just as the Ensign has narrated, six small, blocky-looking capital ships can be seen emerging from hyperspace at close range, unleashing a wave of unsynchronized turbolaser fire.

Spoiler: Note for TH-30

Show

The ships seen in the image are Lantillian Cruisers, a locally-produced variant of the Corellian Gunship. Unlike most capital ships, the Correllian Gunship mounts its turbolasers individually, rather than in batteries. Based on the visual evidence of uncoordinated fire, you can surmise that the turbolasers on the Lantillian Cruiser variant are similarly configured. You do notice one difference: most Correllian Gunships mount Double Turbolasers, but these local ships appear to instead mount a smaller number of Quad Turbolasers.

The Ensign continues: "We're not set up here in the security center for a tactical review of the battle, so I've sped up the remaining footage, choosing exterior cameras with some of the more notable viewpoints.

The holoprojector shows a professional-quality montage of exterior footage. A tactical analysis is difficult without records from a tactical plot, but the footage shows how the gunships wore down the Adamant's shields with turbolaser fire, before firing a barrage of capital antiship missiles that rock the larger ship. After the missiles hit, return fire from the Adamant slows to a trickle, and the four still-operational gunships close in for boarding.

"The damage from the missiles was nearly catastrophic. Although they avoided shooting the reactor, the hull was breached in numerous places, and cascading system failures left many unbreached areas with limited or no power or life-support. The detention center lost main power, but cameras that were still getting auxiliary power captured enough images to indicate a coordinated breakout by the captured freighter crew. I've taken the liberty of compiling the best vantage points, but we're also assembling a complete records of all the still-operating cameras in that section of the ship for you to review later.

The external images are replaced with internal views showing darkened corridors with flickering emergency lighting. Hand-to-hand fighting with Imperial Troopers is visible in the early footage, but usually at the edge of a frame or at long distance--none of the vantage points are ideal. Once the prisoners gets their hands on the Trooper's blasters, the conflict switches to a firefight, with the Imperial Troopers on the losing end.

"When the boarding alarm sounded many of the Imperial Troopers stationed in the detention center moved to their assigned anti-boarding duty stations in other sections of the ship. It is unknown how the prisoners got out of their cells--with the power out there should have been no way to open them--but once they did they were able to surprise and overwhelm the remaining troopers. Our internal analysis suggests that the prisoners were mostly non-combatants, but that among the crew were several with significant weapons training who lead the breakout. Under normal circumstances, even prisoners who manage to take control of the detention block would find themselves trapped behind impenetrable blast doors. In this case, however, they managed to bypass the door. We only have indirect footage, but I believe this part may be of the most interest to you."

The holoprojector shows an almost featureless, dark image. Suddenly the image is indirectly illuminated by bright blue-white light coming from outside of the camera's field of view. You can see that you're looking at the detention block's control center, with both main and emergency lighting completely non-functional. The blue-white glow is coming from the direction where the blast door normally is. As you watch a series of molten-metal sparks come flying into the camera's field of view, looking like the byproduct of a welding torch.

The Ensign continues: "Meanwhile, a small number of enemy troops were boarding the Adamant through the hull breaches. What they lacked in numbers, they made up for in firepower. With shipboard communications down, power erratic, and life-support problems dominating much of the crew's attention, we were unable to repel the boarders."

The holoprojector shows boarders in bulky spacesuits encountering a larger number of Imperial Troopers at what should have been a defensible chokepoint. Instead, the intruders fire some kind of missiles from launchers built-in to their suits, which not only incinerate the chokepoint, but also blow outwards through the hull. The few imperial survivors are sucked out into space, along with the security camera itself, whose vantage point suddenly stops as its cabling is ripped out of the wall by the force of the decompression.

Spoiler: Note for Acina and TH-30

Show

Although the boarders are not wearing Imperial-issue gear, both of you note similarities to the Space Trooper armor worn by Zero-gravity stormtroopers. The standard armament of those suits includes miniature proton-torpedo launchers, which appear to be the weapons employed against the chokepoint.

"Two of the boarding groups headed for the detention center. We can infer that they met up with the escaped prisoners several corridor junctions away from the detention center, but unfortunately there were no cameras in that section functional at the time. They were in that area and out of sight of cameras for over ten minutes, and we are unsure what they were doing during that time. Afterwards, the boarders cut a path to the nearest airlock, destroying the troopers defending it, and overriding the controls. One of the gunships then moved to dock with that lock, and extracted the boarders and the escaped prisoners.

The other two groups of boarders split up, with one heading towards the mess hall where the gunship crew was waiting. They easily defeated the troopers watching over the crew, and escorted their comrades to an airlock that the second group of boarders had already secured, and where a gunship was docked and waiting. While the crew was being evacuated several of the boarders mounted an assault towards the bridge, but we believe this was a successful diversion to distract defensive resources--they retreated as soon as their comrades were safe."

The holoprojector shows a montage of out-gunned Imperial Troopers trying to defend the main access point to the bridge, and the resulting confusion (and relief) when the assailants retreat rather than pressing their attack.

"We don't know whether the attackers planned to destroy the Adamant after departing. The Panther and the rest of the Imperial Sector Fleet arrived nearby, and the surviving gunships fled. They fired several more missiles, but not at the Adamant--instead they fired at, and destroyed, the two wrecks of the gunships that the Adamant had been able to take down before being overwhelmed.

[RandomLunatic]

Siefel watched the holos impassively. When it was done, he asked, "And what became of the freighter in all this mess?"

[Xetheral]

The Ensign flushes slightly, caught off-guard by the question. "I'm... I'm sorry Sir, but I don't know." He turns to Lt. Donenq, asking: "Sir, might you have been briefed on the disposition of the freighter?"

The Lieutenant considers a moment, before answering: "Officially, the Adamant was assisting with a customs enforcement, so I would presume it got turned over to the locals to be impounded, but I don't know for sure. Unofficially, bringing aboard the entire crew of the gunship undertaking the customs action is hardly typical, but whether or not that affected the ultimate disposition of the freighter is above my pay grade. Lt. Commander Malt would be able to answer that question, and is available on the bridge to meet with you at your convenience, Sir."

[RandomLunatic]

Giving no reaction to their professed ignorance, Siefel plowed onward. "Then I'll need that list of prisoners I asked for. Were there any prisoners in custody before the Adamant went to assist the local vessel?"

After some thought, he added, "I'll also need a list of all personnel classified as 'Missing in Action' from this raid."

He turned hsi focus on the young Ensign. "These holos. Can you overlay the positions of all working security cameras and troops?"

[Xetheral]

It's readily apparent that the Ensign was specifically assigned to compile the holo-footage (and is presumably quite skilled at the task, given the short period of time he had to assemble this presentation), but is not otherwise particularly well-informed.

Accordingly, Lieutenant Donenq fields the follow-up questions. "I will have the list of prisoners assembled and provided to you as soon as possible. The primary computers in the detention block were destroyed in the breakout, but we can retrieve the list from the automated backups. I do know that there were no other prisoners at the time--as the fleet flagship the Adamant does not often have prisoners aboard. I will also get you the MIA list. If I remember correctly there are 39 MIA, all of whom were in areas that suffered hull breeches either during the missile attack or during the subsequent boarding."

The direct question to the Ensign receives another slightly-panicked look, but the Ensign swallows and manages an articulate reply: "I'm sorry Sir, the individual camera feeds are tagged with corridor numbers, but I have no way to automatically cross-reference the corridor numbers to our internal schematics to create the requested overlay. With a large enough team I could do it manually, Sir, but it could take days to create that kind of graphic, Sir. And that's just for the cameras. Reconstructing troop movements would be harder, Sir, as those aren't logged in a database--we'd have to take the list of movement orders that were issued during the fight, and then check unit reports and what camera evidence we have to see where those orders were successfully executed, and where our troops were impeded by damage to the ship or enemy action, Sir."

Spoiler: Note for TH-30

Show

It might take these humans days, but you're a whole lot better at this than they are. With access to the raw data camera data and a full ship's schematic, you suspect you could plot the available camera positions in just a few hours, or maybe up to half a day if the location tags on the cameras aren't sufficiently precise. As the Ensign says, however, adding troop movements to such a graphic would be much more complicated, and the quality and accuracy of the eventual result would depend heavily on the completeness of the available records made during the battle.

[BananaPhone]

Acina Dro

Acina watched the events unfold over the holoprojector, with the Lieutenants commentary filling in the blanks for anything she could not discern for herself visually.

Everything was far too convenient for her. As the Lieutenant said, sending a heavy cruiser to detain the crew of a mere freighter for a customs dispute?

Then soon after, six gunships that should have been with the Local Defense Force, hop out of hyperspeed at just right position to ambush the Adamant just enough so that they could board it. And when they did board the vessel, they knew exactly where to go, when to go and how to go and when to leave.

Furthermore, the gunship crew was being held in a mess hall, a rather unconventional holding place - yet the boarders knew where they were.

And Acina was to believe that such a pin-point operation could be pulled off by outsiders on the fly, with no inside knowledge or help?

"Lieutenant, I want a comm analysis of all communications traffic sent to and from the Adamant from the moment the freighters crew was apprehended, as well as from the area in general. I also want a personnel manifest, including who has been accounted for, who went MIA and who was KIA, and I want this cross-checked with all crew members who have access to any form of communications."

[AvatarVecna]

TH-30 was eyeing the footage, gauging the skill of the ensign responsible. For a slapped-together presentation it was better than he had truly expected from someone so green - did the Ensign have significant training or a previous interest in such things, or was the presentation less improvised than it had been made out to be? Certainly the broad strokes of the battle presented were plagued with coincidences in the enemy's favor. Then...

The direct question to the Ensign receives another slightly-panicked look, but the Ensign swallows and manages an articulate reply: "I'm sorry Sir, the individual camera feeds are tagged with corridor numbers, but I have no way to automatically cross-reference the corridor numbers to our internal schematics to create the requested overlay. With a large enough team I could do it manually, Sir, but it could take days to create that kind of graphic, Sir. And that's just for the cameras. Reconstructing troop movements would be harder, Sir, as those aren't logged in a database--we'd have to take the list of movement orders that were issued during the fight, and then check unit reports and what camera evidence we have to see where those orders were successfully executed, and where our troops were impeded by damage to the ship or enemy action, Sir."

TH-30 turns to face Acina's direction. "If this will assist our investigation significantly, I can set myself to the task of cross-referencing and graphic creation. Clarifying camera positions and points-of-view in the overlay shouldn't take too long, although adding troop movements would be more difficult. The accuracy of the available information would be the greatest obstacle to such efforts, but given access to their systems for a day I could get done what's possible and determine the accuracy for myself. Your call, sir."

The obvious additional benefit was left unspoken: with full access to their systems for a day, if there were any digital signs of treachery or deception to uncover, TH-30 would be able to do so.

[Xetheral]

While Acina and TH-30 discuss options, the Lieutenant goes to one of the consoles, and begins pulling up information. When there is a lull in the conversation, he interjects:

"Sirs, I have the personnel reports you asked for. There were 421 KIA, and 39 MIA. Of those killed, twelve had access to general communications, including two com specialists on the bridge who were killed when their console overloaded, and ten TIE pilots who have access to ship-to-ship communications on their fighters--four managed to launch and were shot down, the other six died when the main hangar took a hit. The rest of the KIA, and all of the MIA, were troopers, engineering, and support personnel, none of whom had access to general communications. Some of the trooper officers and more senior personnel had access to the automated distress call system, but that system wasn't activated until after the battle started, at which point the enemy cruisers had jammed our communications anyway. The list of wounded who had access to the general communications systems is much longer. Would you like that list as well?

The communication records themselves cannot be accessed with my clearance level--the commanding officer can assist you with that, or any of the bridge communications staff. It is my understanding, however, that not even they have access to the Admiral's communication records--you may need to contact his staff on the Panther to see the Admiral's logs from when he was onboard."

[RandomLunatic]

Siefel nodded at the droid. "Get the camera overlay first, then start adding the troops."

Then he turned to the lieutenat. "Take me to see the the lieutenant commander now."

[BananaPhone]

Acina Dro


Acina listened to the Lieutenant's response to her request, a simple nod at the end the only sign that she was absorbing anything that he said.

"Yes, please transfer them to TH-30 here," she requested, gesturing to the droid as she thought about how the terrorist cell was so well informed, practiced and operated at such precision while acting on such short term notice. It'd be impressive even for Imperial Storm commandos to achieve such a feat.

"Analyse the data TH-30 and present a list of potential candidates..." Acina did not have to continue further to relay her suspicions to the droid: she believed there was a mole on board the ship and it sent out a message to the terrorist cell when some of its VIPs were apprehended on the detained freighter.

[Xetheral]

Adamant, Security Command Center

The Lieutenant hands the Ensign a code cylinder, and the Ensign moves quickly to set up TH-30 with access. (TH-30 now has legitimate access to the Adamant's central computer as if it was a Senior Lieutenant.)

Spoiler: Options for TH-30

Show

Once you've downloaded the data, you have several options for where to perform the requested analysis. The fastest option would be to program the Adamant's computer to do most of the grunt work--it's not as intelligent as you are, but it has a lot more parallel processing capability than you do. The downside to this approach is that your results would be visible to others with access to the Adamant's systems. You could instead segregate part of the network, but commandeering the necessary resources and then sealing them off will be evident to just about every systems tech on the ship. Still, they aren't likely to object.

Alternatively, for more privacy, you could move the data to the Asanguire and perform the calculation there. That ship doesn't have nearly the same amount of processing power as the Adamant, but while it's docked a higher fraction of its available processing time is unused. You estimate it would take about 50% longer to complete the analysis using the Asanguire than it would using the Adamant.

Finally, you're no typical droid, and you could perform all of the grunt work on your own internal processor. You estimate this would take about twice as long as making use of the Adamant.

In all three cases you wouldn't need to babysit your programs--once they're set up you can catch up with the group while the analysis runs in the background. (You'd lose your Scomp link EQ bonus if you're on the move, but keep the overlapping Friendly/Helpful EQ bonus, so it's basically a wash.)

Both ships have an INT 18, a 19 Will defense, and start at Friendly. With your skill bonus improving access to helpful would be automatic, but also is not necessary--whether or not do so is your call.

Please make a Use Computer check to perform the analysis. You can't fail--the check result is simply to see whether you manage to beat your time estimate or produce an unusually high-quality result. Accordingly, please indicate whether TH-30 is emphasizing speed or quality or going for an even mix.

If you want to do anything else while you are in the Adamant's system, please let me know.

The Lieutenant then makes a very brief comm call informing the bridge that he's on his way. He address the inquisitors, saying: "If you would please follow me, I will take you to see the Lt. Commander."

---

Adamant, Bridge

The Vindicator-class Heavy Cruiser is an older model of Imperial Ship, and lacks the sunken control stations seen on Imperial Star Destroyers. Still, the bridge for a ship this large is quite substantial, with over two dozen crew manning their stations. There are also a few repair technicians evident, repairing damaged consoles. It doesn't appear the bridge took any direct battle damage, but did suffer from power surges that destroyed equipment and caused casualties.

Lt. Commander Lawrence Malt, captain of the Adamant and until-recently the Flag Captain of the Imperial Sector Fleet (he lost that designation when the Admiral moved his flag to the Panther), is an imposing human man well over 2 meters in height. You would estimate he's in his 40's. He greets the group of Inquisitors deferentially, and leads you to his small office adjacent to the bridge. In addition to the captain's desk there is a small conference table that seats 6. He takes a seat in his chair behind his desk and invites you to take a seat at the table if you wish. Finally, he thanks and excuses Lt. Donenq, who closes the door as he leaves. "Now then," says Lt. Commander Malt, "I'm not surprised the Inquisition has taken an interest, but I am surprised to see so large a group. I can only infer that the attack on my ship is even more significant than I realized. Please, tell me how I can best be of service to you." He seems earnest and friendly, but it's evident that he's tired and under a great deal of stress trying to deal with the aftermath of the crippling attack on his ship.

[RandomLunatic]

"This affair has piqued the interest of some very important individuals. Needless to say, failure to produce results will be very unpleasant," Siefel said as he took a seat, then folded his hands on the table in front of him and looked Malt in the eyes.

"It's obvious this attack was planned well in advance. On question remaining is if it was meant for the Imperial Navy in general, or if the Adamant was specifically targeted.

"Who would have known the vessel's position?"

[AvatarVecna]

Spoiler: Options for TH-30

Show

Once you've downloaded the data, you have several options for where to perform the requested analysis. The fastest option would be to program the Adamant's computer to do most of the grunt work--it's not as intelligent as you are, but it has a lot more parallel processing capability than you do. The downside to this approach is that your results would be visible to others with access to the Adamant's systems. You could instead segregate part of the network, but commandeering the necessary resources and then sealing them off will be evident to just about every systems tech on the ship. Still, they aren't likely to object.

Alternatively, for more privacy, you could move the data to the Asanguire and perform the calculation there. That ship doesn't have nearly the same amount of processing power as the Adamant, but while it's docked a higher fraction of its available processing time is unused. You estimate it would take about 50% longer to complete the analysis using the Asanguire than it would using the Adamant.

Finally, you're no typical droid, and you could perform all of the grunt work on your own internal processor. You estimate this would take about twice as long as making use of the Adamant.

In all three cases you wouldn't need to babysit your programs--once they're set up you can catch up with the group while the analysis runs in the background. (You'd lose your Scomp link EQ bonus if you're on the move, but keep the overlapping Friendly/Helpful EQ bonus, so it's basically a wash.)

Both ships have an INT 18, a 19 Will defense, and start at Friendly. With your skill bonus improving access to helpful would be automatic, but also is not necessary--whether or not do so is your call.

Please make a Use Computer check to perform the analysis. You can't fail--the check result is simply to see whether you manage to beat your time estimate or produce an unusually high-quality result. Accordingly, please indicate whether TH-30 is emphasizing speed or quality or going for an even mix.

If you want to do anything else while you are in the Adamant's system, please let me know.

TH-30's chest cavity opens up and his inquisitor team gets to work. He has four of them assist him on the programming, while the fifth is sent to scout out the other ship - since it has a commlink, he can get it to manually check on camera locations within the Adamant to see if they match up properly with records. It shouldn't be necessary, given access to the schematics and being able to cross-reference everything, but since he's got the extra eyes, may as well put them to work triple-checking.

The first bit of work will be getting the camera positions verified and added to the graphics. It shouldn't be difficult work, merely tedious, so he rushes this part of the job a bit in order to get to the harder part: troop movements and orders. Here, TH-30 is going to take his time getting everything properly sorted. If this takes longer than expected, that's fine since it's just a bit extra utility for the graphic. This also gives him an official excuse to request access to all communications that took place anytime even close to the time of the battle, under the pretense of meticulously placing every since person on the ship that he can. That it allows him to discover any potentially-encrypted messages from spies, or possibly find echoes of deleted messages still lingering in the system, is a happy coincidental side-effect.

[Xetheral]

Adamant, Bridge (Captain's Office)

Malt blinks at the none-too-veiled threat, but otherwise keeps his composure. He frowns as he considers the question, thinking. "Our involvement in the customs enforcement action was not planned ahead of time. Or at least, if the Admiral did plan it ahead of time, he didn't inform me or my crew. He sent me a terse order to "assist" the LDF cruiser-- whether they wanted the help or not--and to board both ships in the process and detain the crews. I know that he's been worried about corruption in the LDF for some time, so the order wasn't entirely out of the blue, but I did not know when, where, or even if he would actually take direct action. Accordingly, it seems unlikely to me that anyone outside the Admiral's staff could have had advance knowledge of where the Adamant would be."

He thinks for a moment, before adding: "That said, once we moved to intervene, the Adamant's position was obvious to both the freighter and the LDF cruiser, and both were sending messages. The LDF cruiser even sent out a distress call at one point, claiming they were under attack by the Empire. My men got it turned off quickly, but it would have been widely heard."

He finishes his reply with a bit of analysis: “So if the attack was planned ahead of time, the rebel cruisers would have needed to be waiting on standby. That’s definitely possible—there was over 90 minutes between when we joined the enforcement action and when the attack begun, and with a well-trained crew that’s enough time to bring the ship to full readiness and update an attack plan. I agree that advance planning makes the most sense--the attack was too well-executed to be a spur-the-moment assault for anyone short of elite forces.”

[Xetheral]

TH-30, Adamant, Security Command Center

Spoiler: Initial Results for TH-30

Show

In its role as a fleet command ship, the Adamant's communications logs are segregated between normal ship communications and flag communications. You have access to the metadata of both, including message origin, destination, and duration, but you only have access to the content of the normal ship communications. The content of the flag communications are encrypted, and by design the Adamant's computer does not possess the encryption key. Although this is high-level imperial encryption, you know from experience that you could break it easily. Doing so, however, might have political ramifications, so it might be preferable for one of the Senior Inquisitors to simply ask the Admiral for access.

Your initial review reveals the following off-ship communications that began or continued within three hours of the Adamant's intervention in the customs enforcement action (in chronological order by start of transmission):

1. (SHIP) Outbound full-holo communication from officer's lounge to a commercial communications facility on Brentaal IV, logged as a personal communication by a junior gunnery officer. Transmission begins 187 minutes prior to the Adamant's intervention, and lasted 15 minutes.
2. (SHIP) Outbound full-holo communication from officer's lounge to the KDY orbital shipyard at Kuat, logged as a personal communication by a senior engineering officer. Transmission begins 172 minutes prior to the Adamant's intervention in the customs enforcement action, and lasted 15 minutes.
3. (SHIP) Outbound full-holo communication from officer's lounge to a commercial communications facility on Coruscant, logged as a personal communication by a junior bridge officer. Transmission begins 157 minutes prior to the Adamant's intervention in the customs enforcement action, and lasted 15 minutes.
4. (FLAG) Inbound data transmission from Windward to flag office, starting 154 minutes prior to Adamant's intervention and lasting 0 minutes. (ENCRYPTED)
5. (SHIP) Outbound full-holo communication from officer's lounge to a commercial communications facility on Tinnel IV, logged as a personal communication by a junior gunnery officer. Transmission begins 142 minutes prior to the Adamant's intervention in the customs enforcement action, and lasted 15 minutes.
6. (SHIP) Outbound full-holo communication from officer's lounge to an Imperial government facility on Coruscant, logged as a personal communication by a junior gunnery officer. Transmission begins 127 minutes prior to the Adamant's intervention in the customs enforcement action, and lasted 15 minutes.
7. (FLAG) Outbound voice transmission from flag office to Windward hangar bay, starting 114 minutes prior to Adamant's intervention and lasting 3 minutes. (ENCRYPTED)
8. (SHIP) Outbound full-holo communication from officer's lounge to Bar'leth University, logged as a personal communication by two junior engineering officers. Transmission begins 112 minutes prior to the Adamant's intervention in the customs enforcement action, and lasted 30 minutes.
9. (SHIP) Inbound voice transmission from Windward hangar bay to hangar bay, starting 111 minutes prior to Adamant's intervention and lasting 7 minutes. (discussing TIE fighter spare parts availability)
10. (SHIP) Outbound full-holo communication from officer's lounge to a commercial communications facility on Corellia, logged as a personal communication by a junior security officer. Transmission begins 82 minutes prior to the Adamant's intervention in the customs enforcement action, and lasted 15 minutes.
11. (SHIP) Outbound full-holo communication from officer's lounge to a commercial communications facility on Coruscant, logged as a personal communication by a senior navigation officer. Transmission begins 67 minutes prior to the Adamant's intervention in the customs enforcement action, and lasted 15 minutes.
12. (SHIP) Outbound full-holo communication from officer's lounge to a commercial communications facility on Ator, logged as a personal communication by a junior engineering officer. Transmission begins 52 minutes prior to the Adamant's intervention in the customs enforcement action, and lasted 15 minutes.
13. (SHIP) Outbound full-holo communication from officer's lounge to the Imperial Senate building on Coruscant, logged as a personal communication by a junior flag staff officer. Transmission begins 37 minutes prior to the Adamant's intervention in the customs enforcement action, and lasted 15 minutes.
14. (SHIP) Outbound full-holo communication from officer's lounge to a commercial communications facility on Danteel, logged as a personal communication by a senior bridge officer. Transmission begins 22 minutes prior to the Adamant's intervention in the customs enforcement action, and lasted 12 minutes.
15. (FLAG) Outbound full-holo communication between flag office and Moff Horstaad's (the system governor) office, beginning 14 minutes prior to the Adamant's intervention, and lasting for 113 minutes. (ENCRYPTED)
16. (SHIP) Shipwide announcement: general quarters sounded 10 minutes prior to the Adamant's intervention
17. (FLAG) Outbound voice communication from flag office to Panther, Windward, Bolt, and Streak, starting 8 minutes prior to Adamant's intervention and lasting 2 minutes. (ENCRYPTED)
18. (SHIP) Outbound voice communication from bridge to commercial freighter Icy Zephyr and LDFS Grunheid, starting 0 minutes after Adamant's intervention and lasting 30 seconds. (announcing assistance and order to stand down)
19. (SHIP) Inbound voice communication from LDFS Grunheid to bridge, starting 2 minutes after Adamant's intervention and lasting 4 minutes. (protesting assistance)
20. (SHIP) Outbound voice communication from bridge to Boarding Shuttle 1 and Boarding Shuttle 2, starting 6 minutes after Adamant's intervention and lasting 1 minute. (issuing order for boarding)
21. (SHIP) Inbound voice communication from LDFS Grunheid to bridge, starting 7 minutes after Adamant's intervention and lasting 2 minutes. (protesting assistance and inbound boarding shuttle)
22. (SHIP) Inbound voice communication from LDFS Grunheid to bridge, starting 9 minutes after Adamant's intervention, connection refused, no duration.
23. (SHIP) Inbound voice communication from LDFS Grunheid to bridge, starting 9 minutes after Adamant's intervention, connection refused, no duration.
24. (SHIP) Inbound voice communication from LDFS Grunheid to bridge, starting 10 minutes after Adamant's intervention, connection refused, no duration.
25. (SHIP) Inbound voice communication from Boarding Shuttle 1 to bridge, starting 21 minutes after Adamant's intervention and lasting 3 minutes. (reporting commencement of boarding Icy Zephyr)
26. (SHIP) Inbound voice communication from Boarding Shuttle 2 to bridge, starting 10 minutes after Adamant's intervention and lasting 2 minutes. (querying how to reply to direct contact from LDFS Grunheid, received orders to ignore contact and proceed)
27. (FLAG) Inbound full-holo communication from Lantillian Speaker's office to flag office, starting 22 minutes after Adamant's intervention and lasting 77 minutes. (ENCRYPTED)
28. (SHIP) Inbound voice communication from Boarding Shuttle 2 to bridge, starting 25 minutes after Adamant's intervention and lasting 1 minute. (reporting commencement of boarding LDFS Grunheid)
29. (SHIP) Inbound Distress Call from LDFS Grunheid, beginning 26 minutes after the Adamant's intervention and lasting 7 minutes.
30. (SHIP) Outbound voice communication from bridge to Boarding Shuttle 2, starting 26 minutes after the Adamant's intervention and lasting 0 minutes (ordering disabling of distress call)
31. (SHIP) Inbound voice communication from Panther to bridge, starting 27 minutes after Adamant's intervention and lasting 4 minutes. (inquiring about distress call)
32. (SHIP) Inbound voice communication from Boarding Shuttle 1 to bridge, starting 28 minutes after Adamant's intervention and lasting 1 minutes. (reporting Icy Zephyr secure)
33. (SHIP) Inbound voice communication from Boarding Shuttle 2 to bridge, starting 34 minutes after Adamant's intervention and lasting 0 minutes. (reporting success disabling distress call and LDFS Grunheid secure)
34. (SHIP) Inbound voice communication from Boarding Shuttle 1 to hangar bay, starting 41 minutes after Adamant's intervention and lasting 3 minutes. (docking protocol)
35. (SHIP) Inbound voice communication from Boarding Shuttle 2 to hangar bay, starting 44 minutes after Adamant's intervention and lasting 3 minutes. (docking protocol)
36. (SHIP) Inbound voice communication from Boarding Shuttle 1 to bridge, starting 58 minutes after Adamant's intervention and lasting 1 minutes. (reporting redocking with Icy Zephyr)
37. (SHIP) Inbound voice communication from Boarding Shuttle 2 to bridge, starting 59 minutes after Adamant's intervention and lasting 0 minutes. (reporting redocking with LDFS Grunheid)
38. (FLAG) Outbound voice communication from flag office to Boarding Shuttle 1, starting 70 minutes after Adamant's intervention and lasting 10 minutes. (ENCRYPTED)
39. (SHIP) Inbound voice communication from Boarding Shuttle 2 to hangar bay, starting 74 minutes after Adamant's intervention and lasting 3 minutes. (docking protocol)
40. (SHIP) Inbound voice communication from Boarding Shuttle 2 to bridge, starting 94 minutes after Adamant's intervention and lasting 0 minutes. (reporting redocking with LDFS Grunheid)
41. (FLAG) Outbound voice communication from flag office to Boarding Shuttle 2, starting 95 minutes after Adamant's intervention and lasting 4 minutes. (ENCRYPTED)
42. (SHIP) Outbound voice communication from bridge to Panther, starting 99 minutes after Adamant's intervention, transmission failed, no duration.
43. (SHIP) Outbound Distress Call, starting 100 minutes after Adamant's intervention and lasting 23 minutes.
44. (SHIP) Inbound voice communication from Panther to bridge, starting 123 minutes after Adamant's intervention and lasting 12 minutes. (reporting arrival on-scene and coordinating securing the combat zone)
45. (SHIP) Outbound voice communication from hangar bay to TIE Squadron 1 and TIE Squadron 2, starting 124 minutes after Adamant's intervention and lasting 1 minutes. (ordering docking with Windward instead of Adamant)
46. (SHIP) Outbound voice communication from bridge to Boarding Shuttle 2, starting 124 minutes after Adamant's intervention, transmission failed, no duration.
47. (SHIP) (Multiple) Inbound acknowledgements from TIE Squadron 1 and TIE Squadron 2, starting 124 minutes after Adamant's intervention and lasting 1 minutes.
48. (SHIP) Outbound voice communication from damage control to Streak, starting 125 minutes after Adamant's intervention and lasting beyond end of queried period. (coordinating docking and damage control efforts)
49. (SHIP) Outbound voice communication from bridge to Boarding Shuttle 1, starting 125 minutes after Adamant's intervention and lasting 4 minutes. (status update, boarding team was on Icy Zephyr during battle and is safe)
50. (SHIP) Outbound voice communication from bridge to TIE Fighter NL1064, starting 127 minutes after Adamant's intervention and lasting 3 minutes. (captain praising pilot for getting out of range of jammers and contacting Panther)
51. (FLAG) Outbound full-holo communication from flag office to TIE Fighter NL1064, starting 132 minutes after Adamant's intervention and lasting 2 minutes. (ENCRYPTED)
52. (SHIP) Outbound full-holo communication from bridge to Lantillian Shipwrights, starting 133 minutes after Adamant's intervention and lasting 15 minutes. (discussing immediate material needs and requesting repair tugs)
53. (FLAG) Outbound full-holo communication from flag office to Imperial Command, starting 170 minutes after Adamant's intervention and lasting beyond end of queried period. (ENCRYPTED)

Notes:

• A quick review of the personal communications does not suggest anything concerning.
• If you would like to review the contents of any of the (SHIP) communications in more depth, please let me know.
• I think this list is internally consistent. If you spot an anomaly (e.g. messages out of order), please let me know so I can double-check.
• Your search for hidden and deleted messages continues.

[RandomLunatic]

"So taking the cruiser's crew on board wasn't their idea? Is this normal procedure?" Siefel asked.

[BananaPhone]

Acina Dro


Acina greeted the Lt. Commander with a simple nod, her demeanour rather impassive.

Listening quietly to what the man had to say for the lead up of the attack on the ship, Acina was standing near a window and peering out across the bridge of the ship, her mind suspecting a mole on board - it could be one of the very crew present in that room right now, hands on the vital implements of the ships nervous system.

"Are the local rebels known to have exhibited such...exemplary training, expertise and coordination?" Acina asked, still peering through the view-port into the bridge.

"Your ship would also include an internal security division that would possess a counter-intelligence unit: have they reported any suspicious activity in the lead up to the attack?"

[Xetheral]

Adamant, Bridge (Captain's Office)

Responding to Siefel, Lt. Commander Malt responds: "No, taking the cruiser's crew aboard was highly irregular. My understanding is that the Admiral suspects that the LDF is being bribed to smuggle goods past Imperial Customs, and is using phony customs enforcement actions as a cover for moving the illicit cargo. The boarding crews didn't find anything obviously incriminating, but the searches were ongoing at the time of the attack."

Responding to Acina, Malt responds: "The attack was the first indication that there are rebel elements in this sector, so I don't have any other incidents with which to compare their effectiveness. The Imperial Sector Fleet doesn't have a lot of interaction with the LDF, so I can't comment on their overall level of training. I remember hearing that the governor was concerned that their training was non-uniform and potentially deficient--I think he recently hired an instructor from out of the sector to help address those issues? It's important to note that the LDF is not a singular body: each planet operates their own fleet of cruisers with locally-hired crews, and the size of each planetary fleet is set by the Lantillian Assembly. Individual ships rotate between local duties, where they're primarily (ostensibly) engaged in customs enforcement to assist the overwhelmed Imperial Customs service, and serving as part of a fleet available to respond to problems throughout the sector. Given the lack of a cohesive command structure, it would not surprise me if the individual levels of training varied wildly in style and proficiency between the various planetary fleets."

"And no, there weren't any concerns raised by internal security prior to the Attack. The last such incident was almost a year ago, when a technician was found to be selling a tincture made from balo mushroom extract to the rest of the crew. He was arrested and sent out of the sector for trial. Off-hand I don't know what the sentence was, but I can search the records if you think it's important."

[RandomLunatic]

"Were any of the attackers identified? Either ships or personnel?" Siefel asked.

[Xetheral]

Adamant, Bridge (Captain's Office)

Lt. Commander Malt responds: "Not to my knowledge, but with the Adamant out of action for what appears to be months--or years--I've not been kept in the loop on the current status of the Admiral's investigation. He would have the most up-to-date information. My most-current information, sadly, involves engineering reports, materials schedules, and requisitions for replacement parts." He manages to keep his delivery professional, but from his sour tone it is clear the Lt. Commander is frustrated with the repair process.