Auf den ersten Blick deutet alles auf einen Angriff der Vanduul hin. Ein Comm-Relais hat eine kleine Gruppe Vanduul-Schiffe aufgezeichnet, die zum fraglichen Zeitpunkt auf dem Weg zu dem Planeten waren. Auch am Boden gibt es Spuren, dass kleinere Schiffe gelandet sind. Dazu kommt noch, dass die Besitztümer der Bewohner liegen gelassen wurden, wie zum Beispiel eine Sammlung an Sataball-Fan-Artikeln oder der gesamte Lebensmittelvorrat.
Die Agenten findet dann aber, als sie gerade die Untersuchung abschließen will, eine weggeworfene Packung Stims. Da die Gemeinschaft in dem Dorf sich zusammengefunden hat, um dem Übel der Stims zu entkommen, glaubt die Agentin nun, dass es sich um einen fast perfekt ausgeführten Plan handelt, die Bewohner zu kidnappen und womöglich zu versklaven. Ihr Vorgesetzter ist nicht hundertprozentig überzeugt, gibt ihr aber 24 Stunden, um weitere Beweise vorzulegen.
Hier der englische Originaltext:
CaseFile #EA-89549v
Advocacy Archive
ADVOCACY ARCHIVE
INTRA-AGENCY MESSAGES2946-03-06_13:04 SET
TO: SAC Douglas Grath
CC: SC Weston Klim, ASC Quentin Leeds
FROM: SA Marina Naves
RE: CaseFile #EA-89549v, Initial Assessment
Incident Report
At 2946-03-04_14:38 SET, local law enforcement in Nedila received a call from Maxwell Kenny (PersonalFile#ES4-78438-652). Kenny had traveled to a nearby settlement, located 213km SSW of Nedila and discovered that it had been under some kind of attack. He was there check in on the Estada family (Michael (38), Corene (37), Uli (17) and Madina (7)) who had not been heard from for several days after failing to attend his child's birthday party (on 2946-03-01). Kenny called out for any survivors before calling local authorities. Our office was contacted after local police conducted an initial sweep of the scene.
Threshold Assessment
2946-03-04_19:15 SET: I made my way to the settlement without reviewing the local investigation reports in an effort to maintain a fresh perspective of the scene. Circling the settlement from the air, I noted five residences and two water farms. Based on the arrangement of the buildings, it didn't seem that they were constructed to repel attacks. Three sets of scorch marks indicated that one to three small ships had recently landed and taken off nearby. Outside of the local comm tower, the buildings didn't appear to have sustained any damage from ship-borne weapons. Swept a search pattern away from the settlement to look for any other clues. Saw nothing, so I decided to land and continue on foot.
On the ground, buildings were damaged from prolonged small arms fire. Chem analysis of the burn patterns indicate plasma-based weapons were used. Moving through the buildings, it looked like some of the inhabitants barricaded themselves inside a reinforced room. More plasma-char were consistent with a breach. No bodies inside. Some blood spray across one of the walls; probably from an impact. Definitely not enough to be a lethal strike.
Moved between the ruins, seems one of the families collected Sataball memorabilia. I'm not a fan, but even I could tell that these items would fetch a small fortune, but they were left here.
Another curious detail, the communal storage for the settlement was filled with food supplements. Unlike the memorabilia, these supplements would be impossible to trace and easy to sell. Like the memorabilia, they were untouched.
Moved to the center of the settlement to take in the scene and review local law enforcement's assessments. Looking at the attack patterns, the angles of approach, the valuable resources abandoned, made me believe less and less that this was an attack by Humans.
I sent comms to the UEE Navy as I prepared my findings.
Summary
Received confirmation from the UEE Navy that border sensors from Leir had been tripped, scans indicate that a small Vanduul raiding party (two Scythes and another vessel) slipped into the system on 2946-03-01. This would validate the earlier theory that the attack was not perpetrated by Humans. This would suggest that the Vanduul strike originated from Vanguard and used the Leir jump point, undoubtedly avoiding the increased military presence along that front.
Without the bodies, it's difficult to ascertain whether they attacked the settlements for resources or to capture the inhabitants. I've collected all of my findings along with Personal Files for the nine missing persons and passed them along to Naval Intelligence.
Sincerely,
Marina Naves
Special Agent
Advocacy – Elysium System
2946-03-07_09:38 SET
TO: SA Marina Naves
CC: SC Weston Klim, ASC Quentin Leeds
FROM: SAC Douglas Grath
RE: CaseFile #EA-89549v, Initial Assessment
Special Agent Naves,
Thank you for your diligent work. Hopefully, the Navy will be able to find these poor people.
Best,
Douglas Grath
Special Agent in Charge
Advocacy – Elysium System
2946-03-08_21:23 SET
TO: SAC Douglas Grath
FROM: SA Marina Naves
RE: CaseFile #EA-89549v, Initial Assessment
SAC Grath,
Something about the raid outside of Nedila hasn't been sitting right with me. If you'll indulge this non sequitur for a few minutes, I'll explain.
There was a moment near the end of my investigation where I sat in the center of the settlement to take in the scene. It was a visualization technique I picked up from my TO back on my first assignment. While I was thinking over everything I had seen and gleaned from the impressions from the local police, I noticed a discarded Stim canister half-buried in the dirt by my feet.
It was the same brand I used back when I smoked. I kicked them five years ago, but there are times when I get that flash of impulse when I see one. When something is a habit for so long, it's hard not to instinctively slip back to that old, practiced behavior.
That night while writing my findings, I was reviewing the personal files of the victims and thought about the Stim again. I was a little disturbed by the effect it was having on me. I even thought I was slipping for a second.
It wasn't until tonight that I realized the connection.
Uli Estada had struggled with Kilos' Malady, which is an inflammation of the respiratory system that, in Uli's case, left him particularly vulnerable to toxins in the air. It was the reason the Estadas moved from Nedila in the first place.
I went back and recovered the initial comm exchange between Michael Estada and Lydia Swan (the previous owner of their house). It's attached for your review, but here's a transcript of the interesting part:
Michael Estada: … the climate sounds ideal. My oldest suffers from Kilos' so we have to be very careful about what kind of atmosphere he's living in.
Lydia Swan: I'm so sorry to hear that, but your oldest will benefit greatly here. Everyone who's moved out here is committed to clean living. It's a little unofficial thing we all signed up for a couple years ago. It's voluntary, more like a Better Living Club really.
Michael Estada: That sounds fun.
I've sent along the tenets of this community mandate. It was a basic health regimen, but one of the guidelines specifically forbade Stim use. To be sure, I ran an initial DNA scans of the Stim canister and it didn’t match any of the settlement’s inhabitants.
In short, sir, I think we're looking in the wrong place. I suspect everything from the ships in the border sensor image to the scene itself were arranged to look like a Vanduul attack and the discarded Stim was the only slip-up in an otherwise perfectly executed frame.
I would like to reopen the case to pursue this angle. If I'm right, then we have a slaver group operating within the UEE that is not only intelligent and efficient, but knowledgeable in evidence collection methods and investigation techniques. And if that's true, who knows how many abductions were incorrectly attributed to Vanduul attacks.
Sincerely,
Marina Naves
Special Agent
Advocacy – Elysium System
2946-03-08_21:52 SET
TO: SA Marina Naves
FROM: SAC Douglas Grath
RE: CaseFile #EA-89549v, Initial Assessment
Your connections sound tenuous at best, Marina, and we just received a report that three inmates were boosted from a holding facility in system, so my instinct is to assign you to that pursuit.
But for the sake of that family, I'll give you one day to change my mind.
Good hunting,
Douglas Grath
Special Agent in Charge
Advocacy – Elysium System
END EXCHANGE
Quelle: Comm-Link
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