Tag: conspiracy

#Lore 24 – Entry #98 – Sci-Fi Month II #7 – Potential Threats (Aboard Ship)

 

From Personal Logs of Gravius Scharaiden, Chief Security Officer, assigned UEF-04 Maharani Morgiana, decryption algorithm successful, translated from original Aerian script.

Clusterfuck doesn’t even begin to describe this stupidity.  I would prefer a clusterfuck to this any day.

Captain Silvercask has expressed his concerns to me about the personnel assignments aboard the ship.  I share these concerns.  He has tasked me with analyzing the personnel assigned and requested a report on possible security issues.  Guessing this will take a few hundred pages.  Copy of important details follow.

Report Summary, Highest Threats:

  • The Elves – Personal biases against elves aside, elves should always be considered suspect and treated with sufficient caution. Too many worked under DSM previously, many more are associated with the Great Houses in some way.  Always scheming, always plotting, always running long games to twist things to suit their whims.  Can’t trust any of them.  Reports of malfunctions and sabotage have come from previous UEF missions.  No proof, but makes sense that DSM wouldn’t take being left out of the ruling council lightly.  Always suspect elvish involvement.  See Section 2 for information on suspicious individuals.
  • Corporate Entanglements – The idea that multiple corporations could function together successfully was ludicrous. They like to spout cooperation and equality for the media, but each of them are vying for a bigger piece of the pie than the others.  Dozens if not hundreds of corporations of every size and type, too many possible dangers.
    1. Veylani Transport is in charge of the ASC; somehow that girl has managed to keep the top spot and pulled several other big names around her to keep her there. She’s romantically involved with a dark elf though, Fenrou Varmyrl, big name in their for-profit prisons, suspected he’s much more than that, though.  Likely she’s compromised, though partnership with the prison corp kept DSM away during hostile takeover attempt.
    2. A3 wants resources, and they want their people securing them. Dwarves are greedy, they’ll do whatever it takes to make sure they get first rights to mine whatever we come across.  Trust them to prioritize these resources over any other concerns, though it’s likely they’ll sacrifice others before any of the dwarves onboard; at least they still value loyalty to their own kind.  Hopefully they’ll start with the elves when it comes to sacrifices, at least.
    3. ASC – The Aphelion Station Council has become unstable. Lots of arguing since it expanded from the Big Three it was initially founded with.  Basically your typical nightmare bureaucracy now, composed of over a hundred entities.  Expect conflicting orders from the top.  They will test loyalties, try to extort compliance in some way or another.  Agree with shifting personnel around; some will need to be watched more closely.
  • Racial Tensions – Expect frequent arguments at least, violence more likely. Elves don’t get along with anyone, can barely stand each other.  Dwarves, orcs, and kobolds have long-running hatred that hasn’t died yet.  Kerryn, equinarians, and halflings are hard to provoke, but tend to band together against threats.  Ferians are loose cannons, likely to fly off the handle at the slightest provocation; watch the male ‘dogians and female ‘katians especially.  Aerians and orcs get along better than some, don’t expect two warrior societies to get along all the time, though.  Rattenvolk keep mostly to themselves and the bowels of the ship, so if sabotage is going to happen, they’re likely the ones to do the dirty work.  Gnomes are wildcards, can’t predict them.  Succubi will entangle themselves with whoever gives them the best offer, then try to manipulate others to their side. 
  • Religious Conflict – There is a reason aerians usually don’t have faith in the gods. They’re like anyone else, always squabbling, pushing conflicting beliefs.  Those serving the whore goddesses will cause trouble just by their nature, stoking passions and twisting people one way or another.  The Mausolians will seek death at any opportunity, wouldn’t trust their recommendations on most things; expect any sudden deaths and assassinations to be their fault.  Expect the orcs following their war god to want a fight whenever possible, even if peaceful solutions would be best; can’t really fault them there, always prefer a fight myself.  Wouldn’t even trust the followers of the librarian goddess not to cause problems, either; probably some militant ones there who will start trouble if they smell a secret to uncover. If any followers of Saressh happen to have a prophetic vision, though, might actually pay attention to that.  Studied history enough to know that goddess at least has an above average success rate on her predictions, so I guess maybe she’s not entirely useless.
  • Untested Tech – This ship’s an accident waiting to happen. Pushed it through trials too fast, too many hands have touched it during the refit.  Last shakedown had some issues that were supposedly being fixed, but don’t count on it.  That docking frame on the hull, that’s just asking for trouble; one ship goes up, and the rest of them are not far behind.  Don’t like the idea of those robot drones being onboard, either; haven’t been tested enough, still likely to suddenly develop a killing impulse like previous robotics; keep the AI on a short leash, or dump them into deep space the first chance we get. 
  • ASD – Can usually trust an arcanist more than a priest, not that that says much, but the Arcane Support Division is as big a mess as anything else. Too many ties to too many corporations, too many old loyalties, too many abrasive personalities.  Division lead, Tallfoot, she’s unstable; not sure how she managed the spot.  Guess maybe pickings were slim by now.  Lots of new blood, too many straight out of school to be counted on in a crisis.  They’ve got their own dress code; should be in uniforms like everyone else.  Special treatment is bad for everyone. 

 

Report continues…

 

#Lore24 – Entry #67 – Fantasy Month #7 – The Res’Taringal Rebellion

 

From the journal of Angeliqua “Goldeneyes” Cartacustos:

 

A broad topic, conspiracy, but I suppose I should give my thoughts on the most recent, most prominent example of such a thing.  I’m hardly an investigator, and I’m certainly not one for gossip, but there have been dozens passing through town and the library who have spoken of this, and when the Emperor’s officials are putting out decrees about the official version of events that run counter to what has come through whispered tales, then it certainly seems that a conspiracy is afoot.  Or perhaps, was, in this case.

Though the Emperor has decreed that none shall utter the name, for the entirety of the offending house has been…dissolved…and the matter settled, never to be spoken of again, the Library has already recorded many statements on what could be called the “Res’Taringal Rebellion”, several by my own hand.  All is not well within the Empire, it seems, and the fact that a powerful house was able to garner enough support to actually launch a serious rebellion speaks volumes unto itself. 

Though the truest nature of the Res’Taringal Rebellion has already become distorted through Imperial propaganda and faulty memories of those who heard the story second hand (at best), some details can be safely assumed to be true, based on historical precedent:

  • Located within the province of Hadria Augustus (which, due to its geography and available resources, made an excellent place to launch such a rebellion), House Res’Taringal had the clout to offer some opposition to the Emperor.  Well respected within the Senate, established through centuries of dedication to the Empire, trained in both military operations and political intrigues, and keenly aware of the rumblings of discontent, Victor and Vanessa Res’Taringal were perhaps the most suited to such a task.
  • In spite of the various groups supporting them, the Rebellion as a whole remained mostly an underground movement, as none would dare to oppose the Emperor openly, at least not in a way such as this. Disagreements over policy and debate on various topics are expected, but nothing on this scale.  One could rather safely assume that this Rebellion, though well planned, struck before the proper foundations had settled.  Were the Res’Taringals too ambitious, or did other factors force them to move too soon?
  • Fought in the name of Kerryn independence, and with great ambitions for a renewed and stronger, more compassionate Empire, the Rebellion, in my opinion, was doomed to fail from the start. The Emperor and his line have not maintained their grip on power for so long without good reason.  His resources are basically impossible tot match, and he has a firm grip on not only the general populace, but also several outlying powers, most prominently the orcs of the Badaxe clan.  Furthermore, the Res’Taringals failed to stir up the kerryns themselves; though they may have perhaps meant well, the kerryns must want to be free, and until that desire is sparked within them, it simply will not happen.  What would the point be, and how would the kerryns possibly understand how to even live with freedom when they have not done so for over two millennia now?  It will take a unifying figure, I think, from within the kerryn population itself, strong of will and personality, with great power, to break the chains binding their spirits. 

I imagine that it will be some time before another rebellion of this scale is tried, perhaps centuries.  The Res’Taringal name has been stricken from all records, their holdings dissolved amongst the loyal followers of the Emperor, and their line removed from existence, the leaders executed within the capital prisons.  Perhaps Felaria will live to see it, but I suspect I’ll have long been gone by then, the gods willing I live to see a ripe old age.

 

 

LORE24 ENTRY #8 – The Pteravilla Stalker Incident

Category – Event

In the months following the latest border dispute, after the hostilities had died down and peace had been restored, the scout ship Pteravilla Stalker was on a run of the mill patrol through the restricted area between the formerly feuding sectors, when their sensors picked up an unidentified ship, though the sensor readings were not conclusive, indicating some form of active jamming.  As the small scout ship approached the vessel, the bogey answered none of their communications, nor did it react at all to their approach.  The sensor readings were still not revealing much in the way of details of the ship, only that it resembled a stock DSM cargo ship, one of their “flying skyscraper” designs that showed all the hallmarks of the corporation’s lack of interesting design features.

According to the official report, filed by Captain Maerril following the incident, visual inspection confirmed that the ship showed no signs of damage, and power readings were still inconclusive due to what appeared to be a sensor dampening coating over the ship’s hull.  The vessel’s ID code was obtained and a search ran through the available databases, but no matches were found, and the search inquiry with DSM for registration information was lost in the midst of their vast bureaucracy.  Per the Captain (and with corroborating accounts from other surviving crewmembers), the Stalker‘s first officer, Shi Sukimori, insisted upon leading a small team into the mystery ship to determine the nature of the vessel.  Against the Captain’s better judgement, he was convinced by the commander to allow the mission.  With Sukimori in command, the boarding party consisted of the Stalker‘s co-pilot Kaylee Serra, technical officer Hilde Fireforge, medical officer Briar Azalvia, and the scout Murissa Fer’Ragnarra.

Communications were spotty once the team had boarded, and it is the Captain’s opinion that a properly thorough search was not performed.  Soon, and against Captain Maerril’s orders, Sukimori initiated the startup sequence for the mystery vessel, which resulted in a sudden power surge through the ship’s main power core which resulted in a catastrophic failure and subsequent explosion that heavily damaged the Pteravilla Stalker and resulted in the death of multiple crew members.  The crewmembers who managed to reach the escape pods and who survived the explosion were eventually picked up by another military vessel that had been dispatched to assist with the investigation.  Captain Maerill has admitted to bad judgement in this matter and has since resigned his commission, and is now employed in the private sector, as are the other survivors.  The members of the boarding party have been listed amongst the lost crew, but have been posthumously dishonorably discharged.  

The truth of the matter, however, is something else entirely.