Marvin relaxed on the large puffy sofa in his quarters. He blinked once and the panel on the wall opposite the sofa clicked on.
"This is the Edge News Network, ENN - The Greatest Name in News outside of the Colonies!" it blared.
"We have some very sad news to bring to you today. The radio and long range transmission silence from Omicron Minor was no mistake..." The speaker cut out and lower-resolution guncameras filled the screen. The scene was dark. Depressing. The normally green hue of Omicron Minor was a blood red. The picture then cut to a higher resolution video, zooming and focusing on a redened planetoid. Veins of lava crossed its surface and electrical storms lit up the upper atmosphere... The camera then panned and zoomed back out, a twisted and wrecked Osiris class Light Battleship, crushed and wedged into an asteroid.
Marvin stared aghast. This... was Omicron Minor... and Planet Toledo...
"They had no warning... the force of what all assume to be Nomad 'Battleships' was overwhelming and the Order apparently staged a last ditch defense of the planet... Radio contact with the underground colonies below the surface of Toledo were lost. The population is assumed dead -- the death count numbers at nearly a million souls..."
The broadcast panned over the surface of Toledo as the man spoke, and then cut back to the stuido...
Marvin was awestruck. The Zoner Early Warning Sattelite residing in the vicinity of Freeport 11 was of no help. It detected... nothing. He arose from the sofa with incredible vigor and slammed open the door to his office in replete anger... rage. He sat down in his chair hard, it squeaked underneath him - he flipped open the console and emergency status pinged his closest contact within the Order...
::::[ETS CODE ALPHA, 0666]::::
Emergency Access Verification Password: S - L - A - Y - E - R
Marvin was about to close the console... he sighed heavily but heard a faint, but high pitch beep... beep...
He flipped the screen up reassuringly... to see...
AUTOMATIC RESPONSE: CARRIER BASTET
CAPTAIN: Commander Kaylee Staite
SHIP: BASTET - Geb-CLASS ORDER CARRIER
LAST KNOWN LOCATION: OMICRON MINOR
STATUS: OPERATIONAL - FURTHER DETAILS UNKNOWN
Well, at least her ship is alive... he thought anxiously.
He leaned back in his chair, unsure, yet somehow sure she was still alive...
He opened his desk drawer, looking desperately for his pipe... but he couldn't find it... he went back to the couch... and slept... and dreamed...